{"id":1551,"date":"2016-01-28T12:42:30","date_gmt":"2016-01-28T11:42:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/?page_id=1551"},"modified":"2016-01-28T12:42:30","modified_gmt":"2016-01-28T11:42:30","slug":"week-04-cardiff-with-monica","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/?page_id=1551","title":{"rendered":"Week 04: Cardiff with Monica"},"content":{"rendered":"

I came back from Brussels late Friday night, and Saturday morning I was back at Alicante airport, this time on my way to Cardiff with Monica. The spring semester was beginning Monday and I went with her to help set her up in the place where she will live until June. This was not really a chore–I like Cardiff very much. It is a lively, cosmopolitan city, kind of like a mini-London, less monumental of course but also very international and much more compact, thus easily walkable.<\/p>\n

4_1<\/strong>
\nMonica poses in front of giant suitcase at Cardiff airport:
\n\"R002786\"<\/p>\n

4_2<\/strong>
\nWall art in Cathays, the neighbourhood where she will live the next 6 months:
\n\"DSF9097\"<\/p>\n

4_3<\/strong>
\nAt the entrance to her new house (which she shares with four other students, from four different countries):
\n\"R002787\"<\/p>\n

4_4<\/strong>
\nA sure sign of a low-income neighbourhood is the presence of used tyre dealers. But Cathays has a nice vibe to it nonetheless:
\n\"DSF9106\"<\/p>\n

4_5<\/strong>
\nWe went for lunch at Falafel Kitchen on Crwys Road, one of Monica’s favourites but a first visit for me:
\n\"DSF9103\"<\/p>\n

4_6<\/strong>
\nI was not disappointed:
\n\"DSF9100\"<\/p>\n

4_7<\/strong>
\nLate in the afternoon, we went to the guesthouse where I had booked a room for two nights. It was right on the river Taff, near the beautiful Millenium Stadium (it has recently been renamed Principality Stadium to accommodate a sponsorship but I have yet to hear anyone using that travesty of a name):
\n\"DSF9115\"<\/p>\n

4_8<\/strong>
\nMy guesthouse was on a quiet residential street. A few doors down the street was what seemed to be a private home, but one inhabited by people who had found religion, in a big way:
\n\"DSF9114\"<\/p>\n

4_9<\/strong>
\nWe went for a pint at Brewdog’s outpost in Cardiff; as always, the beer selection was excellent:
\n\"DSF9118\"<\/p>\n

4_10<\/strong>
\n\"DSF9119\"<\/p>\n

4_11<\/strong>
\nThe weather was cold, nasty and rainy. But it was Saturday night, and as is typical in the UK on such nights, girls who were out having fun dressed rather lightly for the conditions:
\n\"DSF9121\"<\/p>\n

4_12<\/strong>
\nEarly in the morning I went for a walk in search of coffee. I photographed the Millenium Stadium again, this time in a foggy, moody atmosphere:
\n\"DSF9125\"<\/p>\n

4_13<\/strong>
\n\"DSF9123\"<\/p>\n

4_14<\/strong>
\nCardiff Castle in the mist:
\n\"DSF9135\"<\/p>\n

4_15<\/strong>
\nOld mile marker near the castle:
\n\"DSF9128\"<\/p>\n

4_16<\/strong>
\nWe went for lunch at a vegan place called Anna Loka, on Albany Road. It turned out to be superb. Here, one of the employees is adjusting the day’s menu:
\n\"R002790\"<\/p>\n

4_17<\/strong>
\nIt was also the first visit for Monica, and she loved it:
\n\"R002792\"<\/p>\n

4_18<\/strong>
\nWe then did some shopping and walked around in the centre of Cardiff, looking for a bar where we could watch the Liverpool-Manchester United match. As I always do, I was on the lookout for amusing or otherwise notable details of the urban environment:
\n\"DSF9142\"<\/p>\n

4_19<\/strong>
\nMural:
\n\"DSF9143\"<\/p>\n

4_20<\/strong>
\nNot a classical music lover, I presume:
\n\"R002797\"<\/p>\n

4_21<\/strong>
\nMy last picture from this trip, walking back to the guesthouse late in the evening, after having said goodbye to Monica. The next morning she was going to classes while I had a 4:30 a.m. bus to Bristol airport and my flight home to Alicante:
\n\"R002798\"<\/p>\n

4_22<\/strong>
\nAnd so I came back home, back to “my” kitties:
\n\"DSF9145\"<\/p>\n

4_23<\/strong>
\nI finish the week with a nicely decorated bottle recycling bin on Plaza Monta\u00c3\u00b1eta in the centre of Alicante:
\n\"DSF9148\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I came back from Brussels late Friday night, and Saturday morning I was back at Alicante airport, this time on my way to Cardiff with Monica. The spring semester was beginning Monday and I went with her to help set her up in the place where she will live until June. This was not really […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1535,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1551"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1551"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1551\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1552,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1551\/revisions\/1552"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}