A weekend in Cardiff

I'm baaaaack!
After a slightly unintentional but lengthy hiatus, I have returned to blogging and I have a lot planned for you! I thought I'd start with a little run down of my weekend in the beautiful Welsh capital, Cardiff!

Mark had got tickets for the Wales v Italy match ages ago, and amazingly they were front row seats right behind the posts! Great spot for watching the players warm up before the match.

15 is Leigh Halfpenny, 11 is George North. We were devastated to see Rhys Webb and Leigh Halfpenny stretchered off, and even worse to hear this evening's news that Halfpenny will have to miss the World Cup. 

The morning of the match we met a couple of ladies from our town who were about to set off on their cycle ride from Cardiff Castle to Caernarfon Castle. They are cycling in aid of Odyssey, a charity which aims to help cancer sufferers regain their self confidence through fun and adventure - they do so much good work and really improve the lives of the people they help.

Of course I did plenty of shopping! A haul will follow sometime this week. One purchase I was not expecting to make was from Cardiff Violins. We were walking through Castle Arcade, one of Cardiff's many beautiful Victorian arcades, when I spotted a sign for the upper level saying "Cardiff Violins." I've played violin since I was 10, so I was keen to have a  little look!
I was only going in for a nosy, but then the lady showed me the room full of cases. My poor violin has been in a battered case that's been falling apart for years, so it was well needed! I didn't have a huge budget, as my violin is only basic and some of the cases were double the cost of the instrument, but I found one that fit the bill - now I just need to practice!!

How beautiful is the violin room!?

Mark took part in the Cardiff 10k on Sunday morning. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of him running, or with his medal, even though it was a beautiful sunny morning, buuuuut I did get this pic of Jamie Roberts who started the race! I also got a selfie with him, but I look really rough in it.

On the way home we decided to stop at St Fagan's museum. We turned off the dual carriageway to be greeted by hundreds of cars parked in a field and car park martials directing people. Cue utter confusion as to why it was so busy! Turns out there was a food festival on, yay food!

We had quite a jam-packed weekend that left us both knackered when we got home yesterday evening. I slept in the car for most of the journey! I'm looking forward to heading back to Cardiff on Sunday for the #PartyAtTheAngel blogging event.. see you there?