June-July 2019
One of the things I loved about Cardiff was the central market and arcades. The central market was full of produce, from fresh veg to the butchers. It was also very reasonably priced, unlike many of the markets I was used to, where the produce is considered 'artisan' and thus twice the price.
This was a proper old school indoor market, and had been there in one form or another since the 1700s. The current building is Victorian however.
Close to the market, numerous arcades ran off in different directions, full of interesting shops. 
One of our favourites was Science Cream, Wales' first liquid nitrogen ice cream parlour. Whilst it sounds like a bit of a fad, it was actually really enjoyable.
Dramatic to watch as it freezes the icecream almost instantly, the rapid freeze process prevents large ice crystals from forming, allowing for incredibly creamy icecream. We shared a number of different flavoured sundaes in our time in Cardiff, in order to find out which one tasted best. For uhh science?
I have learned since that the parlour sadly closed due to Covid-19, but if it ever opens again, keep your eyes out! Eating icecream and wandering the green spaces in Cardiff really made it feel like summer. There were even wildflowers!
On our travels we soon decided our favourite neighbourhood was Pontcanna, a trendy neighbourhood on the outskirts of Cardiff centre, which had a village feel to it. It had its own small supermarket, bakery, butchery and cafes, so it felt wonderfully self-sufficient and was only a thirty minute walk through the park to town. It was here we discovered our favourite pub of all time, Pontcanna inn.
Many an afternoon was spent here, playing scrabble in the sun and enjoying a pint.
In fact, it was this very pub I took Ben to, to celebrate when he was offered a job in Cardiff working for the university.
We celebrated with a bottle of wine (something that's actually affordable to do in the UK, unlike NZ), an entree of breads and dips, and a main of mac n cheese for me (I quite forget what Ben had - probably a burger, but main thing was my mac n cheese was great).
Our short lease in Maindy was soon coming to an end, so we set about looking for a new flat. Because we loved Pontcanna so much, when we saw a room advertised there we were ecstatic! Sharing with a lady who was busy and out a lot of the time, we felt it would work well. Our room was large, location perfect, and within our price range. We took it!
The next few months were probably my favourite in Cardiff, as summer was beautiful, work was going well, and we were living in an amazing area.
On one of the days I even took a trip out to Barry, which is well known not only as a popular beach resort, but also as the setting for the famous trashy yet amusing Welsh TV show 'Gavin and Stacey' which we watched to acquaint ourselves with our new country. Barry island, where the beach is located, was indeed an island until the 1880s when it was linked to the mainland.
We also soon discovered the Cardiff arcades had an upper level, semi-hidden, with even more interesting tucked away shops.
Our favourite was Bulles Wines. A wine shop, it also operated as a tiny wine bar on set days, with no corkage fee on sundays. They had the smallest kitchen you could imagine, out of which they served delicious thick slices of crusty sourdough, excellent olive oil, and a range of cheeses and meats.
And the wine! The bottle was delicious and we whiled away a Sunday afternoon drinking delicious red wine and munching on bread. The bottle we bought had an amusing backstory, relating to the label of the pig with his faced stuffed with money.
Apparently, the wine-maker had asked banking executives for a loan to get his business going, and they had refused, as wine is not a seizable asset. The wine-maker had friends pitch in to help until he was able to get his business going, which turned out rather successful! The label therefore represents a nice screw you to greedy pigs who refused to see his potential.
We were also lucky enough to be in Cardiff for a number of events, the first one being pure coincidence, on the weekend we decided to take a day trip to Penarth, we happened to arrive as the apparently famous 'Downhill Derby' was taking place, where people build their own go-karts and then rattle 300 metres downhill.
People are awarded for both speed and creativity in different age groups (lots of kids were racing) and the ultimate winner is awarded the title of King of the Hill! Penarth itself is a small town (though I would call it a village) just four miles out of Cardiff, by the sea.
I had also heard about a July food festival called Bite which I was determined we pop into. The premise being each dish is bite sized, cooked onsite, and reflects different cultures and cooking styles of individual chefs. My favourite was this manchego savoury piklet, but everything look mouthwateringly delicious.
There is a strong emphasis on sustainability, so you can either bring your own plates/knives etc, or else everything is on paper plates. Picnicking is encouraged, and every dish is only three pounds, so you can try a few! The festival was located about a twenty minute bus-ride from Cardiff central in Insole Court, Llandaff, and wandering the grounds of the mansion was a pleasure in itself.
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