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Published: January 4th 2016
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Leaving the Bay area and mindful of short legs and long distances we hopped onto a city centre bus. Woolly says – The short journey was interesting as we passed between the modern and older architecture that the city has to offer, remembering Jo’s words of wisdom that you should always look up I was thrilled at how many elegant buildings were there to be seen. I was not so delighted to find that the next part of my day was to be centred round the shopping arcades that are at every turn, why do women have to shop! Not being a huge shopper myself I felt my friend’s distress but having access to larger department stores meant the ability to stock up on clothing and items that our temporary home is unable to provide. Woolly says – having sulked and muttered for several hours we appeared to have completed the boring part of the day and having secured a rather nice super mammoth costume for the evening I supposed I couldn’t really complain. Our plan to go back and get changed before eating started well, and having chivvied the girls up we hit the streets again, our first port of call had stopped serving food and with everywhere around us appearing to be closing for the New Year celebrations to come later I started to feel somewhat desperate in my search for nourishment. Finally finding no alternatives we headed into McDonalds, as I tucked into my burger Jo returned hers complaining that it was cold, no replacement appeared and having waited and grown very bored I stomped back to the counter and demanded service, following the apologies and the return of our money we left fully feed and no poorer than when we had arrived. The next part of the evening was giving me some cause for concern as it appeared to involve Tigers and a circus, I hope there not expecting me to perform, although I’m happy to sign autographs!
Not knowing the city of Cardiff and what might be open or not on the evening we had pre-booked tickets for a place called Tiger Tiger which had a New Year’s Eve celebration including something called Twisted Circus, very much a step into the unknown. Woolly says – arriving at the entrance I kept a wary eye out for tigers and other wildlife to be greeted by a strange looking lady in a corset! I thought to offer her Jo’s coat to keep her warm but we were quickly ushered inside and as I found us some seats I could only gaze round in wonder at the number of people already there. As daughter Zoe fought her way to the bar I spotted a lady with a snake coiled round her, defiantly one to avoid as our bright green drinks arrived a strange women climbed into a giant glass filled with liquid and started to contort her body into a variety of different poses that made my eyes water and gave me concern for her ability to be able to walk again. Turning to see what else was around I found myself watching a man juggling balls of light and knives, his mother had obviously never told him not to throw blades around! Jo, bless her, tried to take pictures but wasn’t doing very well and as she sat looking slightly defeated a young gentleman approached daughter Zoe asking her if she would like to move into the VIP area…… shouldn’t we have been
in there in the first place given my fame!
As Zoe pointed out that she was accompanied by her Mother and a mammoth strangely the young man beckoned us in. Woolly says – free drinks get messy and humans with free alcohol get very messy, as I watched their antics I noted that more female friends of the VIP’s were arriving and yet more drinks were to be forthcoming. Jo started to giggle and whispered into my ear that one of the men had just informed her that Zoe was too young for him and that she was too old, he was looking at me…….NOOOOOOOOO it’s not going to happen, looking frantically at the girls, I just wanted to leave and for once we were all in agreement. As we swiftly collected our belongings and made a smart exit from the club we found ourselves being herded towards the castle and having no idea of what else to do it seemed easier to go with the flow. Woolly says – The fresh air was a welcome relief and as we stood in the middle of the road with thousands of others I wondered what might happen next, just as I was considering my snack requirements Jo shot across the road with daughter Zoe right behind her. Picking up my backpack I trotted behind them to find that they were now hugging a tall bearded man and a pretty blonde lady, I’m really going to have to have words with these two!
What are the chances of seeing two of our lovely friends from work amongst all the revellers, as we introduced Woolly to Becky and Jared he stopped frowning and started on his intended snack and settled down before the fireworks began. Woolly says – I had the fright of my life as the first firework went off and as the beautiful reds, greens, silvers and golds shimmied into the night sky the countdown was on to welcome in the next year. Having allowed a few hugs to the group around me I suggested that a drink might be in order, everyone seemed happy with this idea although I dreaded to think what Jo would be like in the morning! I admit that my head wasn’t at its best as we started the New Year but with a mission in mind we collected the feasting furry one from the breakfast area and headed back in the direction of the castle.
Woolly says – Approaching the castle gates I felt a trickle of excitement as to what we might find inside for me however it was not to be as the large wooden entrance was firmly bolted….. Someone, mentioning no names hadn’t checked the opening times! Throwing a hard glare in Jo’s direction we wandered towards the national history museum only to see the doors equally firmly closed, I sighed and looked around at what else might be actually open in the nearby vicinity. There seemed to be a queue of people so nudging my companions we made our way over to a small ice rink, having surveyed the ice and checked the admittance price of £9.00 each (GBP) it was a resounding no from us all, just as desperation set in I spotted another doorway and people entering it, maybe just maybe this would be something to do. Leaving Jo to deal with the tickets I ambled through the doorway to find myself surrounded by ice sculptures in all shapes and sizes, Father Christmas and the penguins were very good as was the helter skelter, a sign told me that it had taken 120 hours of work to create them, boy they must have had cold fingers my paws were freezing and I had only been in there for five minutes!
Having stayed in the freezer like temperatures for a short time outside seemed almost balmy in comparison and feeling that we had at least achieved something we agreed that a walk round the city centre and some lunch would be a good idea. Woolly says – I’m NOT going shopping, I’m not, I refuse!!!!!!! As I padded behind the females every museum we passed was closed but unfortunately for me most of the shops did seem to be open…… time for a snooze I think!
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Art
Beautiful