Cardiff Bay .... a bit of fresh air

After a difficult time following my second chemotherapy we decided to visit our daughter in Cardiff. It's her birthday soon .... my next treatment day so we celebrated a little early. 

We have visited Cardiff and Cardiff Bay many times since she moved there, staying at various hotels and renting apartments. This time we stayed at the new Premier Inn in the Bay; it's only been open five months and is close to all the bars and restaurants which was good for my walking although I did more than I expected ... sea air must have given me a boost. 

Night time view from the top floor of our hotel looking
over Cardiff City

The same view in the day, you can see the Principality
 Stadium on the left

The hotel staff were very good, giving us a high floor so we had views instead of looking on to other buildings. Early morning there was a bright orange glow from a gap in the curtains, I thought it was a street light .... not on the top floor hee hee. Although looking towards the foundries and a busy road it was a beautiful sunrise.

Sunrise from our window

Beautiful sky

It was windy with a nip in the air but being wrapped up we strolled into the Bay. I love the Pierhead Building, it's brown brick can be seen from all around the Bay.

Chilly but enjoying the fresh air

Last time we visited there were Lego figures on display, this time a huge animated T-Rex. We could hear it's roar from round the corner. There were plenty of excited young children fascinated by the huge monster; quite a few adults taking photos too!

T-Rex 

After a steady stroll around the Bay we settled back at the hotel, where else but in the bar. After completing Clare and Philippa Drop the Gin it was lovely to have a glass of chilled sauvignon blanc. One small glass was plenty, my body has enough to do to fight the medication and there will be time enough to enjoy my wine when things get better.

Drinks in the bar

Saturday we took an Uber into the City and had breakfast at Wally's. It's a super delicatessen in the Royal Arcade with a Kaffeehaus upstairs. It was our first visit but it won't be our last.... our breakfast bagel and coffees were delicious.

Great hidden gem in the Royal Arcade

Smoked salmon bagel and coffee - perfect breakfast

We had a lovely time on our much needed break, Cardiff Bay has so much to do ... or not do if you want to take it easy.

The Millennium Centre lit up at night - beautiful

What a surprise when we arrived home - beautiful flowers from Majestic Leicester, thank you so much. It was especially nice that it included a packet of sweet pea seeds so I can plant them for the summer.

Yeah - we made it

Philippa and I made it through Dry January, I won't lie there were many days when I could have done with a large glass of wine and I'm sure Philippa did too.

Thank you for all your support, we have been overwhelmed by your kindness. Clare and Philippa Drop the Gin has raised over £1500 which will be split between my local hospital's Breast Care Unit and Cancer Research - thank you all so much 😘

Chemotherapy is not easy, I seem to be living in a different world, everything takes ages and my bum seems attached to the sofa! Over the weekend I have  begun to feel brighter, having everyone at home always helps.

To celebrate our non-alcoholic achievements, and to get some air, we had lunch in the garden on Saturday .... well wrapped up in two blankets and thick scarves.

I have fond memories of our visit to Champagne Autréau in 2018 and meeting Eric Autréau - Champagne Autréau blog post  - it was a delight to open a bottle of their Blanc de Blanc as our first drink of 2020.

Celebrating with Champagne Autréau

Cheers and thank you 

Nippy but good to get some air

Although Dry January is over I will not be having many alcoholic drinks during my treatment, it's tough enough without a 'wine head' too. I don't have the best taste buds just now either. Hubby and I will be hosting a wine tasting for our scouting friends, and we've tickets for Love Wine Guildford, but I'll be using the spittoon (now that's something I didn't think I'd say 😉)

Hubby and I did open a bottle of white yesterday, just a small glass for me. It was a bottle given to us back in November, before the world turned upside down, when we had a superb evening with Cellier des Dauphins, meeting Laurent Paré and enjoying our favourite French wine.

Cellier des Dauphins Prestige Blanc 

Thank you Jo, Louise and everyone at Cellier des Dauphins, my glass of Cotes du Rhone Prestige Blanc was superb, just perfect - the last few flowers too, since 9th January 🙂