Like a Kid in a Candy Store (Journey 8: Cardiff)

This past Saturday was one of the best trips I’ve taken all semester. I was finally able to go to Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, with my two friends Josh and Lucy. What’s there, you ask? Several things, the most important being a big blue building on the edge of Cardiff Bay called the Doctor Who Experience.

It's a pretty well-kept secret that I'm a Doctor Who fan. I know you're all reeling in shock; it's hard to tell from my seven (yes, I’m up to seven now!) Doctor Who shirts, my TARDIS shoes (thanks again to my lovely roommate for that awesome gift), the cutout of David Tennant and the TARDIS I have in my room, the Doctor Who-themed birthday party I had when I turned 18, the figurines spread throughout my house, the book upon Doctor Who book I have on my shelves, the sonic screwdriver mixed in with  my other pens, the TARDIS mug I got for Christmas, among other paraphernalia I'm sure you haven't noticed...but, surprise! Now you know. Anyway, I got tired of waiting for the Doctor to show up (sorry, I'm no Amy), so I took it upon myself to go find him!

Turns out, the reason he hadn’t shown up was because he got trapped in the Pandorica (yes, again), and he needed some help getting out. Typical. Fortunately, yours truly was more than willing to assist. I got to fly the TARDIS, I battled Daleks and dodged the weeping angels, and eventually succeeded in helping him escape. The world was saved once again. Needless to say, we made a pretty great team…

Apart from the interactive walkthrough, which seriously was so fun (I was unashamedly squealing in delight at everything, every thing), the museum part afterwards was just as great. They had so many costumes (ranging from replicas, refurbished originals, and, as Lucy put it, ‘straight up originals’) and props (with the same range) that I had to take a picture of all of it. I subjected Facebook to my flurry of uploads, but don’t worry, I won’t subject you to the same.

Being in Wales, right by the BBC studios, all I could think was, “They filmed here. I’m basically walking through an episode!” I was very much like a kid in a candy store (I would say like a kid at the Doctor Who Experience, but I think I had more excitement than all the kids there combined…and trust me, there were quite a few kids there). It was a pretty rainy day, so we didn’t go see much of the rest of the city. Outside of the actual Experience, we went to Eddie’s Café for lunch (which is where part of The Impossible Astronaut episode was filmed), the two houses used to film Amy and Rory’s house (the interior and exterior), and the Millennium Centre.

This was my most anticipated trip this entire semester, and it fully lived up to expectation. I might even say it surpassed it. To all my Doctor Who fan friends, I just have one piece of advice. Go! And take me with you.

My big blue beacon that I saw across the bay!

Matt was pretty thankful for my help :)

David Tennant actually wore this outfit!

Inside the TARDIS, David's model

This is where they filmed the interior

This was the exterior

Kind of a shame that we had American food while in Wales, but it was an amazing burger, so I'm content.