magicom: (janto glance)
magicom ([personal profile] magicom) wrote2009-08-23 11:05 pm
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A Trip To Cardiff - aka Journey To The Centre Of The Whoniverse

This is only my third journal entry of 2009. I'm not exactly prolific, am I?

My recent visit to Cardiff was very Whoniversey and I decided to put together a collection of particularly Doctor Who/Torchwood related pics. The photos are mine, the screencaps come from The Medusa Cascade.

All of the pictures will get somewhat bigger if you click on them, and the commentary contains spoilers for Torchwood: Children of Earth and may contain spoilers for any episodes of Doctor Who or Torchwood that come before that. Enjoy!

I arrived in Cardiff by train (our car had a minor disaster a couple days before we were supposed to leave for Cardiff, necessitating the train ride). If we had driven as planned, I probably wouldn't have visited the train station, though. The same one Mickey Smith arrived at in Boomtown: Cardiff Central.


We didn't go to the Bay until our second morning there, but on the first day, walking through the City Centre, I accidentally found the narrow street Ianto walks in CoE: Day Two after the Hub explodes. It was the only narrow street across from the castle's clock tower, which you can see behind Ianto in some of the shots. This one clearly shows the same buildings that Ianto is walking past:


And the aforementioned clock tower, shown in our photo and a shot from the opening of CoE: Day One.


The building that Jack is shown standing on in Torchwood's opening was near my hotel (Cardiff Centre Ibis - very nice for a budget hotel!):


Also in the City Centre - near the stadium, but visible from much of the centre - the 'Central Server Building' from Exit Wounds. I don't know if that's really what it is, but here you go:


And the British Gas Building (aka Jack asks Ianto out for a date in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang building):

I couldn't find a good shot of the outside, but what's meant to be their logo is shown quite clearly all over the place :)

Aaaannnnd then to the Bay! :D

We walked to the Bay, so the first view we had was similar to our first view of the Plass in Boomtown!



Also in Boomtown, Nine, Rose, Mickey and Jack eat at a restaurant on the Quay:


Back into Torchwood, Jack and co. often found themselves in front of the Millenium Centre, as it tends to dominate the Plass:


The Plass is also home to the INVISIBLE LIFT! :D





The upper level around the Plass leads to the bridge Jack and Ianto ran across in CoE to get to where Gwen was witnessing child weirdness in Day One of CoE:


Child weirdness was going on by the merry go round!


Right! Enough messing around! Let's head down to Mermaid Quay and the tourist office!

It was a little more crowded when we visited than when Gwen was heading to work.



I went to Mermaid Quay last October. Here is a comparison of my pics of the tourist office PRE-Children of Earth and POST-Children of Earth:


The Ianto Shrine from the front and from the top:

IANTOOOOOO :(

Okay.
So then we went for a walk by the Norwegian Church, where Roald Dahl was baptized and Tosh and Tommy frolicked in To The Last Man:


And then took a water taxi from Mermaid Quay, out to the barrage bridge and then to the castle. You might know the barrage bridge as where that kid disappeared in Adrift. If you can remember any of that episode apart from the hothouse scene ;)

And the houses where his mom is supposed to have lived:



We also went to the Doctor Who Exhibition at the Red Dragon Centre. Here are some of my favourite highlights:


Me & the TARDIS! It was locked. I don't have a key :(


Costumes!


MORE costumes!


CAPTAIN JAAAAAAAAAACK!


K9!


Harriet Jones, Former Prime Minister (I knew who she was).


Other squees included the Anne Droid, Daleks in ACTION and UNIT's cute little red caps :D

My whole trip was loads of fun, but the Cardiff experience was awesome! I would totally recommend it to any Whoniverse fan who finds themself in the UK!

[identity profile] magicom.livejournal.com 2009-08-25 02:02 am (UTC)(link)
The diabolical ones, because anything less would be too easy.

[identity profile] cloudillusion.livejournal.com 2009-08-25 02:04 am (UTC)(link)
But of course. He's also probably devising an entirely new filing system for the Hub archives.

WHICH I AM ALSO IN DENIAL ABOUT BEING DESTROYED.

[identity profile] magicom.livejournal.com 2009-08-25 02:07 am (UTC)(link)
OMG Coat!Love.

Of course the Hub wasn't killed. Jack dreamed it!

[identity profile] cloudillusion.livejournal.com 2009-08-25 02:17 am (UTC)(link)
We all love the coat.

And everything was Jack's dream...except Ianto in construction gear. That must always be real.

[identity profile] magicom.livejournal.com 2009-08-25 02:18 am (UTC)(link)
I expect Jack has seen it on him before, hence the need for it to be in his dream :D I mean, they have some pretty kinky prop play going on in their bedroom.

[identity profile] cloudillusion.livejournal.com 2009-08-25 02:22 am (UTC)(link)
Well, yes. We certainly can't expect them to keep on using that UNIT cap forever.

[identity profile] magicom.livejournal.com 2009-08-25 02:39 am (UTC)(link)
They'd get bored! Avante Garde does not repeat itself :P

[identity profile] cloudillusion.livejournal.com 2009-08-25 02:47 am (UTC)(link)
And it takes work to keep up with innovative :D

[identity profile] magicom.livejournal.com 2009-08-25 03:00 am (UTC)(link)
It does! It's sort of impressive that they've been sleeping together for over a year and a half and aren't bored yet. They seem to have set the bar fairly high fairly early!

[identity profile] cloudillusion.livejournal.com 2009-08-25 04:13 am (UTC)(link)
Well, when they started with stopwatch games...

[identity profile] magicom.livejournal.com 2009-08-25 04:15 am (UTC)(link)
Really. Where are you supposed to go from there? Well, apparently it involves sports equipment, military uniforms and Every. Room. In. The. Hub.

[identity profile] cloudillusion.livejournal.com 2009-08-25 04:18 am (UTC)(link)
But of course. And there have to be more rooms in the Hub than we've seen. The thing is underground! It could go on forever!

[identity profile] magicom.livejournal.com 2009-08-25 04:21 am (UTC)(link)
And probably does! The sublevels seem rather labyrinthine!

[identity profile] cloudillusion.livejournal.com 2009-08-25 04:23 am (UTC)(link)
Naked hide and seek takes on a whole new meaning.

[identity profile] magicom.livejournal.com 2009-08-25 04:25 am (UTC)(link)
But it doesn't matter, because Jack cheats. He always cheats. :D

[identity profile] cloudillusion.livejournal.com 2009-08-25 04:27 am (UTC)(link)
Only because he knows Ianto likes it.

[identity profile] magicom.livejournal.com 2009-08-25 04:29 am (UTC)(link)
Well, of course! I should think the best part of naked hide and seek is being found. By Jack. With nudity.

[identity profile] cloudillusion.livejournal.com 2009-08-25 02:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Unless cheating at naked hide and seek means being found. By Ianto. With nudity. Either one should be quite delightful, I think.

[identity profile] magicom.livejournal.com 2009-08-25 03:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Indeed!

Someone asked GDL at Polaris last year how you cheat at naked hide and seek and he said 'night vision goggles' :D

[identity profile] cloudillusion.livejournal.com 2009-08-26 12:24 am (UTC)(link)
*snerk* Of course Jack has night vision goggles. That he uses during sex.

[identity profile] magicom.livejournal.com 2009-08-26 03:28 am (UTC)(link)
What else would you use them for? :)

[identity profile] cloudillusion.livejournal.com 2009-08-26 03:31 am (UTC)(link)
Call me a prude, but night vision goggles during sex? Exceptionally creepy :D

[identity profile] magicom.livejournal.com 2009-08-26 03:44 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, good point. Let me rephrase. What else would Jack use them... or anything, really, for?

[identity profile] cloudillusion.livejournal.com 2009-08-26 03:47 am (UTC)(link)
Okay. And a good point on your end, as well!