Shakespeare in England and the Llandaff Ghost Walk in Cardiff

On my last full day in Cardiff, we decided we would make a girls' lime/girls' day out and we crossed the border back into England for a lovely sunny day out in Stratford-upon-Avon. For those who did not know, S-u-A is the birthplace of ole Billy Shakespeare, and what I loved about the town is the lovely quaintness of it all. From the cobblestoned streets to the old buildings - very lovely.

Beautiful day for a stroll along the River Avon

Beautiful day to sail the River Avon

William Shakespeare's House - another cliched tourist attraction

The ghost of Shakespeare? He was very amorous with me I must say.

We did partake in some modern day girls' day out activities like shopping, drinking and getting ice cream, but it was really just about some down time and taking in the scenery of the place.

Back in Cardiff, I had a quick change of clothes as we prepared ourselves for the Llandaff Ghost Walk. Now, my disclaimer is that I did not plan this outing. It was planned for me. However, we were going to approach it with a laugh and I did indeed hope for the best, not knowing quite what to expect.

The walk itself was scheduled for the eerie hour of 8.30pm, and the group of suckers adventurers met at the ancient city cross just a few steps from the Llandaff Cathedral. Now the walk started off on a bit of a promising note with the guide (will get back to him shortly) giving us a historical/plausible sounding account of the "cursed" cathedral whose spires were destroyed time and time again, until finally being blessed by some whodunit. That part was interesting.

Llandaff Cathedral just as the sun started to set at 8.30pm
- just as we set off for the Ghost Walk

The rest - well...it went downhill after that and so did we, as we made our way into the belly of the field around the cathedral and then to the cemetery. The guide was just over-the-top for me - too over-the-top. It was almost like a slumber party where someone tells bad horror stories around a flashlight in the dark bedroom. It was ridiculous. I am not going to discount the possibility of ghosts and other such supernatural beings, but the stories of men in black gliding across the field, balls of light chasing co-eds and winged women knocking at windows to steal one's soul, all told in the pitch blackness of this cemetery - well, it made me roll my eyes, yawn, stretch and dream of cider in the pub. I went back to the reviews to see if anyone else agreed with me and nope - I was alone in my skepticism. This was rated the #2 tour/attraction in Cardiff - even ahead of the lovely Cardiff Castle. Bollocks.

Still, my friends and I made the best of it, snickering in the dark and scaring each other to keep from falling asleep, but I would not recommend this if you are a rational human being. That was how the trip to Cardiff ended and that was almost the end of my vacation - which ended back in London, with friends, dinner and drinks, a free upgrade on my flight the next day and an uneventful flight back to Port of Spain.

I am already thinking - where can I go next - but then I opened my credit card statement this morning and well, I will not be going anywhere anytime soon. :-)