Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Best of Cardiff, Wales



WHERE WE STAYED:
We stayed in our first hostel! & it was so funky/cool. The Bunkhouse Hostel has a great location being near the train station. They have a cafe/bar area that is decorated with bunting, Christmas lights, and origami cranes. It was very cozy and welcoming there. The staff is lovely and I highly recommend it. 

WHERE WE ATE:
The first and only night we stayed in Cardiff we ate at Bar Revolution. This restaurant and bar is huuuuge, nicely decorated and at the time we went (5pm) it was rather empty. But we found the food and staff to be lovely. The price point was perfect. For 3 euro we got a discount card that made our bill half off (that deal was specific to Wednesdays). I had a veggie burger that we modified to be vegan by removing the sauce. & there was a buy one get one free special on cocktails. 

The next day for lunch, I was pleasantly surprised to find a little cafe, The Plan, that had three vegan options on their menu. They offered a vegan sandwich, curry and salad. I opted to get the vegan sandwich before we hopped on the train to Paris. It was delicious and came with a yummy side salad. 

WHAT WE DID:
The reason we went to visit Cardiff was for the boys (my boyfriend Keith & our friend Sean) to visit The Dr. Who Experience. (Sean is a diehard Dr. Who fan.) I was not too fond of attending the experience so I opted out. Instead, I walked around town to do some shopping. 

eyes lips face is a vegan & cruelty free cosmetic line that has a storefront in Cardiff. Who would have thought? I was happy to see there was a whole store with vegan makeup. I wasn’t in the market for makeup but I was happy to see the availability. 

I needed to replace my vegan probiotic and I found a natural health food store down the street from where we were staying (Beanfreaks). I was talking to another man staying in our hostel and he informed me of Holland & Barret health food store. It is a chain of small health food stores throughout the UK, one of which was walking distance from our hostel. After one of the hostel employees pointed me in the right direction, I was a 5 minute walk away from getting my probiotic buy one get one free. Woo! 

I know going to find a place that offers vegan probiotics isn’t necessarily riveting material, but things have been difficult sometimes being vegan on this trip. I have eaten MANY potatoes, in the form of fries (chips) and chips (crisps). But it has evened out with meals full of vegetables. I was pleasantly surprised at how vegan friendly Cardiff was. I will definitely love to return. 

- Christina

18 comments:

  1. Looks like Cardiff treated you well! I was also surprised to see an e.l.f. store because I didn't even know they had storefronts! I thought it was a company that you could only order from online.
    Also, am I completely out of the loop.... I have NO idea what the Dr. Who Experience is :-/ Time to google, I guess haha


    http://amateandarottweiler.blogspot.com.ar/

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  2. Wonderful post and was lovely to read - I'd love to visit Cardiff, the food looks delicious! :P

    I have a new outfit post up on the blog, would love to know your thoughts:

    * Electric Sunrise - Fashion and Lifestyle Blog *

    x

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  3. I had no idea ELF had an actual storefront! That's so cool! And I would personally prefer shopping over Dr. Who too. :) Lovely photos Christina!

    Randi with an i

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  4. I don't think I have ever been to Cardiff but you make it seem so nice! Vegan friendly too! That's awesome! You'd probably hate South Africa - meat is like our staple here :)


    www.bohemianmuses.blogspot.com

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  5. I love your images! They are awesome. I think we are going to cardiff later this year so this is a really helpful post :) x

    Jasmin Charlotte | UK Lifestyle Blog

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  6. great pictures.. i love those origami cranes..

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  7. Great to see and read that you have a great time! :)

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  8. I didn't know they have storefronts either! I was pleasantly surprised. I hope I run into another on on this trip. :) There are E.L.F. products in Targets and grocery stores in America, but not storefronts as far as I know. Personally, not knowing about Dr. Who isn't a loss. People are obsessed with it, but I feel meh about it.

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  9. Cardiff is definitely worth a visit! I want to go back someday.

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  10. Right?! I wish I was actually in the market for new makeup at the time. Thanks for visiting, Randi!

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  11. Aw, thanks Jade. I really did enjoy it. I was super surprised because I didn't know what expect. I feel like there's veganism every where, you just need to know where to look!

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  12. Aw yay! That's part of the reason why I wanted to share my experience, so it's helpful to other people! That makes me happy. Hope you enjoy your trip!

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  13. Ooooh, how I miss Holland & Barret. They have the most delicious vegan thai chili rice crackers! How cool that there was an e.l.f. store! I've never seen one before. Do you search for vegan-friendly restaurants on happycow.net or do you use something else/stumble upon them?

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  14. OMG those crackers sounds amazing! Ya, I had no clue about the e.l.f. store! I wish I was in the market for something when I went, haha. Most of the time I've found places on Happy Cow, but this ebook has been really helpful, too! http://happyherbivore.com/vegan-in-europe/ I also have my random research compiled here: https://www.pinterest.com/city_loveee/vegan-europe/ :)

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  15. Oh, awesome! It's moments like this I wish I'd get a pinterest, but I knooow I'd spend way too much time on there, haha! Good job being so prepared!

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