Premier League unplugged [17]

When the home team, Cardiff City FC, rely on their tried and tested agricultural style of playing it pays to be fully aware of the opposition. After all, Chelsea is more often mockingly known for the stylish tractors of its super-rich residents!

So, this particular Sunday afternoon presents a clash of styles, with agricultural machinery favoured by a Juno lookalike representing the home team (Cardiff City FC)

Mr. Midnight Tractor Cat

And an altogether sleeker shinier machine representing the visitors (Chelsea FC)

Chelsea Tractor

Until we speak again, with 10 minutes left on the clock, agricultural endeavour was leading against the urban elite. But, it’s never over until it is over [for the record the final score was Cardiff City 1 Chelsea 2].

[Acknowledgements for the photographs to http://www.farmgirlfare.com and http://www.dailymail.co.uk]

Old & New: Barcelona Style

“They don’t make them like they used to!” Of course not… it was a different time, different priorities, with less of the corporately bland requirements to have it done by yesterday. Oh, and health and safety hadn’t yet been invented.

But nobody told Gaudi and the Barcelona authorities that you can’t make them like you used to!

Take a stroll around the atmospheric Gothic Quarter and Barcelona Cathedral presents a dramatic example of what the 13th to 15th centuries had to offer the religiously inclined…

Then, if you’ve not had enough of the reflective devotion imposed by the incredible grandeur of such ecclesiastical trappings, take a further stroll (or few stops by Metro) to check out what the 19th to 21st centuries have to offer, c/o Antoni Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia

Until we meet again, whether it is then or now… WOW!

As Grand as it gets

Juno was one to take everything pretty much in her stride…

Sending the love

Even when all around her were flirting with the madness of events…

Leprechauns huddle

When history is in the making (one pint at a time it would seem)…

History in the brewing

As the fans make their way to the Millennium Stadium for the Grand Slam decider for Wales with a strong Ireland team standing in their way…

And particularly as the pre-match fireworks light up the scene…

Pre match fireworks

Juno would be totally relaxed while all around are tense with the expectations and trepidations of the occasion…

Pre kick off [2]

But 80 minutes later, Juno would probably adopt a zen-like pose while all around react to the final score…

Yoda eyes down [2]

Final score

And we then wonder what all of the tension was about… wasn’t it a forgone conclusion?

The Grand Slam Champions

Until we speak again, it is also the end of an era, with only one message to be echoed around the streets of Cardiff

Premier League unplugged [16]

Perhaps being at the Cardiff City Stadium is a bit like watching Barcelona these days…

Until we speak again, it certainly was like watching Barcelona, as the final score was Cardiff City 2 West Ham United 0! Oh, and just for the record Barcelona beat Rayo Vallecano

An eerily fabulous Sunday

If it’s something on the dark side that you are looking for, then try Plymouth in Cardiff! On a cool winter’s afternoon. What? Or, why, even?

Moon through trees

Take in a stroll around St. Fagan’s National Museum, but then, just up the hill a delight awaits the weary unsuspecting traveller… the Plymouth Arms

Glass pub name

Well, at least it saves you the gruesome prospect of having to plumb the sordid depths of Devon. With fire blazing, there is just one thing on our minds (no, that’s for later!)… a traditional Sunday Roast, with a hearty glass of something smooth and richly dark all the way from California, in the guise of Dark Horse Cabernet Sauvignon.

Roast sirloin of beef

Crunchy vegetables perfectly complementing the juicy roast beef and thick piping hot gravy…….. only one thing for it… another glass of the American falling over juice (though a few other varieties look tempting)…

Wine list

Until we speak again, Juno would surely have summoned up her English origins and ask us to suspend the surprise that something briefly so wonderful derives its name from English dockyards… or perhaps not!

Outside view