UK August-September 2013 - Gluttony in Wales

Our time in Wales was short, but it included a dive cafe, a fun pub and the best meal of the entire trip!

The first stop in our gluttony tour of Wales, was in Kidderminster, on our way to Hay-on-Wye. We needed a little snack and a cup of tea before a big lunch and found ourselves at Smithy's Cafe.

Smithy's Cafe is such a small-town local dive, that I felt like we were the first tourist to ever set foot in the place. Although they were friendly, it was like that typical scene in a western where the hero enters a saloon in a new town and everyone is instantly quiet and staring. Yep.

Smithy's Cafe was a cheap, no-frills place, where we ate yummy tea cakes and shared a pot of tea. The people sitting next to us were speaking in Welsh, which was beautiful to listen to and added to the foreign feeling of the experience.

Behind Smithy's, we discovered a lovely stream, lush foliage and railroad tracks.

My favorite meal of entire trip was lunch at The Three Cocks, located a few miles outside of the town center in Hay-on-Wye.

Not only was the restaurant at The Three Cocks Inn, super cute and cozy, but the food was outstanding. Dan ordered the delicious Cottage Pie.

I ordered the "Pie of the Day", which was chicken and leek. The carrots had a sweet glaze that made them taste like a decadent dessert. I ate my veggies first and stole some of Dan's carrots!

Chicken and Leek Pie with the dessert carrots!

Obviously, we didn't enjoy our meal.

We even saved room to share an Apple Crumble for dessert. This was the first time that I tried custard, rather than ice cream with a crumble. It was good and different, but I definitely prefer the ice cream, which is a lot less sweet. The custard overwhelmed the taste of the crumble.

Apple Crumble with Custard at The Three Cocks.

Still stuffed from our fabulous lunch, we opted for a light dinner at the Blue Boar in Hay-On-Wye.

The Blue Boar was fairly typical of my pub experiences in the UK. It was super busy on a Friday night, but we managed to grab a table by the bar. As with most pubs, we ordered our food directly from the bar and it was a leisurely meal. Dan had a salad and I ordered a bowl of tomato soup with crusty bread. I enjoyed my meal. but in the grand scheme of our vacation dining, it was fairly forgettable.

Hungry yet? Check back as we continue to eat our way through the UK!

UK August- October 2013- Hilton Newport Wales

Our first Hilton of our trip and first stop in Wales!

We learned a valuable lesson on our UK trip...

Not all Hiltons are created equal.

Most Hiltons look nice from the outside, but inside you might be met with scummy rooms and rude staff or you may be treated to a first rate hotel experience. The price you're paying doesn't seem to be the deciding factor. We stayed at a lot of Hiltons and it was a mixed experience.

The Hilton Newport in Wales was middle of the road.

We arrived late at night and the employee working the front desk was very friendly and chatty. Initially, we had a very positive impression of the hotel, even after getting lost trying to find it. There is a maddening traffic circle that you must navigate and if you take the wrong turn-off, you will drive miles in the wrong direction. Beware.

The lobby was nice and although Costa Coffee was closed, the hotel bar (not seen) was in full swing.

We walked down a long hallway to our room.

The room was large, but in desperate need of a refurbishment. A refurbishment does not mean a flat screen TV, although that was appreciated. The decor reminded me of my grandparent's house. It was musty and dingy. The worst part of the room was the bed. The mattress was thin and springy. We did not get a good nights sleep.

Like the room, the bathroom was spacious. The lighting level was really low, making it difficult to see while getting ready in the morning. They also had a funny old-fashioned hairdryer still mounted to the wall, even though it was in disuse.

Despite my complaints, this was far from the worst hotel (or worst Hilton) that we encountered on our trip. In fact, some of the hotels made me long for our stay at Hilton Newport!

Driving around Wales, near our hotel, I took some pictures of the Welsh road signs. This was my first time encountering the Welsh language.

And lastly

UK August-October 2013- The British Music Experience

Honestly, we probably wouldn't have done, The British Music Experience, if it had not been an attraction included in our London Pass. In a city where there is so much to see and do, it wasn't on our radar. On the last day of using our pass, we found ourselves with time left late in the day and The British Music Experience was nearby.

When we decided to go to the museum, we were touring Greenwich and figured that the O2, where the museum is located, was walkable. It was, but it took us over an hour and through some sketchy areas. We walked on a bike trail along the Thames and got some cool pictures.

Built for the Millennium, the O2 Dome is a massive and visually impressive building. If you are unafraid of heights, you can even take a tour where you climb on top of the structure. In addition to The British Music Experience, the dome houses restaurants, shops, cinemas and a giant concert arena.

Photography is forbidden inside of The British Music Experience, but I took a few snaps of the exterior before heading inside.

The British Music Experience is very tech heavy. The first part of the visit is an introduction video, that explains the layout of the museum and the scan cards. Many of the exhibits are scannable and you're given a card that allows you to scan content and save it to view later at home. It's a cool feature, although I was so engrossed in the experience, that I didn't really use it.

The museum is set up like a wheel with spokes. There is a central hub with computers where you can explore music articles from all decades and then each "spoke" has a room dedicated to a different decade starting in the 40's and continuing to the present.

Additionally, there is a room filled with instruments, where you can interact and test your own skills. Dan had a great time in this room and it looked to be the most popular part of the museum. All of the kids wanted to bang on the drums!

Each decade room is filled with interactive displays and artifacts such as outfits worn by musicians (notably dresses worn by The Spice Girls), concert posters, sheet music, instruments, et... Depending on your level of interest, you could spend a long time in each room. I averaged about twenty minutes per room.

Overall, I enjoyed my visit to the museum. However, there were some issues with how the exhibits were arranged that lessened my enjoyment. It was very difficult to read the small print on the artifact displays. On the artifact cabinet, they had headphones that are supposed to give you more info on the object, but it just repeated what was written on the placard inside of the cabinet. I felt like this was a huge missed opportunity. It seemed like a lot of the information given, I could have found by searching my computer at home. It didn't feel unique. Some of the touch screens did not work easily and it was frustrating.

What I did like were some of the personal interviews of people working in the industry alongside great artists. These interviews were located on a mini hub within each decade room. I could have spent all day listening to the interviews and it was the highlight of my visit.

The last part of the museum was a mock concert experience in 3-D. It's unnecessary, except for it leaves you exiting the museum on a high note. I love going to concerts and this final part of the museum, after the onslaught of music info, reminded me of the feeling that I get when I listen to music live. The museum should have tapped into this emotion more, rather than being so technical. The feeling that music gives you is universal.

If you are interested in visiting The British Music Experience, check out their official site for current ticket prices and information.

The British Music Experience Official Site

As we walked out of the O2, we saw this exceptionally cool looking building.