We conclude our article and journey in Wales, slowly returning to London, continental Europe and Slovenia through more widely known cities and hidden gems.
In the morning, we were filled with euphoria after discovering a new capital. We started with a visit to the 2000-year-old castle. The first sight that remained in our lasting memory was not the waving of the Welsh flag with a red dragon at the top of the inner castle complex, but the outer walls.
This is not an ordinary wall that prevents the entrance to the interior, it is a very special Animal Wall, which originally included sculptures of eight animals, and then seven new ones were carved after 1928. The older sculptures can be distinguished from the new ones by their realistic glass eyes, which, for a moment, bring the animals to life.
Then we walked through Bute Park to one of the city's two cathedrals, Llandaff Cathedral. We recommend a visit even though it is located outside the city centre, as its imposing interior is interesting, in addition to the many important tombs hidden in it.
We had our lunchtime at the indoor Cardiff Market. There, we treated ourselves to new local delicacies from the list. We started with a Trifle dessert, Chelsea bun and Welsh cake (which is a kind of mixture between pancake and sponge cake), and continued with toasted Tea cake and the famous dish Faggots and Peas.
After a refreshment at the top of the gallery overlooking the market, we went for an afternoon walk towards the Cardiff Bay (or so-called Tiger Bay). In the same area, there is an amusement park, restaurants, an art centre, the Pierhead Museum and, last but not least, the building "The Senedd", home to the Welsh Parliament, which is the work of another famous architect and Pritzker Architecture Prize winner, Richard George Rogers. The remarkable and sustainable design reminded us of the gently undulating surface of the water, or that of a stingray.
The former port, which was also known for some time as the busiest and largest coal export port in the world, is now a place for active leisure with touristic infrastructure and a huge water surface that has been blocked by water barriers.
From a city that developed with "heavy" industry, we travelled to a city that flourished with Roman baths on the site of the UK's only natural thermal springs. The name alone is enough to explain, this is the city of Bath.
In the 1st century, the foundations were laid by the Romans, who began to use the natural thermal springs of the Avon River for thermal spas. Since 1987, the town has been protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and you can visit the thermal museum and the new thermal baths, the abbey, the market, the royal crescent made up of several flats, and the Pulteney Bridge (the English version of the Ponte Vecchio in Florence and the Rialto in Venice).
You probably already know the location where we treated ourselves to a new dish. Of course, it was wonderful at the market again. This time we found ourselves in the most hidden part of the market, where we were accompanied by elderly locals. Because of this, our expectations rose, as we discovered a place where there were no tourists, only older local residents, who, if we draw conclusions from their elegant outfits, probably have a more "sophisticated" taste. We had a famous English breakfast: baked beans in tomato sauce on toast and an apple pie with custard. The flavour exceeded our expectations, given the simplicity of the food, the very reasonable price and the feeling that we were dining like true locals.
The feeling of wanderlust persisted, and only increased our enthusiasm for travelling and learning about different places. That is why we stopped in another "intellectual" capital, the famous Oxford or city with the oldest university in the English-speaking world.
The university consists of 39 faculties and its buildings are scattered throughout the city. It boasts a large circle of well-known alumni, including as many as 30 former prime ministers. The city attracts numerous tourists every year because of its famous university, and most of the tourists we met were from the Far East. We can say that we have witnessed mass tourism, which, despite the peak season, we have not experienced anywhere else but in London.
Despite the forecast, the English rain turned into real heat, which we spent among the stone streets and the main attractions, such as: the castle, the town hall, the Carfax tower, the Bodleian Library, the Radcliffe Camera building, numerous faculties and, of course, the legendary High Street, which adorns most of the postcards with the city motif and has almost the same image as a few centuries ago. It was also portrayed in oil on canvas by one of the greatest pioneers of Impressionism in England, J. M. W. Turner between 1809 and 1810, featuring locals complementing the hustle and bustle of the city, along with academics and their famous caps.
After a short drive, we returned from Oxford to the capital. We decided to spend the last few days in a typical villa of Georgian architecture, which was located outside the centre and reminded us of an English film. The final evenings were spent in a quiet area, enjoying some last sightseeing and excursions.
We headed to the small town of St. Albans, which we recommend to any traveller who is tired of London and wants to get away from tourists to an interesting place just a half-hour by train.
At Saturday's open market, we treated ourselves to an imported speciality, Portuguese Custard Tart - a small puff pastry tart filled with custard, which was extremely tasty. We tasted a classic example and one with raspberries.
We were impressed by the grandeur and photogenic nature of the huge cathedral - the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban. A fine example of Norman architecture (with Gothic additions), its nave is also the largest of all cathedrals in England, with a length of 85 metres. It was named after the first official British Christian martyr, St. Alban.
The Anglican Church also has an annex - the visitor centre, which consists of a shop, a food court where visitors can have lunch or coffee. When visiting us, he first had a look at a beautiful stained-glass window in the form of a classic Gothic rosette. The cathedral is also a museum, with an information board, artefact, etc. on every corner.
In the afternoon, we visited the Greenwich area. We had a look at the imposing UNESCO-listed Old Royal Navy College building. We then headed to the top of the hill behind it, where we were greeted by clusters of tourists who were also "making the pilgrimage" to see the famous meridian. When we got to the top, we realised that if you want to see it closer, you have to pay. There is also a Royal Observatory, from which the course of the meridian is projected by laser in the evening.
For those who do not want to pay the entrance fee to see the line dividing the Earth into the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, there is an alternative. Just below the very top of the hill, a narrow path branches off from the main one, which also crosses the meridian, but is marked by a thinner line that we did not even notice at first.
We escaped the crowds and chaos back to the north of the city, where we intended to visit the Camden Town neighbourhood, which was even more busy than a crowded concert.
In one of the English pubs we found by chance, we had a well-deserved late lunch and once again treated our taste buds to another traditional dish Bangers & Mash - roast meat with mashed potatoes and gravy with onions and lots of vegetables. The ambience and the food were matching and perfect for a true English experience.
The last day before leaving the capital, we wanted to have a relaxed schedule. So we visited the Tate Modern Gallery in the morning, where admission is free. In the afternoon, we visited London's Little Venice, where tourists go canal boating and locals go fishing, and Rembrandt Park.
But that was not it for the day. On the way to the accommodation, we stopped at Abbey Road, where the Beatles recorded the cover of their 11th album of the same name at the pedestrian crossing. The famous pedestrian crossing was occupied by tourists posing on it, stopping and blocking the traffic.
The plan of a relaxed day was realised, as we spontaneously visited many interesting parts of the city, but we walked a greater distance than on previous days, when we had a busier schedule.
In the evening, tired, we headed to the well-known St. Pancras. Fortunately, one part of the station stayed open all night, so we were warmly greeted for the early boarding time of the Eurostar train home.
In the early hours of the morning, we left the island's capital without sleep. This was followed by a ride to Brussels and from there to Frankfurt am Main. We had a very short transfer time in the financial centre, but that did not stop us from catching the train to Nuremberg, running among the crowds and the many platforms. It was even more stressful right where we had about five minutes to change trains (luckily we did not have a delay).
But we were still far from home. The longest train was the latter, from Nuremberg to Vienna, where we arrived late in the evening. The only thing that followed was a train to Graz and then a ride home.
In one day, with five trains and one road transport, we finally made it from the English capital to our dear Maribor. We sat on four high-speed trains and one regional train, spending 16 hours and 18 minutes on them. Most of the time we were travelling at more than 200 km/h, at times even 300 km/h.
We conclude the journey not only with an exceptional set of various memories, but also with an abundance of knowledge. We also feel a bit better about sustainable travel, which has probably unlocked our access to even more places in such a short time, rather than road transport. We advise all young people to use the Interrail ticket, as Europe is really well served by the rail network in most parts, and it is very affordable (after calculating the prices of the individual tickets, we found that with the Interrail ticket we saved more than three times the value of the Interrail ticket each).
Do not hesitate and take advantage of the opportunity. I hope this multipart article has motivated you to take at least one step closer to Interrail travel.
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