Visiting the three capital cities of Great Britain

I have loved cities for most of my life. One of my big life goals was to visit New York City. It was one of my 5B450s, I spent a week there in 2017, it was one of the best weeks in my life. I have visited Paris five times in my life, it is always lovely, vibrant and exciting. A newish life goal is to visit Belfast, the fourth UK capital city, but unfortunately this has been postponed because of the Covid19 Lockdown. Therefore this blog post celebrates the delights of the three Great British capital cities that I have been enjoying in the years 2010 to 2020. I hope to visit the fourth UK capital city sometime in the not too distant future.


London

I have lived in London for over fifty years and my relationship with it is always changing. When my dad was around and my daughter was little I made a point of visiting all the major attractions, although Madame Tussaud's really was the last straw. From 2015 to 2019 I made a point of visiting London's hidden gems in Secret London and London Interrupted. I now put wellbeing first and seek out the most therapeutic places. Kew Gardens is great for nature therapy as are the great London parks and London Zoo. Art galleries and museums are therapeutic in their own right, I particularly like the V&A and Tate Modern. The Tower of London is great for time therapy and the Greenwich Observatory for space therapy. I find walking along the Thames path is also very healing.

Edinburgh

Our one week in Edinburgh in 2012 was the last holiday I had with my dad before he died. He was born here, near Edinburgh castle, he grew up in the Portabello district. Edinburgh is a wonderfully Gothic city, the weather was quite miserable when we visited, which I think is quite normal. The Fringe Festival was going on, there was a lot of street entertainment and that made our time here even more special. One of the most memorable things for me was me, my mother and my daughter going on the Edinburgh ghost walk, it was the ideal time and place for a ghost walk and was notably spooky and quite disturbing.

Cardiff

Cardiff was our fist city break after my dad died. We spent just over a long weekend here and had to get used to being three rather than four. Despite these difficulties we had a great time. I think it is a tribute to Cardiff that I have such fond memories of this holiday, it is a very pretty city, very green and blue, with the beautiful castle and park area and the barage and bay area, by the sea. We did a lot of walking here, I think we were walking our troubles away. The BBC is a big presence here and every time I watch Torchwood I am reminded of our lovely 2013 trip.