A holiday in the United Kingdom is not only something you should do once in your lifetime, but will also draw you into its fascinating and sometimes barmy culture that merges a long and traditional history with beer drinking and interesting festivals. From the Great British Cheese Festival, which is an annual event held in Cardiff, Wales, to visiting bars and restaurants, there is always something new to experience in Great Britain.
When holidaying in the UK, you want the most diverse experience possible. Visiting Stonehenge, traversing around London to see Buckingham Palace and all its major attractions, absorbing the atmosphere of the south coast are just a few things to consider. Have you ever visited a cheese festival before? No? Well, it’s about time you did then!
Great British Cheese Festival
Nothing is more British than cheese, apart from maybe football violence! Although it’s a medical fact that our bodies still can’t digest dairy products very well, cheese tastes delicious, and that’s all that really matters.
Image by: Guardian Cardiff
The inaugural Great British Cheese Festival began in 1994 in Oxfordshire, organized and founded by Juliet Harbutt. Although the event began in Oxfordshire, it eventually moved to Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, before moving to its current location in Cardiff, Wales in 2008. If you are a cheese lover, then Cardiff is your place.
The festival is preceded by an award ceremony, where food experts and farmers double as judges, blind tasting the cheeses and awarding the best three with bronze, silver and gold medals. It’s like the Olympics, but replacing Usain Bolt is a Blue-Veined Stilton! Thereafter, the winners will parade their cheese to the people at the public-attended festival. There are many other interesting goings-on at the festival such the heart-stopping cheese rolling activity, lots of stalls selling their cheeses and other goods, and a few demonstrations.
If you are a cheese-lover, or just want to experience something totally unique and quintessentially British, the Great British Cheese Festival in Cardiff is a great experience.
Then explore Aussie
Just to show you the unique and diverse nature of visiting the British Isles on holiday, after your cheesy experience, you could visit some famous bars and restaurants in England. For those of you who don’t know about Newcastle, it is located in the northeast of England and famous for its football team, Newcastle United, which is worshipped like a religion in these parts. They are also famous for their consumption of alcohol. Newcastle folk are well known for being tough, but extremely friendly, going out on winter evenings wearing very little in the way of clothing.
Now after exploring the UK, you then go back down under. There is a great selection of Aussie bars and restaurants in Newcastle or any other major city that are perfect for a few action-packed nights out on the ‘Toon’, which is local slang for ‘town’. If you are looking for an Aussie experience in the heart of the northeast, there are some fantastic pubs and restaurants such as the Billabong Bar on Osborne Road, famous for its cocktails, food and Happy Hour prices.
Opposites attract, said Paula Abdul, and when visiting the United Kingdom, why not do something completely different such as experiencing the Great British Cheese Festival in Cardiff, and then exploring the interesting bars and restaurants in Australia.
Now if you’re not searching for a place to bar hop at night and you’re more into the corporate affairs hunter, Australia also offers venues fit for the business-oriented. There are elegant corporate venue hire in Newcastle or other major cities down under. Hey! Not all of us are party animals and sometimes we have to get down to the nitty-gritty of the corporate world.