Cardiff

 Friday 28th June, Cardiff

A bit of humour from my hotel 

After a bit of a sleep in, as didn’t need to check out until 10am I walked to Cardiff Castle, it wasn’t very far away and always interesting to have a look around. Nice gardens with a sculpture and statue on the way.

The government buildings, very imposing but looked like they were empty, or at least the front was not the way to get in there

There be dragons here!!

Then it was Cardiff castle, still can’t get used to just walking along the street and there is a castle!

Quite an interesting history, starting with the Romans , outside and inside you can find parts of Roman walls. About a thousand years later the Normans realised the value of it’s position so built on the ruins, much later it was owned by Richard III who lost it to Henry VII, on through until 1776 when it came under the Bute family who turned it into a bit of a fantasy castle and it was the fifth Earl of Bute gave it to the City of Cardiff.

I looked at the Roman wall from inside, and the museum, which is a great military Museum with the history of Welsh soldiers, guards etc. with uniforms, weapons, medals. Didn’t stay there too long even though very comprehensive. 

Then into the house

The Arab room was stunning especially the ceiling. But then it was all beautiful

Then through a couple of other rooms, you can see why they say that it is a fantasy

The library was particularly interesting, the decoration on the walls was was intricate and beautiful, had little putti with the Bute of the time’s favourite authors. Another bit of Fantasy.A close up of the gold frieze around the room, 

I often look at peoples books to see if I have any of them, and guess what, the Children’s encyclopaedia by Arthur Mee we used to have those when we were kids 

Then I walked a long the wall and back down and up to the bit that had the moat around it, couldn’t see much of the moat, because they are rewinding here as well and don’t cut the wild flowers down until August after they have seeded. Looks pretty imposing though, quite a few steps and a little treacherous inside with the spiral concrete ones like they used to have in Christchurch Cathedral.

Great views from up the top by the flagpole though, look at the wee people!

There were lots of school groups there, not sure how they manage with health and safety.

Then I walked into the shopping area, there were some nice streets

Certainly didn’t have any of the wealth of London, and some areas a bit run down, but found this huge shopping mall that had all the big brands, it seemed to be divided into two parts, one for the more affluent and one for the less affluent. Filled in a bit of time finding my way back to the hotel and taxied to the next one for the start of the tour. 

Set in the old Post Office, it is pretty swanky, Foo Fighters stayed there a couple of days before when they played at the Principality Stadium, which is very close, we all know it as Cardiff Arms Park of course. Enjoyed a lovely meal there that night with new tour mates, and a good nights sleep.