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Published: June 29th 2008
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Norman Keep
Norman Keep at the Cardiff Castle Cardiff is the capital of Wales. The city has well over 350,000 inhabitants and is bustling with activity. We arrive from Salisbury via train. The train ride was peaceful and uneventful. Lynne and I are beginning to master the art of traveling by train. Unlike the US, train travel is a key means of transportation throughout the rest of the industrialized world. Just to think that the American West was settled after the rapid expansion of the Trans-continental Railroad of the late 1800’s and now train travel is almost non-existent. American society has failed the railroad due to our quest for independence and freedom of driving everywhere on our own. I’ll expand on this rant in a later post.
When we arrive at a new destination, one of our first stops is always the Tourist Information Center (TIC). We stopped at the one closest to the train station. We picked up a local map and asked where to catch the #28 or 29 bus to the hostel. The young lady at the TIC was extremely pleasant and helpful. She informed us that we would need to catch the bus on St. Mary’s Street because the main bus station was undergoing
a major renovation. She gave us directions and off we went.
St. Mary’s street is the main street in the heart of the Central City. We searched the rows of bus shelters until we found the right one. We got a tip from a local to buy a day pass for 3 Pounds. This would prove to be the most cost effective way to travel by bus. I’ll add here that the bus stops have LED boards that inform you which busses arrive at that stop and when the next one will arrive. We took the bus ride to the Cardiff Youth Hostel. As we were riding down the road with our pack still on, we got our bearings on the map and were figuring which bus stop we needed to get off at. Five different people asked if we were going to the hostel and told us they would tell us which stop was ours. WOW—what a really awesome reception from the fine Welsh people on the bus. They all wanted to provide assistance. When we arrived at the stop, they all pointed to the hostel and said—there it is. This was a refreshing moment. I was really
beginning to like the Welsh folks a lot.
The hostel was located in a very interesting neighborhood. It appeared that on our side of the road, the streets were lined with row houses of the blue collared workers. Right across the street, encircling Roath Park, were spectacular homes of old Cardiff social elite (that would be high society Katrina). The hostel seemed very sterile and institutional, but not complaints about the room. We had a private room with two sets of bunk beds. We ended up taking the mattresses off the bunks and made our own queen sized bed. A full English breakfast was included with the price of the room so we took full advantage of this bonus.
Cardiff’s history stems way back in time. The centerpiece of the city is the Cardiff Castle. The castle has a rich history dating back nearly 2000 years. It originally served as a Roman fort and outpost. In later years it served as a Norman keep where the massive “keep” was added to the structure. It then became a medieval stronghold and was fortified again. In most recent history, the castle was inherited by the Third Marquees of Bute in
I never promised you a Rose Garden
Lynne enjoying the spectacular Rose Garden in Roath Park, Cardiff, Wales the late 1800’s. The Marquees was a rather brilliant and wealthy man who hired an architect to transform the castle into an extravagant vacation home. Tours are available of the great halls he had designed, built and decorated to allow him to re-live medieval history. The Marquees was from Scotland and only spent 6 weeks per year in the castle. Upon the death of the Fourth Marquees of Bute in the late 1940’s, he donated the castle to the city of Cardiff.
Lynne and I explored the castle until closing time at 6:00PM. When we went back to the bus stop, we noticed that the bustling city center had closed up and people seemed like they were in a rush to depart the inner city. It was kind of an eerie feel. I thought for a moment that the gremlins came out at dark and anyone caught in the inner city after dark would be eaten alive. In a matter of 30 minutes, the streets were soon vacant.
Cardiff blossomed as an industrial powerhouse during the steel and coal boom of the 1800’s. In this major port city, there is still plenty of evidence of the blue collar
status of the city.
Wales has a proud and rich history. The Welsh are extremely proud of their country and heritage. The Welsh have their own language, but English is the primary language used on a daily basis. I firmly believe that this unique language was created after a long hard night of drinking. It appears that these chaps took a bunch of letters, threw them in a bag and drew them one at a time to come up with some interesting words to create a new language.
The Central Cardiff Market is a must see as well. In the market, you will find a wide variety of fish vendors, fresh meat shops—including pigs heads, produce, and a variety of other vendors. It not just the market, but watching the locals buying their goods for the day or week. Great entertainment for the price of admission—FREE. Precisely at 5:00 today, the shops began closing their doors and people began he task of evacuating the city center. Either the gremlins were on their way or these folks were in a hurry for tea time.
Roath Park is a wonderful park to take a stroll. They have a boathouse which
Castle Wall
Lynne on the Cardiff Castle wall. rents row boats to cruise around the lake. Although we didn’t see anyone out on the water, we determined that this was a popular weekend activity based on the number of boats in the boathouse. The lake is full of water fowl to include a wide variety of ducks we had never seen before. Swans gracefully swam around the lake and strutted their beauty for all to see. Geese were also plentiful in and around the lake. People of all ages and social status stooped by the lake to feed the birds. Some would simply share their sandwiches, while others would come prepared with whole loaves of bread.
As we continue to travel, we are finding that internet is extremely pricey in the UK. The hostels offer a 3 hour card for 8 Pounds (16 Dollars). We found a great little establishment that offered great food and free WIFI. Pipi’s is located on a side street right near the Central Market. Lynne and I grabbed a couple of pastry sandwiches and noticed the sign. We asked Alex about it and he invited us to come back and take advantage of this wonderful service. We would recommend this place to
anyone, not just because of the free internet, but because of the superior customer service, wonderful upstairs dining room and great food and coffee. We spent nearly four hours on the internet so the cost of the meal was well worth the use of the internet.
After spending two nights in Cardiff, we plotted our course to the north. Our next stop is a small town in Herefordshire England—Leominster (pronounced Leminsta).
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