January Trip to Cardiff, Wales

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January Trip to Cardiff, Wales
My short trip to Wales began January 13, 2008 after the Delta TransAtlantic flight, Atlanta-London. It was the start of a month in Europe with two friends from China, Dai Lejuan and Linell Davis. Dai is doing research for her Ph.D. at Cardiff University in Wales. Linell is on her long winter vacation (the Lunar New Year break) from her job as a professor in Nanjing. We have been planning this trip for about six months, when we learned that Dai would be in Europe.
We are all meeting in London on January 15. Since I’m part Welsh, I decided to meet Dai in Cardiff and see a bit of Wales, even in the worst, winter weather. It rained every day, but not for long. I didn’t mind. Dai is living with three Welsh professionals, not students, so I was lucky enough to have some genuine

Welsh experiences.

The best was “The Quiz” at a pub. Two of the roommates took us to a pub in the suburbs, near where someone’s sister keeps her horse, for Quiz Night. I expected it to be like Trivia night in American pizza places. It was similar, but more like school! Each table is a team, and the teams compete against one another. Our team was Sarah (an accountant), Doug (an IT professional), Dai (a language specialist) and me (what am I?).
First, we all got a warm-up sheet with photos to identify. After we worked on that a while, the leader called out the answers. We were OK, not perfect. Then we were given a sheet with two columns of numbered blanks. The leader called out questions that needed short answers; several of the questions were American. E.g., “What is the government building in Virginia with ??? miles of corridors?” (I forget how many miles.) I said “Pentagon,” then on second thought, the “FBI building.” I should have stayed with the first thought. Pentagon was the right answer. The questions jumped all over the place. It was fun. We did OK. We ended up in 4th place out of about 10 teams. Sarah was very disappointed. She really wanted to win.
I drank a half-pint and ate steak and ale pie. I was really having a Welsh experience. By the way, Sarah drove us there. Driving on the “wrong” side of the road is nerve-wracking for me. I shut my eyes a lot. We also had to maneuver several circles and circles within circles. We got lost at one point and pulled into the parking lot of a Burger King to call the sister with the horse and get directions.
In addition to playing, Dai and I were serious tourists. We went to Cardiff Castle and then to the Welsh Folk Museum at St. Fagans.
Cardiff Castle was the summer home of the coal barons, the Creighton-Stewart family. The guide said the head of the family was the wealthiest member of Parliament ever. The castle was opulent, even now, with most of the furnishings gone. Our tour group was interesting; two people from South Africa, five from China (not including Dai), three from England, and Dai and I. The British guide loved talking about the family and its wealth. Most of the rooms were small, with elaborately decorated walls and ceilings. The dining room was very large; they obviously held many parties. The kitchens held multiple stoves and cooking and preparation areas. We weren’t allowed to take photos inside. Outside the Welsh flag with the red dragon waved over the clock tower. The castle was a large square around the keep, which was on a hill in the middle. The keep is a prison. A canon, only about 30 years old, was in the courtyard, and was used for celebrating national events.
The Welsh Folk Museum, St. Fagans, was a longer bus ride away from the university area. We enjoyed the ride, but again driving on the left side of the street caused me some stress. The museum area has about 35 buildings, but we arrived in the afternoon of a rainy, winter day, so we really concentrated on the main house. We did walk around some, but it was getting dark and the museum was closing, so we left about 4:00 p.m.
The house was like a very, large country home, of a wealthy family with servants. We toured the large social rooms on the ground floor, the large bedrooms on the first floor (2nd floor in American English) and then went down to the basement to see the kitchens and servants’ work areas. There was a docent on the 1st floor who not only answered our questions, but was glad to have a conversation with us about the Welsh language. She was retired and had taught Welsh for over 25 years. She taught us about the Welsh alphabet and pronunciation. The Welsh had won an important political decision to put all street signs in both English and Welsh. The language was disappearing before the push for signs and classes in all the schools.
(To be continued…)

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Photos

flying away from the sunset
As the sun set in the west, my flight took off for the east to London.

I'm in Wales
The Welsh red dragon was evident everywhere. Here it is at the bus station.

Cardiff Castle
Dai and I spent a morning on a tour of Cardiff Castle. This castle looks like a child's imagined, traditional castle with crenalated (sp?) walls, a keep, fancy rooms, large dining room, canon, etc.

Cardiff Keep and Hill
The keep is the jail or dungeon. This one is dismal, cold, and definitely not pleasant.

Cardiff Castle map
Here's the map of the Cardiff Castle layout. I got very few pictures of the inside.

Welsh and English
Wales won a major political battle and all the signs are now in both English and Wales. Here's an example.

storm clouds over Welsh church
Winter weather in Wales is wet and cold. We had rain every day--in fact, several times a day. I liked these storm clouds over the Welsh church.

Here I am at Cardiff Castle
Here I am in this old castle in Cardiff. Am I really part Welsh?

Cardiff ceiling in smoking room
Here's an example of the opulence in this castle. This is one ceiling.

Another English & Welsh sign
In case you need to say "Danger!" in Welsh.

Gardens at the folk museum
There are 35 buildings, but because of the rain and glowering sky, we just visited the main building.

Welsh homes
Homes neighboring the folk museum.

Comments

[Gailey]

Hey, Susie! Great photos - dramatic! Good to see a bit of Wales! Hope your trip is continuing to be fun and perhaps sunnier and drier! L, G

[John & Mary Miller]

Hey ... what a surprise. Never one to stop, are you?

[Joey]

Looks like fun
This reminds me of when I was in Wales! I like the story about you driving on the wrong side of the road. Your back seat driving is bad enough in America! I pity the poor sap who has to drive you around in the UK!!