Cardiff, Wales

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This morning after an early breakfast we caught a taxi to Chester Station and then the 8:22am train to Cardiff. One thing I’ve learned about the trains here in the UK, just because you make a seat reservation doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve actually got a reserved seat. We had seats reserved on Coach B but when the train arrived, there WAS NO COACH B on the train. This is the second or third time this has happened since we’ve been traveling. Luckily we were at the first stop so the train was empty and we had no trouble finding seats and a place to store our luggage, but it does make you wonder a bit what the point of making a reservation is??

Our train ride was about 3 hours and we arrived in Cardiff at 11:15am. We were planning on walking to our B&B but was raining when we arrived so we decided to take a taxi, which ended up being a wise choice because the B&B was further away then I had thought. Luckily our room was ready early so we were able to drop off our things before setting out to see the city.

We walked first to Cardiff Castle, located right in the city center. The castle site was once a Roman fort, and in 1090 a new fortress was built there on an artificial motte by Robert Fitzhamon. His successor then added more buildings to it, and between 1865 and 1920, the entire complex was rebuilt to repair damages created by the Civil War. The Marquis of Bute lived at the castle in the early 1900’s, and the style of the Bute household portion of the castle is really quite impressive. (Admission is between 8.95 and 11.95 pounds depending on whether or not you want a guided tour).

After visiting the castle, we walked over toward the Civic Center and City Hall when it began to rain. And rain, and rain. The National Museum of Wales is located right next to City Hall so we ducked in there to avoid the rain. The ground floor of the museum has an entire section dedicated to the early history of Wales (dating back to prehistoric times), and the upper level contains paintings and other art work. To my surprise, the same Diane Arbus photography exhibit I saw part of in London was on display in full at the museum, so I got to see the rest of it. There is also a Darwin exhibition currently going on as well.

By the time we left it had stopped raining so we walked over to Queen Street to wander around the shops before looking for something to eat. There is a lso an indoor shopping center on Queen Street, as well as a bunch of tiny shops lining the Arcades. We went into a Central Market as well, filled with tiny stands selling all sorts of things (much like a swap meet).

We wandered around looking for a place to eat and finally ended up at a pub called Goat Major, located just across from the castle entrance. I had a Welsh chicken plate, cooked in BBQ sauce and covered in cheese, served with chips and a pint of Brains (a local Welsh bitter). It was all very good and while we were sitting in the pub, it again started to rain so we decided to order another round to wait it out. They had a beer on draft called “Titanic Sundeck” that looked interesting so we decided to try that. It was also a bitter and wasn’t as good as the Brains (besides, how can you not like a beer called “Brains”??).

The rain finally subsided again so we walked to a few shops that were still open and then crossed over to Bute Park (located next to the castle) and walked along the pathway until we got to a footbridge that crossed over toward Cathedral Street (where our B&B is located). It had just started raining again when we arrived back at the B&B so we ducked for cover and spent the rest of the night safe and warm inside.

Tomorrow we are off to Brighton and crossing our fingers for a hint of sunshine for the seaside!!!

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