Cardiff, Wales

Friday, 1 November 2019

Definitely a better night's sleep last night.  Today we walk around Cardiff.  We are spending another night here, so there was no rush to get up earlier which is a relief.  We took our time and left the apartment around 11 AM.  Our guidebook has a walking tour that starts at Cardiff Castle, so we made our way there for the start.

Cardiff Castle was built in the late 11th century by Norman invaders on top of a 3rd century Roman fort.  However, most of what is seen now is renovations done in the 19th century.  Cardiff Castle is not covered by our membership card.  Since we have visited many other castles, we decided to skip this one.  Here are some photos Tim took from outside the wall:

The colors and detais on the clock tower are very cool.

You can see evidence of the old Roman fort below:

We started the walking tour and noticed a Welsh cake bakery making fresh Welsh cakes, so we figured we should try them.  We have been seeing these cakes throughout Wales, but I haven't seen them being made fresh.  They are pretty much just flour, eggs, butter, sugar, and raisins. These were delicious!

Cardiff is an walled, Medieval City.  Then, in 1800's, during the Industrial Revolution, it became a booming coal town.  Welsh coal was known as the world's finest, and Cardiff became the main port in Wales that exported the coal.  At this time, the entire city was built over, so there is little left of the old city.  This church (on the right of the photo) and courtyard is one of the oldest buildings left.  St. John the Baptist church was built in 1180, then rebuilt in the 15th century after damage from a rebellion.

There are many Victorian arcades throughout Cardiff.  The glass roof ensured that the wealthy can shop without getting wet or cold.

Tim liked this guy that somehow resembles the statue he is standing under.  I think it's the coat.

This is Zero Degrees Brewery.  A beautiful space in the center of Cardiff.

Of course we ordered a flight.

Zero Degree Brewery, Cardiff, Wales, 1 November 2019

After lunch and beer we walked to the boat dock to take a boat to Cardiff Bay.  We could walk the 30 minutes, but why walk when we can take a boat?  On the way to the dock we walked by Millennium Stadium now known as Principality Stadium, were many of the Wales team play.  By the way, we have a view of this stadium from our bedroom window.

We made it to the boat dock and had to wait 20 minutes for the boat to arrive.  While waiting, Tim got a good photo of a seagull taking off.

Here comes our boat.

The boat ride was pleasant.  It was about a 30 minutes ride narrated by a nice sounding Welshman that seemed to have a mesmerizing voice.

We arrived at Cardiff Bay.  This is where the railroad met the cargo ships that shipped the coal all over the world back in the 1800's.  After the coal need ended, the area became derelict.  In 1987 it was decided to revitalize the area.  Since then apartments, a performance center (Wales Millennium Centre), restaurants and cafés, and even the Wales Parliament building has been built here.  Also here is the BBC studio where Dr. Who is filmed.  This area is definitely a great place to be.

A view of Cardiff Bay

Wales Millennium Centre

One of the older building still standing in Cardiff Bay is the Pierhead building, built in 1897.  It was the headquarters building for all the railway and ships back in the coal heyday.

We decided to walk back to the city center instead of taking the boat back.  By this time is raining, so we decided to stop at a pub for a pint.  We had a nice conversation with a local that knew a lot about the history of Wales. 
After a couple of pints we headed home, stopped at a takeout Chinese restaurant, and returned to the apartment.

Tomorrow we head back to England with a couple of stops along the way.  Hopefully this rain subsides. We shall see...