I have set off on another day adventure...into Wales and the town of Cardiff. I figured I lived in the San Diego version of it so I should go and visit the real thing. They are both set on water....that is the only similarity though. Two very different places. The people of Wales have had a really rough past. I felt like there was still a lot of underlying unsettled feelings there. However now instead of fighting it out in battles like they did in the old days they take it out on the Rugby field. It is apparently like a religion there. I have to say I am intrigued and scared all in the same breath about possibly attending a rugby match. We will just have to see how daring I get. They have an amazing stadium which is right in the middle of town. Apparently it's location is do to the fact that the ground below it is where the first wooden stadium for sport was built and they decided to stay with the same location.
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| City View of Cardiff from the top of the Castle |
Not sure if it was just superstition or some weird law but none the less there is a massive stadium right in the center of town. Also in the center of town near this very modern stadium is a castle that dates back to Roman times. This is what I was talking about. This city just has a very discombobulated feeling about it. Don't get me wrong I really like it but as you are walking through you can feel all the different layers of history that they have been through. There was even a time when there weren't really any Welsh people living here. They didn't even view it as a Welsh town and a man named Owian Glyndwr (the equivalent to William
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| At the castle keep...proof I really am here :) |
Wallace for the Scottish) acctually led a revolution that ended with burning down Cardiff. Crazy that now it is the capital city. The castle in the middle of the city goes right along with the layers of history that the city has. Like I mentioned it started in Roman times and has been changed and added to with each different war or member of society that owned it. There were still bits of the wall and most of the foundation that date back to 55AD. It was rebuilt by the Normans in the 11th century and then upgraded into the Gothic Victorian style by the Bute family who used as there vacation home about 6 weeks out of the year. Can you imagine the amount of cash this family had that this castle was a vacation home. Also when they tired of it and decided to spend more time in their homeland of Scotland they gave it to the people of Cardiff. Ya that's how rich they were....they didn't need to sell it to get another home like all us normal folk they just handed over the keys and walked away. They cool part about that was that the people of Cardiff literally own it. If you have an address in Cardiff you get a "key to the Castle" and can come in and out whenever. When I was there I saw tons of people just
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| High Street Cardiff |
wandering in and out with picnic baskets to have a little lunch on the green or play in the grass with their kids. It was pretty cool.
Outside the castle walls was a bustling city. High Street was the place to be. There were all sorts of little shops cafes and pubs. Apparently when the city was first set up there were about 27 pubs and not many more people then there were pubs. Priorities I guess....sounds like a pretty good ratio for them. All along this street there also were a bunch of market stalls set up selling vintage wares and tasty treats. It was such a fun alive street with tons of character. The shop buildings were each so
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| Victorian Arcade |
unique and had so much character. I wish my photo had captured it a bit better. The other cool thing that Cardiff had a ton of were the Victorian Arcades. If you recall I discovered these for the first time in London so when I saw them here I knew what they were but I found out a bit more about them in Cardiff. These beautiful buildings with gorgeous shops lining them were originally strips of farming land. As Cardiff became a booming city due to the coal mines they had to start providing entertainment for the people of the city and the visitors so they started building on the farm land. The town was full of these arcades....more then I have seen in any other town. Most of them were straight but some were curvy since they were built over top of medieval streets. It does still confuse me on first glance though when I see arcade in the title....I walk in initially thinking I will see Pac Man and Street Fighter but am brought back to reality by designer clothing and jewelry. I do apologize if sometimes these blogs end up
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| Cardiff Bay |
sounding like a history lesson but I am kind of a nerd about this stuff and love learning about all the different places. Cardiff is so very different from anything I am really familiar with I was just eating all of it up. I had the best tour guide on my walking tour. He was so knowledgeable and just linked everything together so well it was fascinating. The only thing that he didn't describe well was the walking distance from the city center to the bay. When I asked if it was walkable he said oh ya...it's not far at all. Well he was wrong. I am totally used to walking but this was really far. It was one of those walks where you consider turning around multiple times but don't because you know that is must be right up around the corner. When I finally arrived at the bay it was well worth it. It is beautiful and just alive with people. It was a gorgeous sunny day and everyone was out in their short sleeves enjoying a pint in the sun by the water. I wish I would have had more time to do the same. Unfortunately I feel like I just scraped the surface of this very historical and interesting town. There were many more things I wanted to do and discover but just didn't have the time in my one day trip. I really would like to go back and spend some more time in Wales. I will leave you now with my stupid moment of the day though...when I arrived I started noticing that all signs were in 2 languages. I was quite confused as to why and what other country was Wales being so generous to that they wanted to put the language up. Oh yes...I am that much of an idiot. I learned later from my wonderful tour guide that it is actually the Welsh language. I suppose it is one of those things that I knew but just didn't really even connect together that it was a language that was still used. Apparently it is alive and well. In citys' you will mostly hear english but if you go out in the country a bit 60 to 70 percent of the people will all still be speaking Welsh. If you aren't already feel free to have a good chuckle at my expense...I did.
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