NO WHALES IN WALES

CARDIFF CASTLE

CARDIFF BAY

CARDIFF CITY

The wall around the Castle

C


RIVER TAFT WATER TAX

But there were lots of other good things to see and do. Cardiff is the capitol of Wales but it isn't a huge city.  It DOES have 3 arenas for different venues. The Millennium Stadium is for sporting events and is very new looking. The Millennium arena is for cultural happenings and it too is a very new building. Both of these buildings are HUGE and very modern. (If I wasn't battling with this computer I would show you pictures.)  The third arena seems to be more for things like car shows and rock concerts. Apparently the Welsh are very proud of their musical talents and take great pride in any and all talent that comes from their country. Of all the names listed of famous people who came from Wales the only one I knew was Tom Jones. Of whom I was never a fan.

As most cities in the UK, Cardiff boasts of a Castle. Compared to Windsor castle it isn't much to speak of but it was great fun to tour. The Castle in Cardiff is only about 100 years old, although it is built on the remains of a Roman fortress. You know those Romans . . .  conquer, conquer, conquer! They, like most men, could never have enough toys to play with or places to order around. And so at one time in history the Romans invaded little old Wales, took over everything and built a fortress on the River Taft which leads to the sea. The fortress fell down, was built up, fell down and was built up over and over until in the 1800's lord some body or other did it right. He built and lived in the manor house and that is what stands there today. The castle played a big part in WWII as a place for the people of Cardiff to survive the air raids that destroyed most of the city. It was a very interesting place to visit and we really enjoyed our day there on Tuesday.

As for the rest of Cardiff, there really isn't much to see. They are restoring the water front with shops and restaurants, there are 2 really GREAT places for kids to spend a day. Techni quest was an awesome hands on science center that Ger and I paid the 5 pounds to get into. I would still be there but G was getting hungry and bored. (The puzzles were getting the best of him!) There is also a "DOCTOR WHO experience", where kids can go to get their fill of this TV science star. Doctor Who travels in time in a Police telephone booth. It is a much loved show here in the UK but since my grand kids never get to watch TV they don't know anything about the good doctor and so neither do we.

G and I had a nice time in Cardiff and can now say we have been there. The people were WONDERFUL and oh so much more friendly than in England. The folks in England are lovely once YOU break the silence. In Wales the people were just so out going and friendly although they were harder to understand than the English as their accents are about as thick as the Scots.

I think I need to put Wales on my list of places to explore even more because the northern part of Wales is filled with mountains and beautiful scenery. The more I research this the more I want to return.

I guess I better start saving those dollars and hope that the exchange rate of dollars to pounds improves.

And so our trip to Wales came to an end on Thursday when we walked back to the train station to catch a train back to Windsor. Our hotel was great in spite of the misgivings I had about staying in a place called, "THE BIG SLEEP". That was a bit worrisome to me but the place was great and our corner room on the 10th floor had a spectacular view of the city. (There really was nothing to see except other buildings.) The room was comfy and cheap and that is all we needed. There was one pecular thing that had Ger and I puzzled for a bit. We settled into the room and I went to turn the bath room lights on but they wouldn't work. None of the lights worked. The TV didn't work. HUM! Before I got on the phone to call the desk I walked to the door to see if there were and insturctions and there on the wall beside the door was a small box with a metal plate it in. Instruction said, "Place card here". Card? What card?

I got the room key card, slid it in the slot and sure enough all the lights came on!

Kyle says many hotel have this sort of thing that is a master switch for the electric in your room . It was a first to us but now I know should we ever encounter it again.

GO FIGURE!