Castles and Capitals 3: Sunshine in Wales

Our next stop during the week-long break was Cardiff, the capital of Wales, where we would be spending a couple nights in a lovely hostel along the river. Our trip began at an early hour of the morning in Dublin, and after a quick flight with Ryanair we found ourselves in Bristol, England, a gorgeous city bathed in sunlight that I had the pleasure to view out the window of a bus to the train station. Our trip to Cardiff was brief and when we arrived in Wales, we were greeted with an open blue sky and dry pavement and weather that we would be able to enjoy for the greater part of our stay, which contributed to the general feeling of relaxation I experienced here.

A lion on the Animal Wall outside Cardiff Castle

We dropped off our belongings at our fabulous hostel across from Cardiff’s Millenium Stadium and the River Taff before exploring town. Along the way towards Cardiff Castle stretches the “Animal Wall,”  a cute collection of well-sculpted stone animals set and different intervals that we had fun taking pictures with. The shopping area in the city centre was packed with visitors, and we walked around a bit before stopping in to eat an inexpensive lunch in a quiet tavern. The warm sunshine, coupled with the general atmosphere of leisure, made this day extremely relaxing and calm. We took a walk down to Cardiff Bay to enjoy the sights along the pier of the Bristol Channel and saw the exterior of the massive Millenium Centre, a building dedicated to housing artistic events like opera and theatre, and the neat reflective Water Tower outside in the plaza. In the streets around Cardiff Bay in waterfront Mermaid Quay I indulged in some shopping before we made our way back into town. For dinner that night we went out for tapas, the Spanish-based meal of appetizers, a dining experience that I found extremely fun and satisfying. 

I think Dad will like this!

At the end of the shopping centre

Cardiff Bay

The Millenium Centre

Near a recreation of an old farm

We woke up to a fantastic selection for breakfast and walked in the Welsh sunshine to our bus to St. Fagans. This amazing national history museum is designed as an outdoor walk-through of different eras of Welsh life, with buildings, stores and other structures designed as if they were from different periods. I especially enjoyed the old general store, where a pile of outdated British coins sat on the counter for anyone to examine (half crowns, shillings, sixpence and the like were phased out around 1971 on Decimal Day), and the absolutely gorgeous gardens near St. Fagans Castle where we spent a long time after lunch. Our meal consisted of fresh warm bread purchased at the bakery in the museum along with different types of cheese from the general store (I believe white wine and garlic cheddar, and something I can’t remember that was also tasty) and some rhubarb and vanilla jam that we devoured happily in the café. The weather held up for our time in the gardens. It was a perfect autumn day – leaves on the grass, a little chill, sunshine and a bright sky covered in a few fluffy white and grey clouds – and before long we realized we needed to catch a bus back into town. While relaxing and the bus stop we chatted with an older couple visiting the museum from Northern Wales. They would speak Welsh to each other, and conversed with us about how the language is taught in some schools at an early age. 

Old Celtic village

Near the gardens

Cardiff Castle

Back at the hostel we prepared to head out for dinner and took a bus back to Mermaid Quay to meet a friend of one of the group who was attending Cardiff University. We enjoyed food and laughter for three hours in an upstairs restaurant near the bay before we called it a night.

After a beautiful and relaxing couple of days in sunshiny Wales, it was on to London for the remainder of the trip!