Caerdydd and Rugby
Trip Start
May 01, 2007
1
37
80
Trip End
Ongoing
Cardiff, United Kingdom
Saturday, August 25, 2007
There was a big two day music festival on adjacent to the city in Bute Park, and also Wales vs France in a Rugby Union World Cup warm-up match. I had no idea that the Welsh were so into their Rugby. So after initially being wondering what the hell we were going to do over the next three days, we suddenly had too much to do and could not fit everything in
01 - Cardiff Castle
. We headed into the city and an had look around, and soon decided that the Cardiff Castle would be worth a look. But first was a big hearty pub lunch and pint. We headed over to the castle afterwards, and with an unexpected free entry due to our Historic Scotland membership, it made it worthwhile. The castle consists of a surrounding wall, a keep on a hill, and huge Victorian mansion. Most of it has been restored in Victorian times, yet there are still many parts that show it's medieval origins. Wales is know for some of the best medieval castles in Britain. There is a large amount of grassed area inside the castle which was nice on such a sunny day. We headed up the Keep, and got a peek at the music festival going on in the park. Stace was delighted to hear one her fav artists playing. We had a bit more of a look around and took a guided tour around the mansion, which was quite nice. That took us through to late afternoon. The remainder on the evening we spent in the beer garden at the backpackers, right on the river Taff, a great location. We watched the sun go down over a few pints and ended up chatting to a couple of other travellers, one from New York, who was Indian, and one Kiwi. Good fellas, and we had a great night in the end. This backpackers was probably the best one I've stayed at, and the beer garden is ace. On top of that, the local beer brewed in Cardiff - Brains, was going down a treat
02 - The Keep in Cardiff Castle
.After our discussions the night before, we woke on Sunday morning determined to get tickets to the Rugby, starting at 2pm. Unfortunately, I got bugger all sleep due to huge drunk bloke with a big nose snoring like I've never heard snoring before. This guy woke the whole room up almost. It was terrible. I met the guy later on Sunday, and he was actually a nice guy and didn't have the heart to tell him his sleeping habit. We headed over to the stadium after a nice breakfast at the backpackers, and successfully secured tickets to the rugby. To fill in the morning we headed down to Cardiff Bay, and stumbled upon quite a happening market festival there for the long weekend. The bay is nice, with all manner of boats anchored, and some really crazy architecture, particularly the Wales Millennium Centre. We had a decent look around the bay, watched some unexpected volleyball, and just relaxed. Soon it was time to head back to city to make our way to Millennium Stadium for the Rugby, with our Kiwi friend from the hostel tagging along.
We hopped off the bus and were on the foot through the centre of the city and noticed a large amount of red shirts on the backs of Welsh supporters. As we got closer to the stadium, the roads were blocked, and and over taken with a sea red Welshman ready to support their team against France. We took our seats, only a few metres from the pitch, great seats! The stadium is really impressive, modern and huge. The game was a bit of a whitewash in the end unfortunately, with France winning 34-7. However the sound of the red Welsh crowd during that one Welsh try was deafening. It was great! Once again when we left the stadium, the supporters were everywhere, flooding the streets. It was going to be a loud night
03 - View from the keep, stadium and castle
. We headed back to the backpackers for a couple of pints, and then back into the city to a few pubs. One funny memory is that of all the patrons in the huge 'Walkabout' pub singing loudly in once voice to Tom Jones' Delilah! Tom Jones being Welsh, the singing being they're unofficial anthem! It was a good day, great whether again, and plenty of Brains over the evening capped off the day well.We had only one thing planned on Monday, a trip to the medieval Caerphilly Castle. I had seen pictures of this before I left, and was not going to leave Wales without having been there. My attraction to the castles in Wales is the classic medieval look most of the have. They are the type of castles of drew when I was kid, the ones with turrets, moats, and draw bridges. So we hopped on the train to Caerphilly, and after a short walk through the town, we arrived at the castle. Caerphilly Castle is huge, and a new we could spend a few hours there easily. The sun was shining yet again, and we had a slow look around, finished off with a sandwich by the water overlooking castle. It is one of the most amazing castles I have seen. Returning from Caerphilly saw us get the transport to the airport for a flight back to Glasgow. I really enjoyed my long weekend in Cardiff, and it was full of unexpected events and outings, which made all the worthwhile. The city is a nice size, about the same as Hobart, and Cardiff Bay does have echoes of bay in Australia, a bit like Glenelg is SA maybe.
