Wales 2011 - Cardiff

Wales 2011 - Cardiff

Our holiday in St. David's was schedule to finish on the Thursday so, as I'd never been to Cardiff before, we took the opportunity to stay there for a couple of nights and see what it was like.

After leaving St. David's we called in at Newgale Beach for an ice cream and a wander on a lovely sandy beach

We had a lovely half an hour (or so) just wandering about, taking the odd photo and (in Jonathon's case) talking to someone who was fishing.

There were a few pretty shells just asking to have their picture taken.

We also took some bird pictures but they are on the nature page.

We arrived at the St. David's Hotel in the Bay area of Cardiff and were made to feel very welcome. It's a Principal Hayley hotel and very upmarket with possibly the biggest jacuzzi we have ever seen! Our room was on the 7th floor with lovely views over the harbour.

It also looked very pretty at night with all the lights (and very different from the view we enjoyed from the guest house in St. David's)

We only had one full day in Cardiff and by the time we'd had breakfast and knowing that we had to be back in time for my massage we wanted to see as much as we could in the time available so .... we went on a City Tour (bus).

We walked towards the City centre to get a feel for the City. Everything seemed pretty well signposted and we were pleasantly surprised at the amount of sculpture / art around the place.

This one caught our eye - it reminded me of two people having a chat! The colours reverse depending which side you look at it.

The City Tour started at the castle. This was in the middle of the City so easily accessible.

All the posts around the castle had this chap on his horse on them.

The castle dates back to Roman times. The stone work below the pink line dates from that time.

Cardiff calls itself the City of Arcades - there were several Edwardian and Victorian arcades around.

There were, of course, also more traditional shopping streets and two shopping centres - not to mention the shopping in the Bay area. Apparently this John Lewis is the largest outside London - part of the St. David's Shopping Centre.

Some more statues - the one of the left is John, Marquis of Bute, KT; the one on the right is a statue for peace (South Africa). The chap in the middle is a Welsh dragon (I think on top of one of the university buildings). The three on the following row are on the top of buildings. The lady and man are on one building - he caught my eye as a real down to earth chap. The third one is one of a pair on top of a different building - not quite so friendly perhaps.

We didn't go into the Millennium Stadium but couldn't come to Cardiff without at least going past it (left).

The church on the right is St. Mary's.

There were some interesting roof lines - both modern and older. There were also some impressive towers and domes.

As well as the Millennium Stadium, there was also the Millennium building - an impressive structure in the Bay area. Not sure what the words signify but apparently they are all windows so you can sit and watch the world go by in there. The roof reminded me of an upturned boat.

There have been several changes to the way Wales is governed over the years. The building on the left is the parliament building and the one on the right the debating chamber.

Below left is a modern version of Justice with her scales, sword and blindfold.

There's not much heavy industry left in Cardiff now but this steel works still provides employment. It's now owned by a Spanish company.

Some varied views of Cardiff. The Norwegian Church on the right is no longer a church but an art centre. Roald Dahl was apparently christened there.

Finally back to our hotel (on the left) for a massage (me) and a play in the pool and jacuzzi (Jonathon) before dinner.

Cardiff is an interesting City. A lot of museums that we didn't have time to visit and a real buzz round the Bay area in the evening (very cafe culture). The City Tour was a good way of getting a feel for what's around and there would be plenty to do if we found ourselves here again in the future.