Cardiff, Wales - Sweet and sad

NOTE: No animals, people, or property were damaged as a result of Gerhard's driving to and from Cardiff on 17 January 2009.

All right! Time to go to another country again! Well, sort of. Wales is about an hour, maybe an hour and a half drive from Cheltenham. So for the folks in Cheltenham, it's kind of like going to Orlando. Or maybe Daytona. Or maybe Sebring. Noone was all that excited at work or at the hotel when I mentioned I wanted to go to Cardiff on Saturday. Well, screw them! I looked up Cardiff on-line, found the place I wanted to eat lunch, the perfect Japanese Tavern - I hadn't had Japanese food in a while, and this place looked really promising. I had a couple of pubs scoped out online, a backup lunch place (trattoria), a museum and a castle to see!

How bad could it be?

Well, let me start off by saying that my experience with the roads on the way to Cardiff was ... um ... good. You cannot go below the speed limit on a UK M- road. The other drivers will not let you. I am in a nation of mad people, at least behind the wheel. I will from now on, give the keys to any British driver who has all his limbs and faculties. You will never find a more experienced and stolid driver exposed to as many crazy and arbitrary laws as the Brits. However -- I have never been to SE Asia.

So I was moderately invigorated by the road trip and being forced to go 80 mph the whole way. I found a parking garage, zipped in, got the ticket, and walked off toward the castle. I estimated a half mile. As soon as I made two turns on the roads, I forgot where the garage was. Sh*t! Also, the main road wasn't where I thought it would be! Was that it, next to that bookstore-looking thing? To the bookstore-looking-thing! I entered, the Cardiff City Centre. Yes, the sprawl mall at the heart of Cardiff. A square mile of Body Shop, Starbucks, Costa, Bella Italia, and more and more. See the next blog post for a little more about this.

However, unlike the English City Centres I had been exposed to, people were smiling, heads were facing toward the sky and each other. Heels clicked musically on the ground, instead of crushing to the earth in spite and frustration, as in England. People smiled. One older gent looked at me and grinned mischievously. His eyes twinkled. He said "Excuse me, young man, you look a bit lost. Can I help you?"

I stammered. I panicked. I wasn't used to being treated like something other than a piece of furniture. I had been in England, for crying out loud! I finally said something about wanting to see the Castle (I remembered to make the a an 'ah' sound) and also managed to squeak out a thank you-cheers-wow-you-are-a-really-nice-guy! This fellow, Michael, explained that he was Welsh. And that was all the explanation he gave. Hm. He also told me the name of the street on which the car park I had used was. He offered to draw me a map. I said, no, thanks. I escaped from the unaccustomed kindness.

According to Michael, I was headed in the right direction (a first!), and I was one street off, because the council had put one-ways in to divert traffic. So, just at the other end of the mall (City Centre) should be the bend in the road I had anticipated. Now, I had noticed the one-way on the way in, and I know how it works in the US with alternate blocks. The blocks here happened to be a mile apart. That would put me on Castle St, kitty corner to the Castle.

Sure enough! I emerged from the arcade (Promenade, City Centre) kitty corner from one of the most impressive structures I had seen (minus two in London and several in Paris). Well, ok, the most impressive thing I had seen outside London, Paris, and the Gloucester Cathedral. But it was still damn imposing. Cardiff Castle. Immediately, I looked at the walls to see how old they were. I saw seams, so I knew there had been generational or even century-long gaps between occupations. I looked for ornament. I saw the clock tower, with its incredible color and detail. I knew I'd like this Victorian-ornamented, multi-age place.

I went to the Wales Centre first, to get some stuff for the girls. The ladies there were, of course, actively friendly and helpful. They made suggestions on different things I might like without being pushy or bored. In fact, they asked after the girls' ages and then they nattered back and forth about what they did at those ages, and the like. Amazingly nice. After loading up with a few things, I hiked across the street to the Castle visitor entrance. I don't remember how much it cost, maybe 8 GBP? And I really don't care. It was worth it. I was welcomed warmly by two guides (they introduced themselves, John (maybe) and Wes?) and told what the options were, I could pick up an audio recording and mosy around the grounds, leave for lunch, come back later, whatever, just return the recording first. Oh, and I get a tour too with the paid admission, just show up at the foot of the stairs around 20 after, 20 til, or on the hour and they'll take care of me. Oh yeah, and leave, come back, take your time, have a meal, whenever you like.

Wow! I think that was too much freedom for me! I got the audio recorder and walked the grounds, listening to the story of the Roman occupation of the Castle site (100 or so?), the eventual raising of the motte and bailey by Normans (1080 or so?). It continued with keep construction, castle construction, mansion construction, all of the excavations of the various foundations, and the rework and redecoration of the mansion in Georgian and then Victorian modes. Interesting stuff. They'd also had water damage so some of the ramparts (Ladies' Walk) was closed, and unfortunately the falcons were put up for the winter, so the falconry was deserted. Hm. I had a coffee and sat outside looking around this castle site and thinking about all the people who tried to build here and to settle and control this town. Hm. The views from the top of the keep were tremendous, especially away from the city (to the North).

Then I went on the guided tour, which was basically through the house. Or at least that's what I remember. Oh my gosh, what sumptuous decorations. The banquet hall, with the lineage traced of the fealty families, the library with the lineage of Princes of Wales, back to Uther, the harem room for ladies to lounge in, the gentleman's smoking room, with all the time motif of the clock tower. Incredible carving, detail, rich wood, gold leaf, vibrant color, consistent themes. For instance, monkeys in the library around the door frames were the single little bit of victorian abundance allowed in the otherwise stately Georgian drawing room (on the other side of the same arch, like the monkeys were poking through!). Speaking of the drawing room, with so much heaviness in the house, and so much ornate decor, it was a breath of fresh air to have such a bright and minimal room. Very impressive, Mr. William Burges (architect and designer for the 3d Marquis of Bute, owner).

After the Castle, it was time for lunch. My Japanese Tavern was on Mermaid Quay, which I thought sounded enchanting - I should have known better. After a 2 1/2 mile hike south from the castle, 1 mile through the remainder of the mall, and then 1 1/2 - 2 miles through the worst slums I had seen to date in the UK (and I used to hang out in Passaic, NJ, so I know slums), I made it to Mermaid Quay. A three story restaurant and cinema MALL. Oh, the radio station across the street? Yeah, they are opening a MALL in their grounds. So I looked through Mermaid Quay for the Tavern. The spot where it should have been was occupied by a 'The Real China' chinese buffet joint. Dejected, I moved on.

I spent about a half hour trying to follow the signs for 'Plass Roald Dahl' that I saw outside Mermaid Quay. Um, eventually I figured it out. It's that bare slab of concrete between the Millenium Centre and Mermaid Quay. Now, the Millenium Centre was all right, anything with 20-foot high lettering is ok in my book. It's a really cool forum for the people of Wales to have, and I'm glad they built it. And it's impressive. Is it worth traveling to see? Um, no. I saw the 'Norweigian Church' too, some big-deal replica of a genuine Norwegian Church. It looked like the Chapel my friend got married in in Dunedin, FL. I was so disappointed I didn't even take a picture. I walked back toward the main mall (City Centre) to find a Bella's or something to eat. I walked down the other one-way to avoid the slums, because it was about 3, and starts to get a little dim (yes, it was that bad). On the way, I remembered I did pass a 'Zushi' in the mall, a chain restaurant I had seen in London that was not present in Cheltenham. I had never been. I figured, what the heck, I'm here for Japanese. Once I hit the mall, though, there was a student demonstration against Gaza. I listened for a little bit, watched the bobbies eyeing the students, and the students eyeing the bobbies and the old folks. There was nothing being said I hadn't read, so my stomach took over again.

I found the Zushi. I bought it, I ate it, it was delicious!

I found the car, got it, paid after a modicum of difficulty figuring out WHERE to pay, and drove off to Cheltenham. A day well spent, but not worth repeating. Cardiff was just too sad, and the sweet Welsh people don't deserve that. Commercialization to death.

Interior Pictures were forbidden :-(. Try here: Google Images of Castle Cardiff Interiors

Album: Facebook "Caerdydd, Cymru"

[GJF: Written 22 January 2009]