Cardiff; Saturday, 12 February, 2005

After the rain of yesterday it was a relief to wake up to find Saturday was dry & bright. I walked from the hotel to Cardiff Queen Street station and an early train out to Caerphilly. About 10 minutes walk from the station is Caerphilly Castle. The castle is a little disappointing as it looks massive from the outside, but there is not much to see other than ruins once inside.

Despite that the site does have 2 exhibitions inside different towers. One tells the history of the site and the other the history of the inhabitation of Wales.

After leaving the castle I walked back to the station & caught the train back to Cardiff where I changed and caught another train out to Taffs Well.

From Taffs Well it's a 30 minute, uphill, walk to Castle Coch.

The castle was originally built by the Norman's but was abandoned in the 14th Century and remained ruins until it was restored & rebuilt. The outside is fairy-tale Norman castle, but inside it's all Victorian fantasy!

After spending some time looking around the castle I walked back to Taffs Well station to catch the train back to Cardiff. At Queen Street station I caught the train down to Cardiff Bay and the went for a wander around the newly rejuvenated dock areas that have been transformed from the once prosperous, the run-down & deprived docks into one of the most desirable areas to live in in the whole of Wales.

With a sudden & tremendous downpour striking I went into the Cardiff Bay visitors centre. The centre gives a background to the rejuvenation of the area along with a scale model of the whole area.

After the end of the rain I walked over to one of the old Victorian dock company buildings which now houses the Welsh Assembly education centre. The centre is well presented & gives a background to how devolved power operates in Wales.

From there I walked down to the waterside just in time to get on a boat tour of the bay including going alongside the barrage that helps to make the harbor. With the sun starting to set I caught the train back into the city centre & then back out to Caerphilly. I had a long wander around the outside of the castle which is as spectacular floodlit at night as it is during the day.

Then it was time to get the train back to Cardiff and dinner!