The Doctah, the Writah and the travellah…

Ah, Cardiff!

A great city, filled with culture enough to melt yer eyeballs, if you let it.

Home to The Doctor, Torchwood, birthplace of Roald Dahl, site of the mammoth Millennium Stadium, Cardiff Castle and so much more.

I spent several days here, walking my feet down to the bare clinking bones, exploring.

[Not actually me.]

But no sore feet for you today! Here’s a peek at a fraction of it…

This Norwegian church holds the Dahl Gallery, commemorating Cardiff’s famous BFG himself.

The nearby Dahl Plass is more famous, perhaps, for the headquarters of Torchwood, located somewhere under this Water Tower, which is also beside…

The beautiful Millennium Centre, [where some of you might know, the Rift once opened…]

[I was bummed not to get a shot of it at night — the letters glow from within…!]

Oh, and speaking of Rifts, I spied this out at the end of the pier:

Tardis!

I had a wonderful time in this beautiful city. I have to admit I did get panhandled twice in the first five minutes after I arrived, but hey — they were polite. The Welsh accent is like no other, and the city was worthy of the sore feet she gave me.

Let’s finish with a quick peek at her castle, shall we? Cardiff Castle is smack in the middle of town, an updated mostly-Norman ediface with Roman foundations. And in more contemporary times, its heavy walls sheltered many Cardiffians during the Blitz, when the city was heavily shelled. But inside the outer curtain walls lies the open castle keep, a beautiful example of Mott & Bailey structure.

 

This is _inside_ the protective curtain wall, on a little hill [of course], surrounded by courtyard. I crawled all over the thing — SO much fun. I do have to note that my giant 21st century feet did not easily fit on the tiny, steep staircases, spiral and otherwise. But I didn’t plummet even once, a point of pride, I’ll have you know!

Altogether a very satisfying visit.

After Cardiff comes Swansea, another beautiful place, and surprising on many levels. Sadly, to learn Swansea’s secrets is going to cost you another day, as I have other words that need writing tonight.

 

More soon…!

 

~kc