We were debating whether to stop or not in Cardiff as it is late already but in the end the aye’s take the vote and soon we are in downtown Cardiff. The parking lot is quite a complicated one which reads supposedly the license plate and then when you exit you are just supposed to enter the number and you will pay the required amount and then the door opens. I guess we will see how well it works when we return otherwise we might be stuck inside.
The downtown area is close enough and soon we arrive at Queen Street the famous pedestrian street at the center of Cardiff.
Here we are searching for the Post Office to exchange our obsolete pounds. Initially we find only some protests related to Sudan that are quite loud before also noticing the post nearby. We stay in line for a few minutes and then at the counter we get the great news that they are the only place in Wales that is still exchanging pounds, phew. With a lot more usable money in our pocket we exit outside, meet with our relatives, and continue on Queen Street.
We continue on the very busy Queen Street till it ends at the castle walls and here we can decide to continue to the castle or veer left towards the nearby St John the Baptist Church.
We decide on the church first and in a few hundred feet we are at its feet and looking for the entrance. Surprisingly you can enter it and even more surprisingly, for UK, it is free.
It is a nice enough church and we find out as an interesting tidbit that it is the only remaining medieval building in Cardiff besides the Castle. It also provides us with some time to rest and enjoy the silence before entering the loud and busy streets.
In fact we are going first directly next door to the market. Not that we want to see swine head, which of course we do, but because we want to find a toilet. It really is more easy to fine swine heads or other delicacies than the toilets but we succeed in the end and return back to the main street to take a stab at the castle.
When we arrive at the castle we are surprised by the many open air event spaces and screen as well as the police blanketing the area. And then we remember, today is coronation day and likely it was just broadcast live here on the field. It is finished now so we can explore freely and we enjoy the looks of the castles from the outside but don’t have time to actually enter and visit them as it is too late in the day.
Still we have to take a look at the famous animal wall where multiple animal statues were placed just so on the walls to appear like they are escaping. It is quite fun and worth the short detour.
By this point we are famished so we stop at a Portuguese eatery for some typical Portguese snacks. They are quite good and filling and we are re-energized for the rest of the day.
As we return we explore a few malls and shops, however only very few are open or have shoppers inside. It is quite a disconnect versus the throngs of people outside but maybe those are connected also with the coronation.
There are not issues with the parking, yay, and now it is time to leave Cardiff and then soon to say good bye to Wales as we enter England proper as we make our way to Heathrow.
