16 June - Cardiff Bay

What a lovely surprise to see the sun first thing in the morning. Since rain was forecast for most of the week, we decided to take advantage of it by going to Cardiff Bay. We caught the bus into town then started walking by the River Taff toward the bay. As we rounded the corner, in a scene out of Hitchcock's "The Birds", a huge flock of pigeons flew toward us. I would have gotten a photo, but I was too busy covering my face as they flew into us, colliding with each other and me. That distraction over with, we continued on and discovered that we were on the same route as the Diabetes Walk. There weren't too many walkers, so I think these folks we passed were at the beginning or the end of the event.

We didn't know it, but we were on the Taff Trail which runs from Cardiff to Brecon, 55 miles away. The beginning of the route is mostly through residential areas, but then veers off onto a gravel path, past the Cardiff Yacht Club and into the Cardiff Bay Wetlands. The wetlands were created by building a barrage, a type of dam, to regulate the flow of water. Though the barrage project was opposed by many Cardiff residents, it played an important role in the regeneration of the area when the saline mudflats were transformed into a freshwater marshland and a 500 acre lake.

A short walk from the wetlands is the bustling area of Mermaid Quay. Especially bustling today because it's Father's Day, which we had totally forgotten. Lots of families Quayside were enjoying the beautiful sunny day.

There were a few shops tucked in here and there, but most of the business on the quay were restaurants and coffee shops. We walked on, passing the old Welsh Parliament building

And the new Welsh Parliament building,

past the Welsh Merchant Sailors Memorial

and on to the Antarctic Memorial commemorating Robert Falcon Scott's expedition, which sailed out of Cardiff Bay.

We retraced our steps a bit, enjoying the view over the bay

and headed over to the Millennium Center, an incredible bit of modern architecture.

In Welsh & English it says, "In These Stones Horizons Sing."

Walking back we found a statue dedicated to Ivor Novello, a Welsh actor, dramatist, singer and composer who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century.

I doubt that most people, other than die hard Anglophiles and musical theatre geeks would remember him, but he wrote some wonderful songs. I can just hear, "We'll gather lilacs in the spring again, and walk together down an English lane..." He wrote "Keep the Home Fires Burning", a popular patriotic tune during WWI, too. His statue says it all.

Bruce went pub crawling, I went in search of other sights. Two things along the way I found interesting were the free sunscreen in the public toilets (what a great idea when you're by the sea!)

and the canine happy hour station.

A bit of waterfront art:

The Brits (and apparently Welsh) really do love their dogs. This is the third brand of this product I've seen.

I thought about catching a bus back to Cardiff city center, but then looked down the wharf and saw Cardiff Water Taxi and thought, why not?

As we left the dock and started across Cardiff Bay, a recording started. At first I thought it was just the obligatory "in case of emergency" recording, but then a narration started talking about the bay, the barrage, and a bit of Cardiff history.

We sailed past the yacht club and the entrance to the wetlands

and started down the river Taff. At one point the narrative pointed out The Black Wall, which was part art installation, part bird house. Actually, it was meant to be a whole wall of bird houses to encourage more birds to nest, but they didn't take into account the prevailing winds which blew right into the openings of the houses, which is exactly the opposite of what a bird looks for in a next. No bird has ever made its nest there.

A bit further down the river, the narrative talked about one of Cardiff's favorite daughters, Shirley Bassey. She left school at 14 to work in a packing factory. She would sing while she was working, but apparently her singing annoyed her co-workers. After a couple of warnings, she was fired. Of course, she went on to become a huge star, so I'm guessing being fired from a factory job didn't phase her.

We passed under the Castle Bridge and pulled into shore, a thoroughly enjoyable ride.

The walk up from the dock leads into Bute Park

and its little faux Stonehenge

This park is huge and there's so much to explore, but I thought I'd leave it for another day.

Walking in town I saw the statue of John Batchelor.

With the epithet "The Friend of Freedom" my curiosity was piqued. I learned that he was an active Liberal politician and served as a Liberal Councillor and, later, Mayor of Cardiff.He also campaigned against slavery. His political activity brought him into conflict with the Bute family (of Cardiff Castle). The Butes supported the Tory party and many believed that their conspiring led to the collapse of Batchelor's shipbuilding business. (I'm liking the Butes less and less.)

I walked a bit more and wandered into another beautiful Victorian arcade, the Morgan Arcade.

Some of the shops were so elegant, I felt I'd gone back in time.

I almost bought these for Bruce, but I had the feeling he wouldn't wear them.

While I made my way home on the bus, Bruce went to the food shop at the garden center and bought some Welsh delicacies for us to try.

The chops were wonderful, the wine, not so much. It was very young, like, made yesterday. It might improve with age. Maybe. Perhaps.