17 June - ABC and a nice walk

Miraculously, I awoke to another sunny day! Mustn't waste it, so because the Cardiff Museum was closed, we decided to go to Llandaff Cathedral or, as it is properly known, the Church of Saints Peter, Paul, Dyfrig, Teilo and Euddogwy. After a bus ride followed by a long walk, we arrived.

The cathedral stands on one of the oldest Christian sites in Britain. The current building was constructed in the 12th century on the site of an earlier Celtic church. As I walked in the front door I was struck by the mix of the ancient and the modern.

As if to underscore the ancient bit, there is a plaque that lists all the bishops and deans of Llandraff. The list starts in the year 500.

The modern is represented by the sculpture by Jacob Epstein of the figure of Christ in Majesty which is raised above the nave on a concrete arch designed by George Pace. They were placed there during the post-war reconstruction of the church which had been badly damaged during the Cardiff blitz

The reverse side of the Majesty of Christ is equally impressive.

As was the case in Salisbury and other churches we've visited, regimental flags fly in the church waiting to disintegrate and be interred in sacred ground.

The tomb of Sir William Mathew and his wife, Lady Jenet (16th century):

The lectern features the figure of an eagle. It was once thought that eagles fly higher than any other bird and the bible, as the word of God, lifts one into God's presence.

The organ, though new, is massive; the pipes are located on both sides of the cathedral. Its installation was finished in 2010.

The Dyfrig Chapel is located on the left side of the church. The ornamental screen that once stood behind the alter has been placed on the north side of the chapel.

Under the stained glass window is The Six Days of Creation by Sir Edward Burne-Jones.

The chapel was originally created as a chantry chapel in memory of David Mathew, a knight and steward of Llandraf Cathedral, whose tomb is in the cathedral.

St. Teilo's Chapel is located to the right of the alter, but we couldn't visit because a funeral service was starting and that part of the cathedral was closed.

We did see the statue of St Theilo, however.

The sanctuary with the high alter is surrounded by an arch which was part of the original Norman church.

The ceiling above is quite dramatic.

Though it looks as though it could be quite old, the font is a replacement for the Victorian font which was damaged in WWII.

I was surprised to see a wonderful modern painting in the church, The Virgin of the Goldfinches by Welsh artist Clive Hicks-Jenkins.

We took a spin around the church yard.

I wish I knew the history of this side entrance. It's beautiful.

The City Cross, located on the main road, dates to the 13th century. Actually, only the stone at the bottom that sits on the plinth is from the 13th century. The upper part probably dates to the 16th century.

Just down the road is the Old Bishop's Palace, a wonderful ruin which is now a park.

On the way out I noticed that there's a door within the door.

We had a dreadful lunch at a local pub and started walking home. We passed this yard where someone had had some kind of celebration. Because we couldn't make it out we decided that it was in Welsh, which we can neither read nor pronounce.

Dinner that night was another Welsh delicacy called faggotts. I kid you not.

They're meatballs made from pork liver and other "trimmings". It sounds pretty awful. It tasted surprisingly good.