Trifter

Wales, what a beautiful place

I had only ever been to Cardiff once, and it had been awful. We had arrived in the wet after a miserable dark drive from Bath on a night not long before Christmas. No one had been in a festive mood and I had just had a thrilling fight with my mother – the kind only a mother and daughter can have. So forgive me if Cardiff, and indeed Wales, was not ranked highly on my list of places to re-visit.

So you can imagine the dull feeling I got in my chest when my partner announced that we were going to spend the weekend just outside of Cardiff, with his folks (who did not like me and saw me as some kind of street Harlot who had stolen their son and led him astray).

Early Friday morning saw my partner, his father, his father’s girlfriend and me, make our way into the backstreets of Waterloo Station to collect the hire car and proceed to get horribly lost trying to make it out of London. I could not help feeling what an exorbitant waste of money and not to mention precious annual leave this trip was going to be, “why couldn’t we just catch the Eurostar to Paris for the weekend?” I inwardly whined.

It was possibly the most wonderful trip ever, wholly due to it being completely unexpected. Eventually, we shot off past Heathrow flying down the M4 towards Bristol and then hurtled over the Severn Bridge and Croeso i Gaerdydd, Prifddinas Cymru! (Welcome to Cardiff, Capital of Wales) and the land that vowels forgot.

We flew alongside the outskirts of the city and whipped off to Lannerch Vineyard. Yes, I hear you cry, “a Vineyard in Wales!?!”. And indeed it was. The Vineyard produced three wines, one red, one white, one a blend of the two, and all three quite vile. Despite this, the wine from the local Tescos was more than adequate and we sat happily amongst the welsh vines sipping French Bordeaux and eating exquisite cheeses from Italy. At least they provided the setting, and what a setting it was.

Now there is something to be said for repairing relationships using booze, sunshine and the resulting laughter. My partner’s father and I had never quite seen eye to eye as it were, but after a bottle or two of the Bordeaux things seemed to become a lot clearer in terms of where we stood with one another (he no longer thinks of me as a wanton hussy) and a lot more wobbly in terms of where we actually stood.

A short 15 minute drive through the winding country lanes with hundred year old hedges brings you straight into the heart of Cardiff. For fans of shopping, you really could not get any better than the ambience, layout and stores on offer. This is no ordinary English High Street packed with the usual sorry uniform High Street brands, pushing and shoving crowds, dirty sidewalks and none stop traffic. Cardiff offers a pristine piazza with walk in arcades and the very best of the brands on offer along with friendly warm shoppers, who, if they bump into you in the bustle, will actually turn around and offer you a warm smiling apology. What a pleasure to demolish my credit card limit in this shopping heaven. And when you finally get to the end of the piazza you are met by the imposing golden walls of Cardiff Castle (the welsh like their castles and Wales is often called “the Land of Castles”). Getting inside for a tour will set you back £8,95) and if castles are not your thing, then take a peek at Cardiff Market, built in the 1700s and still standing today, where you can buy and browse all manor of nick nacks and local produce.

Whilst you are in the area, why not wend your way through the back of the markets and up to the steps of the impressive Millennium Stadium, completed in June 1999 with the site donated by the eccentric Lord Bute (whose family used to reside in the halls of Cardiff Castle) to the City of Cardiff in the 1800s. And if there is time, why not try and partake in a favorite Welsh pastime, watching rugby.

At the end of the day, Cardiff looks decidedly English, like any other English city you would find yourself in, but like most cities it has something unique and special to offer its visitors and residents. I would suggest spending at least 7 hours exploring Cardiff and maybe on the next tip I might make it to the Waterfront, which I hear is rather lovely!