Site icon Folksy Travel by Bill Smale

Cardiff is a must

when you’re going into Wales it’s a really good idea to start in the south visiting Cardiff 1st. It gives you a general history and sense of the country. It also hosts some of the very important monuments such as Cardiff castle. This town is very much a cross-section of England and Wales. It gives you a multiple perspective of the ancient attempts to occupy and subdue the people in Wales. That’s why I say “Cardiff is a must“.

would you visit Cardiff Castle you will be greeted by Paddington bear
Just out and about finding a Chinese fast food restaurant which has good reviews on Google maps but obviously by touristS. It was a box take away restaurant with a lot of seating but you still just get the box.
There are many of these old timber brick and plaster houses in Cardiff

Cardiff castle

Cardiff Castle was started by the Normans and has a very long and interesting history. The son of William the Conqueror imprisoned William here in order to lessen his power. From the end became a seat of power for much of Wales.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiff_Castle

The entrance to the castle
The castle from a distance
This clock tower is very interesting
This gate actually looks very welcoming
The elaborate rooms were created by the Marquess of Bute, a descendent of the royal Stuart family of Scotland and also of the Bruces
Unbelievably beautiful ornateness
All of the decorations were employed to tell stories
Each room had a fireplace to keep it warm. You will notice the family crest over the fireplace
The playroom for the children. The walls were decorated with an ancient tales to educate and entertain the children
Around the bird is an outline of a man. This was John who had this room decorated for his children
A very secure door to lock someone in
The dining hall
The loft above was used for the musicians
Again, storytelling within the design. Look at the castle above the fireplace. In the lower left you will see the face of a man behind bars. That was William the conqueror who was imprisoned here
This was John’s bedroom. You notice in the right side of the room several corners where people could sit. The sun would shine at different places during the day so the people live here could change where they sit to get the sun.
There was always glass up above to bring in sunlight to this fountain and gardenroom with storytelling around the walls
This is a really beautiful ceiling
These are real gems embedded in the middle of these squares in the ceiling
Over one fireplace was a family shield, actually two. One was John’s family on the left and on the right was his wife’s shield
World leaders gathered here after 2008
President Obama attended

Cardiff cathedral

The castle from the street
Cardiff Cathedral from a distance
This burial site was so old it was difficult to even tell it was someone buried under here
The family crest of one of the royalty. The Plantagenets loved to use lions
Here you can see the crestS of the different owners of the castle

These two windows were commissioned by Sophia, Marchioness of Bute in 1855. At this time Sopia was a widow, and her son (John, the third Marquis) was still a minor. No information is yet known on the designer or maker of these windows, though it seems safe to assume they were created by the same person given the similarity of design. The left hand window shows the paternal arms of the donor, and the other window shows the arms of the families to have possessed Cardiff Castle from 1091 to the mid 19″ century.

Beautiful stained glass window windows
This was my hotel, guest house which was completely adequate

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