I was going to title this post ‘A Trip to Wales’. But that wouldn’t be accurate because it was only a trip to Cardiff. Then I realized I didn’t actually take any pictures of Cardiff. I really only took pictures of Cardiff Castle. So this is a post about Cardiff Castle, I guess.
Well, I took one or two photos from the castle looking at the town. In the background you can see the stadium where the concert was.
We didn’t go to Cardiff just to go to the castle. You may not believe it, because every post on this silly blog in the last 7 months has been about palaces, houses, and castles. I’m aware.
We went to Cardiff to see Beyonce. And Beyonce I saw. It was a good show, but that’s the last time I ever do anything like it again. I was crushed against 50,000 juveniles who apparently have no respect for personal space. I’ve never been so aware of my age. I never want to be aware of it again, either. I’ll take my pop stars in an air-conditioned, cushioned Las Vegas amphitheater from here on out, thank you very much. That’s all I’ll say on the matter.
Here’s some Beyonce:
Also here. I can confirm that the bad audience singing that sounds like it comes from me, is not me.
Our trip to Cardiff revolved entirely around the concert and we didn’t really plan on doing anything else. The castle just happens to be right smack in the middle of the city. It seemed the easiest thing to do so not to feel guilty about not seeing anything in a city I’m not likely to ever go to again.
The castle itself has had many lifetimes of uses. Like lots of historic buildings in this country, it is built on top of what was a Roman fort. The round, squatty tower is the Norman Keep and has likely been built and rebuilt a number of times.
Later the castle falls into the ownership of nobility and through a few generations becomes owned by the 3rd Marquess of Bute, an extremely wealthy shipping guy in the 1800’s. He has the lodgings totally redone with gothic towers and interiors with special themes in every room.
The family also had the Roman walls around the castle rebuilt. We wandered through those, too. They were used during WWII for the people of the city to take shelter in during bombing raids. Terrifying thought.
Anyway, the whole adventure made for a cool wander and a few decent pictures.
//Blake
