June 30th-July 1st
Of the last 24 hours, I have been
flying for 15, traveling by car, bus and train for another 3, and I’ve been
waiting to travel for 6. It’s been a
long day, but I finally arrived in Cardiff ,
Wale in the evening. I went for a quick
run along the Taff River . I’m surprised how similar the climate feels
to Seattle . On my run, I see all the same flora and fauna
I see in the Pacific Northwest , even the Oregon Grape
bush.
I’m staying at an Airbnb with a Malaysian
family near the city center. The
neighborhood is predominately Muslim but there are a lot of Chinese owned
businesses. The houses are built sharing
their adjoining wall, so there is a straight row of concrete down the block. We are half a mile away from the huge Bute
Park , but it’s strange imagining a
childhood without exploring among the flowers and bushes in a yard.
July 2nd
I tried to
get on the track for a morning workout, but I failed. I tried one stadium, then I tried a high
school, and finally found a third track open to the public, but a kids meet was
in progress. Loosing access to reliable
facilities is one compromise of heading to Europe .
After
running, I went the Cardiff
castle. As soon as I got inside the
castle, it started pouring. After waiting inside for a couple minutes, I got
bored, and braved the elements. As I
climbed out of one of the topmost rooms, a bat tried to fly in, and bounced off
my chest full force.
"The Mound" inside Cardiff Castle
The most recently
renovated living quarters were luxurious, with golden ceilings, elaborate
hearths, and Italian marble floors.
Fancy Hearth
My
favorite room was the library with animals carved into the bookshelves.
Even the Welsh love gophers. M-I-N-N-E-S-O-T-A!
Next I
visited the Cardiff Nation al Museum, which housed both natural history and art
exhibits. My favorite peice was the first known painting of a Welshman holding a leek. According to the museum, the Sovereign and courtiers wore leeks on St. David's day. James I commented, "the wearing of leeks by Welshmen was a good and commendable fashion.
I tried the
track again in the evening, and was successful getting in.
I was impressed with the array of people already practicing on the
track. A couple high school students
practiced water jumps with two coaches while a masters runner practiced his
hurdle form and another masters runner did a long interval workout under the
guidance of another coach. As I finished
up my workout, about 70 middle school students came out with their coaches to
start practice. I wish we had as many
enthusiastic runners in the US .
July 3rd
I didn’t set an alarm clock and
sleep in until 2 pm , making a total of
15 hours of sleep for the night. Oh my
goodness, what a mistake. I was planning
on taking the train to Swansea for
the day, but instead, I run and then walk over to Cardiff
Bay . According to the guidebooks, the city has
done a remarkable job of turning the bay around. What used to be a run-down, seedy shoreline
has been transformed. I was most looking
forward to seeing the Roald Dahl Plass because he is one of my favorite
childhood authors. While the walk along River
Taff was pleasant, the Mermaid Quay area was just like any other outdoor
shopping mall and restaurant area. The
shops were shiny, but boring. I got some
coffee, read a book, and watched a Wales
family eat a deep-fat fried American dinner next door. The Roald Dahl Plass was
also disappointing. All it was an
irregularly shaped basin now used as a public space. Tents were being set up for an event. I couldn’t even find a statue or a plaque
talking about Dahl or his books. Someone
should be sent to The Chokey.
July 4th
After a melatonin-induced few hours
of sleep, I woke up to my alarm, ran, and got onto the train to Swansea ,
a small town about an hour away. I saw
the Swansea castle, the Dylan
Thomas Musum, the Swansea Museum ,
and the National Waterfront
Museum .
My Favorite WWII poster on display at Swansea Museum
A typical Welsh kitchen on display at the Swansea Museum. I like how the portion of cheese is as big as the portion of meat.
After seeing Swansea, I took the bus to Mumbles, the first town of the Gower region, along the sea. I explored the well-preserved Oystermouth castle.
At the end of the day I bused back to Swansea and trained back to Cardiff. As I walked
home from the train station, I took a detour back the monstrous Millenium stadium
used for rugby. On the sidewalk outside
the stadium, an artist had created a mosaic square for each country that must
participate in Rugby .
Most county's squares featured some combination of plants, food,
clothing and animals. The United States
square had a car, a dollar sign, Mickey Mouse, baseball, a teepee, and a
hamburger. Happy 4th.
July 5th
I have one last run through Bute
Park and along River Taff before
getting on the train to the bus to the airplane that will bring me to Cork ,
Ireland .
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