Visit to Cardiff

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Daffodils in Wales

Having never been to Wales, I decided to rectify this late last year, and planned a trip one weekend in March. My plans were somewhat scuppered when I went to book a hotel for the Saturday night and found nothing for less than £400. I promptly changed my theatre ticket from an evening to a matinee, and planned a day trip instead.

When I arrived in Cardiff, tired after a super-early train from Paddington, I realised why all the cheap hotel rooms had gone – I’d unconsciously timed my trip to coincide with the rugby final. Note: never do this. Cardiff was full of people wearing daffodil necklaces and dragon hats (the Wales supporters) and kilts and blue and white outfits (the Scotland supporters).

I stayed out of the way, and headed off to find some culture to pass the time until the theatre. I began at the Tourist Information Centre, based in the beautiful Old Library building, which has a gorgeous ornate tiled corridor. I didn’t go to the information part, instead I had a look round the Cardiff Story exhibition which had lots of interesting information about the history of the city.

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The Old Library building, now the Tourist Information Centre and location of The Cardiff Story
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Tiled corridor inside the Old Library
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Close-up of some of the detail in the tiled corridor

Next I headed to the National Museum of Wales. This is a beautiful building and I found the contents really interesting. There were some temporary exhibitions: to celebrate Dylan Thomas’ centenary an exhibition called Dylan and Friends showed several portraits of the poet, his wife Caitlin, and friends. Peter Blake’s illustrations of Thomas’ Under Milk Wood were displayed in another exhibition. Inspired by a visit to Wales made by the American Beat poet Allen Ginsberg, Wales Visitation: Poetry, Romanticism and Myth in Art incorporated numerous artworks based on the Welsh landscape.

The museum also has an extensive collection of art in the permanent collection, including historic and applied art, Impressionist art and contemporary art. I spent a long time in these galleries as there was so much to see. I didn’t get a chance to look around the natural history galleries – something to do another time!

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National Museum of Wales
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Inside the Museum

After this it was time to head to the New Theatre to see a performance of Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas. Thomas is one of my favourite writers and I’d been looking forward to this performance for ages. I loved it – it was really well staged and acted by all involved.

When I got out of the theatre I went for a walk to explore Cardiff. I passed the Millennium Stadium – now empty – and found an interesting signpost on one of the roads near the Castle.

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Millennium Stadium
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Signpost

Unfortunately I then got caught up in the mass exodus from Cardiff. I had to wait in line outside the station in order to get my connection to Bristol. In fairness, the whole thing was very well organised, with appropriate lines for every destination, and everyone seemed to be in a good mood. I was glad when I finally got on my train, however!

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Queue outside Cardiff station after the rugby

I really enjoyed my trip to Cardiff, despite the problems I had leaving it. I would definitely go again, as there is so much to see and do – but I will make sure there are no sporting events going on before booking anything!