Coach Tour!

Llancaiach Fawr

Time-themed smoking room

It was interesting to ride a gigantic tour bus around the city today... I still don't understand how people drive here. They are all very aggressive and don't really care about pedestrians or cyclists. As frightening as it is to imagine myself driving here, it's just as scary attempting to cross the streets, so it was nice being in a really big bus for a change. My pedestrian woes aside, the tour was fun because
we saw three castles (toured one of them), a re-enactment/Williamsburg/Jamestown-esque place called Llancaiach Fawr Manor House from the 16th century, and saw the water-front

Old part of Cardiff Castle

in the city center. We saw Caerphilly Castle, Castell Coch, and of course, Cardiff Castle. We toured Cardiff Castle and it was a very ornate dwelling with monkey and parrot details galore! The Crawley family needs to spruce up their place, I'm thinking. Anyways, it's cool having a castle within walking distance and free entry to boot! There's also a conveniently located tourist trap gift shop right across the street where I can buy my Cardiff souvenirs before my departure. On our way to Llancaiach Fawr, we drove by the other castles. Obviously I'm going to have to really visit them myself at some point. They looked promising. At Llancaiach Fawr, the most interesting feature was the sheep: They had tails! Full, furry, fluffy tails! Imagine Yogi with a tail. You don't really know what to picture right? (unless you are familiar with Schipperkes or Googled it). Well, my mind was blown.

Ceiling of the Arab Room

Who knew? Other than that, it was your basic re-enactment period house with a person making ink, a kitchen maid, and a guy who works in the kennels/takes care of the dogs used for hunting. Points for not having to fake an accent! (I think). Man, I still can't get over those sheep tails. I suppose you just had to be there... We had lunch in a dining area at Llancaiach Fawr and my only issue was the sandwiches. Shredded cheese and barbecue sauce on bread does not equate to a sandwich in my opinion. Needless to say, I'm glad I had thought to bring a granola bar with me. At the waterfront, there are all of these remnants from the time when Cardiff was a major port area, like spaces where ships would dock and the water would drain so as to be able to make repairs. There was also a shiny water tower minus the water, apparently featured in "Doctor Who." I've never watched that show, so I'm not really sure. We did see the BBC Wales building and I imagine that would be like me visiting NBC studios to watch JFal tape, so pretty cool. In all, it was fun!

Sheep with tail!