My first full day that focused exclusively on Cardiff required an overview. I hired a bike for three hours and set out to see the city. The experience reminded me of why I take a bicycle with me on road trips. I saw ten times more than I would have walking and when I was done my feet weren’t killing me. There was a lot to see; I came away impressed.
Where I’m staying is across the River Taff from downtown so I was already getting familiar with the lay of the land in that part of the city. What I hadn’t even seen was further south, toward Cardiff Bay, where in the past 20 years a massive redevelopment project has transformed what was once the world’s busiest port.
From 1992 to 1999 the inner harbor was closed off, dredged, and slowly transitioned from salt to fresh water. At the same time a major investments went in to converting the old ports area into a series of world-class sports and entertainment venues. All around the perimeter of the harbor are trails and parks and paths. It was a wondrous result of a grand vision. Really impressive, it gave me the impression of Cardiff being a 2100 century capital and not a faded port town of the coal era.
After returning my bike I walked through Blackweir Park to visit one of Wales’ most famous museums, the National Museum Cardiff. It’s a mix of natural history and art. I know, weird, right? I asked about this odd combo and learned that the facility was originally built as an art museum. However when the powers-that-be decided to use the building for a natural history of Wales, art was crowded out to the second floor. Both halves were very good. Learning about the animals and the early people of Wales was an interesting contrast to what I know of them in the US. On the art side, I saw several oil pieces by Monet which totally grabbed me but the fine china section was a total bore.
(Separately, and don’t tell anyone, I visited the Dr. Who Museum. Shhhh!)
Now I have a good overview of Cardiff; I need to plan my last two days here.
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