Cardiff, Wales

September 22, 2017 -  Day 11 of our trip took us to Cardiff, the capital of Wales, a port city on the south coast, where the River Taff meets the Severn Estuary. Although the primary language spoken here is English, there is an effort to increase the population of Welsh speaking citizens, and presently an estimated 11%-15% of the population speaks both languages. Most of the public signs are in both languages as well.

We only spent one night here, arriving early in the day from Bath, giving us time for a short walk around Cardiff Bay, a water taxi trip to the downtown area, and a tour of Cardiff Castle.

We saw many castles during our time in the UK (and Ireland), in various stages of preservation and/or restoration, with some no more than a few crumbling walls, and others that have been painstakingly restored to resemble something close to its original state. After a while, the stories about them start to sound the same, the landscape between them starts to blur, and after the novelty of actually being in a centuries-old castle wears off, the repetitiveness of the experience can lead to castle fatigue.

That being said, Cardiff Castle was definitely an exception, and a standout event. Although the original castle dates back to the late 11^th century, the interior rooms that we toured were designed and renovated in the mid-19^th century by John-Crichton-Stuart, Lord Bute, one of the Marquesses of Bute. He remodeled the castle in a Gothic revival style, lavishing the family’s extreme wealth from the coal industry on interior design, and is considered to be amongst the most magnificent achievements of the gothic revival.

We sent nearly three hours at this castle, it was that remarkable. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so ornate in my entire life! Every square inch of the rooms we toured was fastidiously detailed and decorated.

We had a very knowledgeable tour guide who was able to explain the theme in every room we visited (including bedrooms, a library, the Arab room, a rooftop garden, a nursery for the four children, smoking room, a banquet room, and so on). Even though at first glance one may not realize the significance of the designs, carvings, paintings, gildings, placement of windows, etc., nothing in any of the rooms were there by chance. Everything had purpose and meaning and tied in to the grander scheme.

Our pictures can’t really do this place justice, it was just incredible, and takes the notion of ornate to new heights. Interestingly, the area of the castle that Lord Bute’s wife claimed for herself was strikingly bare. Plain painted walls, with maybe one large mirror and a couple of paintings. Evidently, she got tired of all the busyness of the other rooms