Day Trip to Cardiff

First of all, so sorry that I disappeared for a while. While the first week was all about getting used to Bath and seeing some sites in England, the second week was all about work. In both of my classes, we had 5 page papers due on Thursday, so much of my week was concentrated on that. The only other highlights that I can think of were trips to the pub to watch Euro2008. I've put my money on Spain. With all that work behind me, Jon and I decided to go to Cardiff, Wales for the day yesterday. It's a solid day trip and the train only takes an hour from Bath. We had the plan of doing the following: 1. Tour Millennium Stadium, home of Cardiff Rugby, 2. Visit the National Museum, 3. Go record shopping, and 4. Visit Cardiff Castle.

1. Tour Millennium Stadium

Sadly, our plans were thwarted by none other than Neil Diamond. Since he was performing in the Stadium that night, all tours were cancelled. It was disappointing, but I suppose could have been worse.
2. Visit the National Museum

This was a pretty cool place. Though a lot of it is a natural history museum, there is a large collection of French art that was left to the museum by a pair of aristocratic sisters. The exhibit featured works by Renoir, Monet, and Van Gough. As I said, the rest of the museum was based on natural history, with exhibits on natural wildlife in Wales and how Wales was formed.
3. Go Record Shopping
After searching around the City Centre for a while, we found Spillers Records, a store that holds the claim of being the world's oldest record store, having been founded in 1894. There, I was able to track down a few 7" singles, including Band of Horses' "No One's Gonna Love You," The Envy Corps' "Story Problem," and Cardiff's own Los Campesinos!' "You! Me! Dancing!" Overall it was a productive visit and the staff was incredibly cool.
4. Visit Cardiff Castle
Our last stop was probably the coolest of the day. Cardiff Castle is right in the heart of the city and dates back to the 12th century. We got there and explored the Keep, a large central tower surrounded by a moat. From the top, there are incredible views of the castle and the city. We then were lucky enough to be there during the first exhibition of jousting at the castle since medieval times. There was a sort of festival going on, complete with combat demonstrations (sword fights) and of course, jousting.




All and all, it was a pretty cool day. Cardiff is definitely a solid day trip, so we were pretty exhausted when we got back that night. Today I think I'm going to wander around Bath and finally take some pictures or video to show what the city is like. Be sure to check back tomorrow for that. Cheers!