Our next stop was Tintern Abbey (pictured above). This current structure dates back to the late 13th century and lies next to the Wye River in a beautiful valley. It was as large as the massive Anglican cathedral in Liverpool but built centuries earlier. King Henry VIII dissolved Tintern Abbey in 1536 during his quest for control over the church in Wales, and now only some of the walls and columns remain. The day was gorgeous and Tintern Abbey was beautiful. I could have stayed there longer and wandered around but we had to continue on to Cardiff.
We arrived in Cardiff around supper time. This hostel was so much nicer than the one we had in London. Here we had rooms with only 4-6 people and actual bunk beds. Also it sat right across from Millennium Stadium. We walked around the center of Cardiff for a while, ate at an Italian restaurant and called it a night.
Saturday was a very busy day. We first walked to Cardiff Castle, and it was amazing. Unlike the other castles we had seen so far, this one had rooms set up similar to how they were for the family who last lived in them. It is a combination of an old Roman fort from first century DC, a Norman "motte and bailey" (above), and a gothic-Victorian living space. The Bute family lived in Cardiff Castle around the Victorian Era; the second marquis of Bute made all his money from the coal industry and his son was born the richest baby in the Europe. The third marquis hired architect William Burges to design the interior into the amazing yet kind of crazy space it is now. The lady's drawing room, though the smallest in the house, was the most expensive because the ceiling was painting with GOLD. The dining room (above) can now be rented out for 500 pounds an hour, and the original bedding in the master's bedroom cannot be displayed for its fringe is made from 24 karat gold. Another room had rubies and emeralds embedded into the woodworking and a table made so a grave vine could be inserted into the middle for guest to eat grapes right from the vine. The third marquis is impressive too. He could read and write 21 languages, including ancient languages such as Egyptian and Runic (Viking!). Needless to say, I was amazed by this castle.
Next we walked to the Millennium Stadium, actually built in 1999. This is the home to Wales National Rugby team. It is the second stadium in Europe to have a retractable roof and hosts numerous events from football games to concerts to monster truck rallies. The stadium was cool to see and something different, and our guide, a die-hard rugby fan, was quite entertaining. After our guided tour of that, we made our way to Cardiff Bay. The bay played a major role in exporting Wales' coal until World War II; it was however revitalized and transformed in 1999. Unfortunately, the restaurant we went to was not the fastest; and we didn't have time to visit explore the bay.
The last planned stop of the day was to St. Fagans, a museum of Welsh life. It reminded me of the outdoor division at Vesterheim for the museum consisted of older buildings representing life throughout Welsh history that were brought in from other location in Wales. It was fun to wander around the grounds and see thatched houses and a cockpit where they used to have illegal cock fights. My favorite part of the museum was the Victorian garden though. It was really pretty, and I could picture ladies in fancy dresses strolling around the terraces. After St. Fagans, we were free to do whatever for the night so a group of us got Chinese food and watched the Rugby game, Wales vs. France. I understand a little rugby (they can only throw to players behind them, have to touch the ball to the ground to score, ...) but not the whole thing; enough to follow the game. Sadly, Wales lost. They are usually an exceptional team but this has been an off year for them.
Sunday, we went to the National Museum of Wales. Here, we saw an evolution exhibit with an electronic mammoth that scared Molly good and some ancient sculptures from Dazu, China. My favorite part was their collection of Impressionist paintings. I got to see some of Monet's water lily paintings, Van Gogh's "Rain in Auver," and Renoir's "La Parisienne." It made me even more excited to see the National Art Gallery in London during spring break. We still had some free time before the bus left so we quickly walked back the Cardiff Castle to get some pictures of the Animal Wall (above), another creation of William Burges. It is a wall along the castle with 15 sculptures of different animals. It had cats, a seal, a bird, bear, monkey, all sorts of animals. We loaded the bus up in the early afternoon and spent the next five hours getting back to Bangor.
