This is the last set of pictures from our time in Cardiff. More dramatically, this is my very last summary of adventures FROM THE ENTIRE TRIP. (I’m sure I’ll do a few more retrospective posts about the experience, but this is the end of recapping specifics.)
I’ve already written about Roath Park, the National Museum Cardiff, and assorted adventures with Rachel, our day exploring Penarth Pier and Cardiff Bay, and our fantastic visit to St Fagans National Museum of History.
We also took some longer day trips from Cardiff, including Big Pit National Coal Museum and Caerphilly Castle and Castell Coch and Bristol.
This post is basically everything else: Cardiff Castle, historic shopping arcades, a free museum, Welsh food, beautiful flowers, time with Rachel… and a mouse story (Nicole, LOOK AWAY).
Cardiff Castle + the Animal Wall
Ironically, despite the fact Cardiff Castle is smack dab in the middle of the city, we never actually toured the interior.
It’s quite pricey, and Rachel told me it wasn’t necessarily worth the entry fee. Plus, there was renovation work happening in some portions of the castle, so a few locations were off limits anyway.
We did try to get in for free using her Castle Cards, but they turned us away since we weren’t the original card holders.
Boo… but, also, fair enough.
Right beside the castle is Cardiff’s quirky Animal Wall.
The wall dates back to the late 1800s and has all sorts of stone animals that look like they’re climbing and moving around the edges.
We walked the perimeter for a while, admiring the different animals.
Wandering Through Castle Arcade
I had really wanted to visit Castle Arcade (and some of Cardiff’s other historic shopping spots).
Cardiff is sometimes called the City of Arcades because of its collection of Victorian and Edwardian shopping centres. They’re filled with all sorts of independent stores and cafes.
Castle Arcade was bustling but still incredibly quaint and photogenic. I really enjoyed wandering around, and I ended up going twice—once with John and once on a little outing with the kids.
There’s an upper balcony with a few shops, but mostly I loved it because of the nice perspective it offers of the storefronts below.
Visiting the Museum of Cardiff
Rachel had also mentioned the Museum of Cardiff, sometimes called the Cardiff Story Museum (and not to be confused with the National Museum Cardiff; I wrote more about that museum here).
The Museum of Cardiff is housed inside the old library. When we visited, the museum was under renovation, but there were still quite a few exhibits open.
There’s a lovely tiled hallway to explore.
My favourite thing in the museum was this giant dollhouse that you could spin around to see vignettes from different periods in Cardiff’s history.
You could sit on replicas of a few of the statues from the Animal Wall. (Indy couldn’t resist.)
There was a fun interactive scent activity where you had to guess what you were smelling. Those are always a hit with my kids (I participate, too).
This giant map of Cardiff had buttons you could press to light up different areas around the harbour.
Overall, I’d say this museum was probably best suited to younger kids (smaller than my own) or older people with a distinct interest in Cardiff’s history.
Still, it was an interesting and relatively quick stop. I felt a bit badly that there were almost no other visitors because the exhibits were fairly high quality, and I’d be curious to see what the museum looks like after all the renovation work is complete.
Plus, it’s free! Impossible to go wrong with that price.
Cardiff Market, St. John’s Church + More City Wandering
I always like to pop into libraries on our travels.
Cardiff’s main library was fairly forgettable. There wasn’t anything too noteworthy about the interior, and just outside the library seemed to be a common meeting ground for people who were drunk and disorderly. It all felt a bit sad on the day we visited.
But Indy discovered a new thing to climb!
We also took a quick stroll through Cardiff Market. The indoor market has been operating in one form or another for generations and is filled with independent shops and food vendors. We didn’t get anything this particular day, but I got a bao bun a week or so later and it was AMAZING!
Just outside the market is St. John’s Church, so we ducked in there for a look as well.
There were a lot of beautiful hydrangeas all over Cardiff.
And roses, looking especially photogenic after a heavy rain.
Welsh Food: Clotted Cream, Bara Brith + Rarebit
I know I’ve shared this photo before, but I had such a fun time with Rachel this particular morning.
We dropped the twins off at nursery, grabbed a caffeinated beverage at a local farmers’ market, and sat on a bench beside a park talking until long after our final drops of coffee had been enjoyed.
I told Rachel that one of the top things on my Wales Bucket List was trying clotted cream and some of her friends generously opened their home and prepared a truly incredible high tea.
Homemade regular scones! Homemade chocolate scones drizzled with icing!
Homemade Welsh cakes (the best I had in Wales, by far)!
Egg sandwiches! Cucumber sandwiches! Smoked salmon sandwiches!
Tea!
And, of course, clotted cream and jam.
Everything was absolutely delicious and we were each sent home with leftovers.
Rachel kindly helped me broaden my culinary horizons in other ways, too. She suggested we try bara brith when we were visiting St Fagans (it was delicious) and also recommended a great place to try Welsh rarebit: Waterloo Tea in Wyndham Arcade.
While we waited for rarebit, the kids feasted on cake.
We split the rarebit and everyone agreed it was delicious! (Think cheesy toast, but considerably more exciting than that description makes it sound.)
Here’s more about Welsh rarebit and all the other notable food we tried during our four months in Europe.
One Last Night in Cardiff
On our last night in Cardiff, Rachel took Belle and me to a local pub. (All the beverages were non-alcoholic, most notably Belle’s.)
We took the time to run through the 36 Questions for Increasing Closeness, which has become a blogger-meetup favourite.
It was a lovely evening: mild temperatures, clean air, great conversation…
AND THEN A MOUSE RAN OVER RACHEL’S FOOT.
That was our immediate cue to head inside, which seemed to be mouse-free.
And less than 24 hours later, this was our view.
On a plane, heading back to Canada.
The grand adventure was over and we had a lot of feelings. Relief, sadness, exhaustion, excitement, satisfaction, and gratefulness.
But with a fire in our souls to keep exploring!
Your turn.
- Tell me your worst mouse (or small rodent) story.
- Have you ever tried clotted cream or rarebit?
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We didn’t make it to Cardiff; we just didn’t have enough time to squeeze it in… maybe one day.
Rarebit was the first thing we cooked in home economics class at school, and yes, it is yummy. Not quite a rodent story, but I heard a noise in my wardrobe one night at 2 am, and when I went and opened the door, a small possum ran out. It started doing laos of my room knocking everything off my shelf and I had no idea how to catch it so I shut my bedroom door and went and slept in my sister’s room. (my parents and sisters were away) The next day I rang my uncle and he came and caught the possum but it had made such a mess in my room.
A POSSUM. I would be a mess!!!! (Though I remember one night there being a bat in my parent’s bedroom. Eeks!)
The rarebit and high tea look incredible! Yum.
I have more mouse stories than I wish I did. In my early 20’s I lived in an apartment in Philadelphia and we had several issues there. I had some traps set up and in the middle of the night woke up to one snapping and the mouse squealing- it had been injured but not killed 😫 and another time, one of my roommates and I were talking in the kitchen and one ran out in front of us and just stopped right in the middle of the room. I froze, then stepped on its tail to stop it from running away!! Then we grabbed a plastic grocery bag and scooped it up to take outside to the alley. Oh, good times haha.
I can’t imagine ever having fast enough reflexes to step on a mouse tail!! The last time I saw a mouse inside a house (my parents, last year), I jumped and screamed. I couldn’t help myself!
Ha, well you know I like rodents. Not necessarily wild ones running over my foot, but even then I have an affection for them.
Until I listened to your BOBW podcast episode, I didn’t realize you spent so much time in Cardiff. But it’s all starting to make sense- you saw a lot! That museum sounds really fun (I was just thinking how much I would like it and then you said it’s best for young kids, ha) and I love the wall of animals!
It seems monumental that you’re at the end of your trip recaps… I like how you have a “fire in your souls” to keep exploring!
I am anxious to get on a plane and go somewhere, Jenny! We’ve been watching Tucci in Italy and I have this desperate desire to take a month-long road trip all around Italy!
I am NOT a fan of rodents… and I don’t think Rachel is either, at least not as a surprise when you’re enjoying a drink on an outdoor patio.
How about good mouse story? My old cat use to hunt mice in the yard across the street and bring them home for us. When we got a new kitten, even though she didn’t like him very much, she upped her hunting skills – I guess she figured someone better show the new guy how it was done! So the mice contributed to my cats’ well-being.
Now the flying rodents in my attic – well, I wish they would go away. A bat is much worse than a mouse when it gets inside.
What a wealth of beauty in Cardiff! I never knew anything about Wales, so this is great!
I hope school starts smoothly and you can establish a routine!
My parents once had a bat inside their room at night. I can’t remember how they got rid of it now… but I remember my mother was NOT impressed.
I know cats can be very proud of their hunting skills. BLERGH.
Our cat recently brought a mouse inside to play with, and turns out it was still alive 🙈 my husband caught it and dropped it in a canal near us. I disinfected everything the stupid mouse touched. I hope our cat learned to not bring in live animals!
As for clotted cream, I must say, it was one of the joys of living in the UK, to be able to buy scones when we wanted them. Our supermarket in NL does have clotted cream, so I buy a few jars and keep them in the fridge, to make sure we have some on hand when we fancy scones. I make mine with the BBC food recipe (https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/classic-scones-jam-clotted-cream) , double the recipe and then split to add chocolate drops to half of the dough. We prefer chocolate over raisins. Actually, we have a relatively quiet weekend coming up, I might make some.