The more Australians I meet the more Australians I like

My time in Manchester was too short. I stayed a little too long in Cardiff so I felt like I was just killing time until my scheduled departure date and as a result I didn't think I'd need as much time in Manchester. I meant to go to the Manchester United - Everton match on Sunday but by the time I priced out tickets they were out of my price range so that coupled with my time in Cardiff I decided on a couple days. It was a mistake. This city is really neat. I'm still determined to go to a Premier League match.

It's rained constantly for the past week; except for now as I type this waiting for my bus to Liverpool, of course. As a result most of my time was spent indoors. The Manchester Art Gallery is pretty manageable for half a day. As Manchester has it's roots as an industrial powerhouse they had a gallery of "Art in Manufacturing" there were displays of things that were mass produced but still elegant and beautiful to look at. British folk seem to take there art much more seriously than Americans. Most the time when they are with someone in a gallery they will strike "the pose", you know the one- arms crossed, hip thrust out to one side, maybe a thoughtful finger tapping the lips, and the unforgettably head tilted to the side- then they will tell their companion every aspect they like about the painting. At home it just seems most people wanna power through the museum. It's a nice change to not feel like a slow poke.

My thoughts have been focused on a few days in advance. I think I'm gonna take some time and hike and camp in the Scottish Highlands. I'm really excited for it! I'm only worried about the Banshees haha. Few pictures but I made a couple friends here. Every Australian I meet is always super friendly. One even bought and cooked dinner for anyone at the hostel to eat last night! It beat whatever god awful English concoction I was gonna eat. Seriously, how has this country not starved to death? Thankfully the Indian population has kept me from wasting away with their delicious curries. Motherly middle aged women are the best vendors and shops to go to. I must remind them of their son(s) because I always seem to get more food from them and it always costs less than posted. Not that I'm exploiting immigrant mothers by pulling on their heartstrings and playing up to their maternal instincts...

Anyways, here's a few (literally) shots from Manchester. Wish I had taken more but the two camera shops I went to were fresh out of rain covers. Oh, and it's raining again.

Goodbye, Wales

It's been a gloomy rainy couple of days here in Wales. I now understand why tea is so popular. It's always the perfect weather for a hot cup of tea. Due to the constant precipitation I haven't had my camera out in the rain. A couple days ago I went to The National Museum of Wales. It contained their art museum and their history museum all in one. They had a decent collection of Impressionist works. Across the street from the museum is the civic center. One of the finest in all of Europe. It is a spectacular building.

Yesterday I took the train out to Caerphilly where arguably the largest castle in the British Isles is located. While the people of Cardiff have grown on me a little the people in Caerphilly were all super cheerful and friendly. It's an enormous castle. When the castle was in use the grounds covered over 30 acres. I stopped at a pub for lunch and had what they call gammon, or what we call ham. I also tried mango chutney with my gammon. It was delicious. I want to slather it over everything I eat now.

Cardiff has grown on me a little since my time here. But this afternoon I'm hopping on the magical megabus and headed to Manchester for a bit then Liverpool.

Gatehouse to the center courtyard of Caerphilly Castle. Massive!

Caerphilly

Looking out over the town of Caerphilly

And the same view 10 minutes later

Caerphilly

There are two separate Cuban Revolution themed restaurants here in Cardiff. Peculiar.

This is Cardiff Castle meant to post this last time

Inside Cardiff Castle. Play, monkey, play!

Catch that mouse, monkey!

Bute park in Cardiff

Welcome to Wales, we don't believe in vowels.

Cardiff, the capital of Wales. I thought it might be different than what it is. So far I've labeled this city the armpit of the British Isles. The surrounding countryside is lovely. The city is beautiful. The residents... well, they're a diverse bunch haha. A lot of them conjure up images of economically depressed West Virginia, a little ironic seeing as coal built this city. They look kind of run down, they don't smile. Maybe it's just such a stark contrast to the fashionable people of London that's making me feel this way. Or maybe it's the argument turned almost physical fight I witnessed today while eating lunch. Let me set the scene, I had just gone to the market and picked up a baguette (69 pence) and some raspberries (got him to take 81 pence as opposed to the full pound asking price, go me), as I walked out of the marketplace I was drawn to the sounds of someone playing an accordion "A pleasant place to eat this lunch" I thought to myself, so I followed the music. Lo and behold there is a beautiful tea garden adjacent to the music. "Well butter my biscuits!" I exclaim to myself in excitement. I find a bench, sit down, ward off the pigeons and commence to feasting. Not two bites into my baguette some lady leaves her stroller and crosses the garden to accost a (presumably drunk) man. She is yelling at him and shoving him. I continue eating my baguette and berries trying to ignore the scene and fend off the damned skyrats. While this is going on there is a man dry heaving into some bushes and spitting out lots of phlegm. The lady continues hollering, about what I have no idea because it was a mix of Welsh and English with a really bad Welsh accent, eventually phlegm man breaks them up and she returns to her unattended child and leaves the garden grumbling about everything under the sun. Lovely setting, terrible people.

However please don't think Cardiff is a terrible place. There are some people here who are really nice and want this city to be great. It shines through. The shopping plaza across the street is one of the finest in all of the UK. There is an open plaza with tons of stores and then there are what they call arcades, they are essentially narrow covered streets with merchants lining the insides. It's really gorgeous, I'll post pictures of them next time. The city hall here is a masterpiece. The Millennium Stadium is an astounding landmark, convenient to boot as my hostel is directly across the river from it. The waterfront is going through changes. It honestly reminds me of RVA a little. There is tons of potential and you can tell a lot of people believe in that potential and want to see it fully realized for what it can be. Just some of the residents are crappy.

Anyways, those are my feelings on Cardiff so far. I went to Cardiff Castle today and walked to the bay. It was a lot longer of a walk than I anticipated. I'm having a little trouble figuring the public transit.

The remnants of the keep

Inside the Victoria mansion added late 1800s

1800s

1800s

 

1800s

Norman keep, the artificial hill it sits on is over 36 feet high. 

Looking into the keep from atop the gatehouse

                                     

Outside of the Millennium Stadium they have small mosaics representing all the countries. We got stuck with a Big Mac, fries, and greed. Sighhhh

For comparison, France gets wine, the Eiffel Tower, and mountains 

By the bay

Outside City Hall