Chilling-it Out in Cardiff (Part 2)

From Cardiff Bay we headed to our next destination. Due to miscommunication, one group ended in Castell Coch while we ended in St. Fagan's National History Museum. Lest you think that the place is like any other museums, it's not. It's a open air museum and is often described as a 'living' museum. How fun can that be, you ask? Well, it depends whether you are a person who values heritage or not...

For more information of the place, go to this link.

Basically, St. Fagan's was divided into 3 parts: the living quarters of the commoners, the little township and the castle grounds. Similar to Melaka's Mini Malaysia or Sarawak Cultural Village, perhaps?

A farmer's house

A rich man's abode

 but still gloomy and dark ...

 The leather work shed

The school

The tools used to 'correct' pupils. Among others: a tool to ensure that a pupil sat straight, a lock to bind the left fingers of a left-handed so that he/she was forced to use his/her right hand for writing, and the evergreen cane...

The small township ala Walnut Grove

The tea shop

 Second floor of the tea house

 At the blacksmith's

 The Workmens' Institute

The woods that leads to St. Fagan's castle grounds

Breath-taking. Wish I had invested in a wide-angle lense! Huhuhu...

The maze garden which had a stinking smell (probably due to animal manure :P)

The interior of St. Fagan's castle was a picture of opulence. Couldn't take pictures though, as it was prohibited. All I can say is that the decor was somewhat like the illustrations in "The Princess and the Pea" (published by Ladybird in the 70s).

 Amani at the entrance of St. Fagan's Castle

We were practically the last visitors to come out from the museum at 5. 15 p.m. I think the place gave me the opportunity to see and understand the lifestyles and traditions of the Welsh in the early days. I might visit the place again in the future as admission is free and parking is only 3 pounds for the whole day.

 Sunset at St. Fagans' grounds. A picture of peace and serenity ...

Chilling it Out in Cardiff (Part 1)

About three weeks ago, our family and a few others went to Cardiff to 'chill-out'. Well, it was pretty chilly, actually - the temperature was about 6 degrees Celcius. But as my husband was saying, if we were to wait for the days to be warmer, we won't be going anywhere. So, we packed our warm clothes and food, and off we went to Wales.

From South Gloucestershire, we had to cross the River Severn, the longest river in Great Britain, to get to Cardiff.

Getting into Wales felt like getting into another country - the signboards on the highway were prominently written in Welsh. Talk about patriotism :)...

Our first stop was a car boot sale in Cardiff (don't exactly know where it was). No pictures were captured there because I was busy 'capturing' other things... hehehe! Yeah, the items sold there were cheaper than the things in Cheddar, but the items in the latter, seem better in terms of quality. Besides money exchanged for the wares, smiles where exchanged with many Malaysians that we met there. Malaysians di mana-mana :)

Our next stop was Cardiff Bay. Got to test my Blackberry GPS satnav when we were separated from the rest of the group. Cool gadget!

Once there, we picked a spot to picnic. Imagine picnicking in freezing temperature (colder than Bristol) and windy too! Brrr!!! Malaysians Boleh! Kui! Kui! Kui!

Among the tourist attractions in Cardiff Bay ...

The Norwegian Church

The Senedd

The Water Tower near Roald Dahl Plass

Jon in front of a carousel

Amirul striking a pose in front of the Pierhead Building

Amani just had to have this picture taken. It's the famous Wales Millennium Centre where a few Dr Who episodes were shot. Inscribed on the dome is a Welsh phrase : "Creu Gwir fel Gwydr o ffwrnais awen" which means "Creating truth like glass from the furnace of inspiration".

The family:)

The very merry men, women and children