August 31. Cardiff

Today consisted of 3 parts. A trip to St Fagans, visiting the Llandoff Cathedral and a short walk along the river Taff. Doing all of these required mastering the local bus system. We had success.

No breakfast provided this AM, so a Starbuck run started the day. Then a stop at a mini mart for some take along lunch items. Hopped on the bus and off to St Fagans. This 100 plus acre sight was set aside for a historical outdoor museum. They have over 40 historic buildings set in the woods and along tree lined paths. The buildings are from all over Wales from various time periods. Farmhouses, churches, tannery, bakery, etc. Each of these buildings were taken apart at their original site and relocated at St Fagans where they were reconstructed. There were also some indoor halls depicting life at different eras (clothes, kitchen ware, toys,etc) Here is a collection of photos.

Farmhouse built in 1610

"Really old" perhaps 800

Church. Between 12th and 13th century. It was used until 1850

Inside the church. When it was being disassembled, they discovered the frescos under the plaster. So when they reconstructed it they redid the paintings. About a 3rd of them were the original design.

Mercentile store

Working bakery. We enjoyed a couple fresh scones from the bakery store

Another farmhouse

Next was a bus ride to the Llandoff Cathedral ( pronounced gkl andoff). It was a beautiful Cathedral and they had to repair the roof after a bombing in WWII. The reason for our visit was on my paternal side, there was a Bishop William Bethin who served from 1575-1590. (My maiden name is Bleything a derivation of Blethin) My dad had visited the Cathedral several years ago and had shared the pictures with me. So I wanted to visit myself.

The last part of our day was a short stroll from our hotel along the river Taff. The building is the Principality stadium (Millenium stadium) which is the home of the Wales rugby team and national football team games. It also hosts other events like concerts, exhibitions and conferences. On the outside that had a place where one could do some repelling.

The walk beside the river is a suspended walk or bridge which is suspended by cables over the river Taff.

This is the repelling tower, just closing up for the day.

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Pretrip practice

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