Wheels Around Europe . . . . . . . : August 2019

Change of plan !

Sunday 25^th August

Sue not feeling well and wants to go home, so the beach at Gower will have to wait.................................

Last night we had military helicopters going overhead and a concert at the cricket ground next door, but still it was somehow a relaxing night's sleep. Maybe a result of the bottle of beer brought back from Lake Garda that had resided in the fridge ever since.

I slept well.

Bright sunshine greeted up this morning so after doing the usual morning routine things, we set off for Cardiff Bay.

The river taxi next to the castle whisked us down the River Taff and into the bay.

For £4 each it's a good way to get there.

The bay area is very nice, lots to see and do.

The Norwegian Church was interesting, Rohl Dhal was baptised there apparently.

He also went to boarding school in Repton Staffordshire so I read somewhere, I pass the school twice a day going to work and back.

After wandering around the bay area we caught the river taxi back to the city area and had a walk around the streets.

It seems there is a LGBT thing on this weekend, lots of rainbow flags and people in all kinds of strange outfits, well strange to us anyway if you were born in the era when such things wouldn't get talked about much.

Good on 'em, if they're having fun then why not ?
I liked the Victorian style shopping arcades of which there seemed to be several.
They contained some really interesting shops and bars.

The day has been quite hot, very sunny, and it was welcome to get back to Ed to put our feet up.

Tea was meatballs in Bolognese sauce, spaghetti, parmesan cheese, garlic bread and Italian beer brought back from Garda, no finer tea has man enjoyed than that which we have just devoured ! So say I !!!

Tomorrow I feel the need for some sandy beach action on the Gower ....

But they may be crowded, we'll see ???

River Taff

Cardiff Castle

Cardiff Castle famous animal wall

Cardiff River Taxi

Cardiff Bay

Cardiff Bay Norwegian Church

Cardiff Bay

Cardiff City Arcades

Cardiff City

Vivienne Westwood, a portrait picture outside her shop !
Would this tempt you in to spend big on her clobber,
or send you scurrying to M&S ???

Cardiff City Arcades

Into the Welsh Capital City

Friday 23^rd August

It was indeed a very peaceful night at Tintern Abbey. It was flood lit after dark and was quite impressive, very atmospheric.

Bats darted around at dusk and Owls could be heard.

After breakfast we set off for Cardiff.

I decided we needed to visit somewhere on the way into Cardiff, so a quick search of interesting places threw up Dyffryn House and Gardens.

It's a National Trust site although it's not been in their ownership for very long.

It`s a very elegant looking house set in fine grounds in a beautful position in the welsh countryside.

The house has had chequered past. It was originally built in 640 AD but was much later bought by John Cory a Victorian industrialist. The family went on to export Welsh coal all over the world and at one time had a office in every main port in the World.

A very great deal of money was made from Welsh coal and it was highly soughtafter as it burned 1c hotter than most other coal so the ships could go faster with Welsh coal.

After the Cory family, It had a time as a conference centre then it was sold for development as a hotel which failed, but not before a lot of damage was done to the fabric of the building.

It stood empty for years before the NT rescued it.

The house is interesting but not outstanding, one feature though is you were allowed to sit on the chairs, touch the furniture, play snooker on the full sized table, so it was very hands on. Unusual for a NT property.

The gardens are very large, very lovely and have undergone an awful lot of renovation in recent years and the work is set to continue for many more years.

So it was an excellent way to spend a few hours.

We got to the campsite in Cardiff by mid afternoon and got setup.

The site is very convenient for Cardiff bring situated next to Sofia Gardens and a fifteen minute walk along the River Taff.

Cardiff Castle is next to the gardens and there is a tourist information office so we headed there for a city map.

On entering the castle gate a lady with a walkie talkie said "sorry, no dogs" but I just want to go in the TI office. 'sorry, no dogs"

I was a bit wound up by this point.

We've visited TI offices in ten countries across Europe with Louis and only ever had a friendly welcome with a dog water bowl at the door and a fuss from the ladies. (For Louis usually, not for me !) So I was quite suprised at this.

She radioed for the manager and he promptly arrived, he was very friendly and apologetic, but it was policy "no dogs sir"

He offered to get me a map and we left.

Now I can understand no dogs in public historic buildings, but going through the gates at Cardiff Castle you enter a huge grassed area with the TI office and shop off to the right and the castle keep over the other side. I wouldn't have expected him to be allowed in the castle buildings, but the grounds ???

Anyway, we'll leave a suitable review on Tripadvisor and spend one money elsewhere.

It was a very pleasant walk back up the river to the campsite.

The weather has been very warm and sunny, summer has returned !

Dyffryn House and Gardens

Dyffryn House and Gardens and the back half of Louis doing a photo bomb

Dyffryn House and Gardens

Dyffryn House and Gardens Snooker table

Dyffryn House

To Cardiff through the Shropshire Countryside

Thursday 22nd August

Today turned out pretty much as it was planned to do surprisingly, I must be getting better at it ?

We took the scenic route south through Shropshire, leaving all the M6 motorway madness to others in more of a rush than we are.

Shrewsbury, Church Stretton then Ludlow for lunch and a walk around the pretty market town.

Up to the castle we went, but we didn't go in. It seemed a bit expensive for what looked like a small castle, so we just peered through the fence and kept hold of our cash to spend somewhere else.

Next stop was Tintern, situated on the river Wye in Monmouthshire.

This area was famous in the past for brass and iron smelting using the coal and iron ore which was mined locally during the nineteenth centuary and the whole area was quite industrialised.

It`s other claim to fame is Tintern Abbey, now a popular tourist attraction.

Whatsmore, it shares a carpark with the Anchor pub and motorhome overnight parking is permitted, I can even redeem the £3 parking fee at the bar, so a free beer for me tonight.

It is a lovely spot on the river and I think it will be very peaceful tonight.

I'm also looking forward to seeing the Abbey lit up after dark.

We ate in the Anchor restaurant and it was ok, and we were able to redeem our £3 parking charge !