To celebrate the end of classes in early May, my friends Niki, Laura, Christine and I planned a long weekend in Wales. We took the National Express coachbus to Cardiff, the Welsh Capital, and stayed in the city for a couple of nights. Although our hostel was based in Cardiff, most of our sightseeing was done in the countryside and in the valleys.
On a gorgeous Sunday, we ventured to Caerphilly Castle. Vacated for centuries, Caerphilly is very much a ruin. Today it exists as a museum, a reception venue for weddings, and it is also a popular hangout for fishermen and dogwalkers. Its location is not on a great crop of rock, but rather simply the green hills of the Welsh countryside. An interesting fact about Caerphilly is that one of its towers out-leans the leaning tower of Pisa!
Wandering the grounds of Caerphilly was one of my favorite experiences in the United Kingdom. The green hills, wonderful weather, and minimal crowds all made the day so peaceful, and I had wished I had prepared a picnic.
Although it doesn’t have the ceremony and the trimmings of Windsor Castle, Caerphilly provides quite the playground for anyone who ever dreamed of exploring the remains of a medieval castle! Complete with a water-filled moat and a bridge, it is perhaps the castle I had always wanted to see in reality.
On a drizzly monday morning, we travelled by bus to the Rhondda Valley in search of its famous mining community of the past. At the Rhondda ValleyHertiage Park, the four of us were given a private tour by an ex-miner named Terry. We wandered the mining facilities, and even went a bit underground to see a reconstruction of the real mines that lay far down below.
With hardhats on, we descended in an authentic mining elevator to the exhibit. Smells of sulfer and the cranking of machinery filled the dark tunnels, which we explored for a good while before resurfacing via a motion simulator ride. Visiting a Britain mine was very important to me, since one of my favorite British films, “Billy Elliot”, is set against the backdrop of the 1984 Coal Miner Strike in Northern England.
Later that night, before catching our bus back to London, we went to Cardiff Castle.
I had fallen asleep on the busride from the Rhondda Valley back to Cardiff, so I was rather dazed and exhausted while touring the famous castle of Cardiff. However, I took some great pictures from the top of the fortress, and walked through the drizzle to go back home.
