Off to Cardiff
We were up bright and early Tuesday morning to catch a train to Wales, where our ancestors lived. On the train to Cardiff, we discussed finding a library to research our history and brainstormed other options to find familial connections.
The first order of business when we arrived was to find our hotel, which, according to our map apps, was pretty close. So we set off, dragging suitcases and dodging all the gum stuck to the sidewalks.
Oh my goodness, gum was everywhere! Apparently, the natives are very fond of just spitting their gum on the ground. Ugh. We finally found our hotel (a Hilton this time since Natalie had points), checked in, dropped our luggage and headed out to explore.
As we strolled around the downtown area, we couldn’t help noticing how dirty everything was. Trash cans were overflowing everywhere we looked. Apparently, the trash had not yet been picked up from the weekend and all the tourists in town for a big football (Soccer) match.
Love Spoons
We found a few wonderful local shops, including Castle Welsh Crafts, where they sell a ton of Welsh-made items, including Love Spoons.
For those of you who haven’t heard of Love Spoons, they are wooden spoons with intricate carvings, originally carved by young men to give as courting gifts. Now, there are a ton of symbols, and the spoons are given to loved ones for luck, good fortune, new beginnings, weddings, babies, etc. The idea is to gift a spoon carved with Welsh symbols significant to the event. For example, hearts are for love, diamonds are for wealth and good fortune, dragons are for protection, and a cage with balls inside is a wish for a specific number of children. So, for a wedding shower, you might gift the bride and groom with a spoon depicting a diamond for wealth, a Celtic knot for eternal love, and a cage containing one or more balls to signify your wish for the number of children they will have.
After stowing our new treasures back at the hotel, we strolled through the absolutely glorious Bute Park on our way to catch a water taxi out to the coastal area of Cardiff Bay and Mermaid Quay.
We poked around a bit, then had a wonderful dinner before heading back to the hotel. Our plan was to call a ride-share service since the water taxi was closed for the evening, but a city bus pulled up and the trip back to town was only 1 pound 70, so we decided to try it out.
There were some cool houses on the way back to the hotel, but mostly we noticed all the garbage. There were multiple bags – like 10 or 12- piled in front of every house. Of course, we wondered what was happening. Was there a garbage strike? As soon as we got back to our room, Natalie did an internet search of Cardiff garbage and found out that the city was so annoyed that that residents just littered everywhere that they stopped picking up garbage outside of public areas. Yikes!
Cardiff Castle
The next morning we were on a mission to see Cardiff Castle and find our roots. The castle tour was great. Very informative and so beautiful! We were planning to visit a library after, but discovered a small building on the castle grounds where you could get family history info. SCORE!
The gentleman manning the building was very helpful, and so knowledgeable, that we were able to find out the information we were looking for without leaving the castle grounds. We found info on our shared family – the Guynns’ and Jones’, plus info about Natalie’s mother’s family and my father’s family. It was very cool and I am certain we monopolized the man’s time far longer than we should have. But the dirty looks from others waiting to have their questions answered was worth it to us.
After a quick lunch, we were back on the train to London for our last couple of days.
Come back Tuesday to read about the conclusion of our London adventure. Thanks for following!