The keep at the center of Cardiff Castle, completed around 1135

Our last stop in Wales was the Welsh capital of Cardiff. For what it’s worth, Wales never actually had a capital until 1955, when the UK government formally designated Cardiff, its largest city, as such. Other cities vied for influence and primacy over the centuries, but none ever officially had the distinction.

Wine from Chateau du Seuil in Bordeaux, owned since 1988 by a Welsh couple. Our server was proud to point out the Welsh dragon at the top of the label.

And even after 1955 it would take another 44 years until Cardiff actually functioned like a capital city. Only in 1999 would a Welsh parliament be seated in a newly built parliament building in Cardiff Bay.

Our short stop here gave us a bit of time to refuel — getting some laundry done and running other errands. But we also squeezed in a couple sights, including a visit and a tour of Cardiff Castle. We also took a water taxi down the river Taff to Cardiff Bay, where 2,700 acres of derelict docklands have been turned into one of Europe’s biggest waterfront development projects.

Many things in Cardiff have “Bute” in their names because of the over-sized role in the city’s development of the Marquesses of Bute, a noble family from Scotland. In the early 19th century John Crichton-Stuart, the 2rd Marquess of Bute, built the Cardiff dockyards and invested massively in the local coal and iron industries.

When he died at age 54, his 6-month old son became the 3rd Marquess, the owner of Cardiff Castle, and the richest person in the world. He turned part of the castle into a Victorian Gothic revival mansion. We enjoyed a great tour of the house, absolutely filled with personal references and all sorts of quirkiness.

We began our Cardiff visit by returning our rental car at the airport, where we were ever so happy to catch a train into the city

The portion of the castle turned into a lavish Victorian mansion

The reception room in the mansion

A smoking room in the castle, jam-packed with references to “time” in a pretty cool way

Jim arrives at the top of the castle keep

The view of two palaces — the erstwhile home of the Marquess of Bute and the current home of the Wales Rugby Union

Bucolic paths in Bute Park

Modern repairs after extensive bombing in World War II leave Cardiff’s Llandaff Cathedral with a controversial mix of old and new

The cemetery behind the cathedral

Welsh flags adorn the city center

Taking a spin on the Ferris wheel at Cardiff Bay. The clock tower, known as Little Ben is part of the 1897 headquarters of the Bute Dock Company. To the right is the 1999 Welsh Parliament.

Spinning above Cardiff Bay

Old and new

Animals keep an eye on you from just inside the outer walls of Bute Park

The 12th century Cathedral of St. David, almost as big as the whole city!

A little stop in a cute little city. As Mark observed, with a population under 2,000 St. David’s is the smallest city in the UK. So why is it classified as a city if it’s so small? Back in the 6th century a local boy made good – later St. David, patron saint of Wales – became bishop of the diocese and moved his residence to his home town, then known as Meneva (or some Welsh variation of that spelling). As the English state developed, any seat of a bishop was automatically a city, so St. David’s, as the town became known, was a city. In the Victorian era the British government stripped St. David’s of the municipal designation but in the 1980s Queen Elizabeth gave it back to them and even came here to present some documentation herself.

With all that said, it’s really a small place with not a lot going on. The current Cathedral, originally built in the 12th century, has been renovated a number of times but retains its impressive medieval feel. Our hotel was lovely, a remote offshoot of a more central hotel, maybe a 15-minute walk from town but definitely out in the country.

The entrance to our little retreat outside of St. David’s

What to do in a tiny city for two days? A little walking around, including a nice three-and-a-half-mile hike Mark figured out around a little peninsula outside of town. The starting point for the hike was a surprisingly nice beach on what’s known as St. George’s Channel between Wales and Ireland. By the time we finished the hike the weather had turned really nice – we haven’t seen sunshine like that in weeks – and the beach was pretty crowded. Imagine living in Wales and on a Sunday in August the weather turns sunny with temperatures in the mid-60s: believe me, everyone wanted to be outside.

By the end of our hike the weather had turned surprisingly nice and the water looked pretty nice. Sadly, it had never occurred to me to bring a swimsuit or towel.

For me, I would have considered going back to the hotel for my swimsuit but near the end of the hike I slammed a toe into a rock and didn’t want to do anything for a while. No damage, just painful for a day or two. So instead I sat on a lawn chair in our private back yard and read. Not a bad substitute at all!

And of course meals. One good lunch at a nice tapas place that sadly was closed the next day. Then on our second evening we had reservations at the one nice restaurant in town besides the hotel associated with our little place. We get there at the appointed hour and … it’s closed. There’s a little handwritten sign on the door that due to “unforeseen circumstances” they need to close for a couple days. On a Sunday night when other things close that could be a problem but right next to it was a nice-looking Indian place so, fine, we’ll go there. Perhaps the worst Indian food we’ve ever had, certainly the worst in a long time. Sad!

Oh well, on to Cardiff, our last stop in Wales.

Here we are on the little road to our little hotel

And Mark’s feet sitting on our patio

The interior of St. David’s Cathedral

The early part of our hike was still sweater weather

It warmed up pretty nicely though

A pretty easy trail to follow

Near the end of it all

We came across a heard of beautiful white horses on the hike. Not as cute as sheep but not nothing.

Colorful buildings line the beachfront promenade

From North Wales we traveled southwest to the pretty seaside resort town of Aberystwyth. Our two-day visit was pleasant, though it’s hard to imagine a real beach vacation in a place where the high temperatures in August barely broke 60 F. Toss in a lot of cloudiness and wind and the prospects are bleak.

And yet there were handfuls of people here and there acting like it was just another day at the beach. A few bold souls would venture into the grey and cold-looking water. A few kids were dutifully shoveling sand, though they generally wore more layers than what normally constitutes beach attire. I couldn’t help wondering whether these people had any idea what a beach in Mexico or Thailand is like!

Now Jim is not one to be deterred by unreasonably cold water temperatures, and he wanted to at least take a quick swim in Welsh waters. When he returned from his “swim” I was only mildly surprised to learn that the rocky bottom and rough water surfaces were just too off-putting. Maybe he’ll try again at another stop.

We enjoyed the simple pleasures here of strolling through town, climbing Constitution Hill for views up and down the coast, and staying at a charming and super friendly little hotel on the waterfront. Aber (as the locals call it) is not a foodie mecca, though we did manage to find a super cool tapas place and a fun little rum bar. It was a nice stop for a couple days, and now we are headed to an even smaller and more remote stop. We’ll travel next to the southwestern corner of Wales to stay in St Davids, which holds the distinction as the smallest city in the United Kingdom.

The remains of Aberystwyth Castle, also built by Master James of St. George under Edward I, though this one hasn’t held up as well as the ones up north

Walking along the beach in that blue sweater you see a lot on this trip

These buildings on the south end of town looked like they’d be beautiful if you could see them . . .

. . . So Jim dug up this picture of Old College, Aberystwyth — a part of Aberystwyth University under renovation

We had lunch twice at this great tapas place hidden behind a Spanish grocery store. To the right is their huge collection of Spanish wines. To the left are their many Spanish vermouth offerings.

Trying out an excellent Spanish white

Looking back at the town from atop Constitution Hill

Looking out to the cold moody sea

Along a trail up on Constitution Hill

A moment when a menacing cloud moved over the trail

Dinner at a Lebanese/Greek place in town

This rustic little rum bar reminded me of places in more exotic countries. It somehow even smelled like we were in Cambodia or somewhere.

We got a pretty dramatic sunset over the beach

More of that sunset

We got a workout getting to and from our 5th story hotel room