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Bernard and Eira Wyns' visit to Cardiff Part 3 :
City
of Cardiff
After leaving Cardiff Castle we crossed the road into High Street / St
Mary Street and entered one of the delightful Victorian Arcades. They have
a wide variety of quality shops in the Arcades and we soon found a  pleasant
cafe for our lunch, Madam Fromage. It seems that Madame Fromage is well
known for its produce including a huge range of cheeses and organic foods
but we stumbled upon it by accident in the Castle Arcade. Well worth a visit
!
Half an hour later after a light meal we made our way to the waterfront.
It seems most people catch a bus or indeed the train but it was a sunny
day and we decided to walk ... it only took us 20 - 30 minutes. We probably
went the round about way as we passed through an industrial estate before
reaching what I believe to be Bute Town.
Bute Town Cardiff looks to be still under development with many buildings
having been demolished to make way for some horrible modern "improvements".
Others are in the process of development with the old Victorian facades
being saved and purpose built modern apartments stuck on their backsides.
Our arrival at the waterfront was heralded by the sound of a load squawking
sound. I sensed we were near the new Welsh debating chamber ..the Senedd.
The fantastic new Millennium Centre and the Pierhead Building were prime
targets for the digital camera and I was busy clicking away. I must admit
that in the back of my mind I was wondering where the heck was the new Assembly
building. Little did I realise that I had already included it in my pictures
as a backdrop to the Cardiff Millennium Centre and the Pier Head  Building.
The Pierhead building is an attractive building made of glazed terracotta
bricks, like lego blocks but more attractive ! Look closely and you will
find hexagonal chimneys, some grand looking gargoyles, and an ornamental
clock tower.
We then turned the corner on to the Cardiff waterfront and there they were
.....the football terraces! I immediately recognised them as the entrance
to the new Welsh Assembly building, the Senedd. A naked Emperor flashed
through my mind.
This building, which is more or less invisible, was in the running for a
top European architectural award, the Royal Institute of British Architects
Stirling Prize. Has the world gone mad? It was my wife Eira Wyn who described
it to me as looking like either a football terrace or Llanrwst
cattle market. (I believe the locals call it Papa Smurf, referring to the
floppy hat style roof ventilation).
The Richard Rogers Partnership, excellent architects who have designed
many great buildings, were "having a larf" when they came up with
this design. Probably as revenge on Rhodri Morgan for his rejection of their
original designs and estimates. How could this "invisible" building
be in any way compared to the likes of the Gherkin in London, or the Gateshead's
Millennium Bridge?
 But
what surprises me is that the lack of ability to recognise whether the Emperor
is wearing clothes or not has spread throughout the body politic of Wales.
Fair enough if the Labour party sycophants praise the building to the limits.
But for so called opposition members such as the assembly presiding officer
Dafydd Elis Thomas to say of the Senedd: "This is the space under the
tree where people come together to discuss the future of the nation."
....From which tree has he fallen to come out with that clap trap?
I presume that Dafydd Elis Thomas thinks that the design suggests openness
and freedom of access, but when we tried to enter the Senedd we had to pass
through metal detectors and undergo a full body search. Needless to say
we did not hang around and left the Senedd and its security guards to find
a bit of freedom in the open air of the Cardiff waterfront.
TIP ! Visit the waterfront but don't
bother with the Senedd.
 The
Cardiff barrage has created a beautiful setting and we visited the Norwegian
Centre and the bright red Light Ship that stands sentinel on the eastern
edge of the waterfront. Feeling peckish we made our way back toward the
Bute Town area of the waterfront for a cup of tea and a scone in one of
the harbour side cafes. Eira Wyn remarked that it reminded her of the harbour
in Barcelona, but I think she had been out in the sun a bit too long.
As we sat drinking our cups of tea the squawking sound continued and I
realised that every five minutes or so there was a particular squawk that
was repeated. At first I thought it may have been emanating from the Senedd
but I checked with a local and he explained that it was a tape recording
of a distressed seagull, part of an unsuccessful attempt to clear the harbour
of seagulls.
However being a Gog from the seaside in North Wales I soon realised that
the sound was actually of a seagull having sex, and this was the reason
why the tape recording was unsuccessful in frightening away the other seagulls.
I don't know if you could say the bird was distressed but living where I
do with seagulls mating on the roof tops each spring I can recognise the
sound of a mating seagull.
So where do I go from here?
Back into the City. We returned to the City on a reasonably priced "bendy
bus" that took just a few minutes to drop us off near to the Castle
and our centrally placed hotel.
TIP ! Maybe we could broadcast tape
recordings of politicians in distress close to all our Assemblies.
Go to page 1- Tourist Information Cardiff
>
Go to page 2 - Our trip to Cardiff >
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