Hiraeth from 2016: Day Four, Cardiff

We woke that morning to one of the friendly and very noisy seagulls out our garret window.

A Cardiff Seagull. I've got to look up the species under "noisy" and "annoying."

Our Adjunct Professors of Welsh incorporated as British Expeditions have this system for summer student lodgings in Wales. They rent a different apartment house in Cardiff as the base residence every July when the University students are gone and rentals are cheap. But as it is a different house each year, they have a permanent attic rented. Yes, an attic--in another student house for storage of their non-perishables: bedding; kitchen pots, pans, and utensils; and a special box for Professor Tom who keeps a sports jacket in there for going to church in Cardiff. He also keeps one of those foldable bicycles up there in that attic. I know because I helped him get it down. Their method in reaching the attic is interesting. I have a pic:

My wife standing on a dresser handing things down to Professor Ron's wife
 as I was lower on the stairs passing down to the bottom floor.
(They didn't trust me up high, but I did get in the attic for a bit.)

After cleaning and arranging our Cardiff BYU House, things looked pretty nice.

Our cozy garret bedroom.

The interesting shower

The adequate bathroom

After the house was arranged, we headed out for some preliminary explorations of Cardiff led by Professor Ron and family.

Down past Cardiff U. (We were in the University District)

Cardiff City Hall. Note Dragon on dome tower.

A nice shopping mall and the best place for wireless internet in Cardiff.
Every time I entered my phone would start dinging with messages.
Also, this mall features as a setting in several episodes of modern Doctor Who.

When I saw Cardiff Market, I had to rush over to pay my respects to Dic Penderyn, hanged here as the scapegoat for the Merthyr Rising, 1831. Linda was glad I did not kneel in the street as I had planned.

The Memorial to Dic Penderyn.

Linda and I browsed through the market, much improved over the old jail ("gaol") site.

Cardiff Market

We began to get oriented to downtown Cardiff although it took most of the month to really figure it out. It's a beautiful city, not to big, but with plenty of historical sites and cultural opportunities. And we found a few unique treasures.

St. Mary Street changes it's name to High Street and heads straight for the entrance to Cardiff Castle.
The best souvenir shops are directly across from Cardiff Castle and in the Castle Gift Shop.
Many of the streets change names after a few blocks, but some of them are now pedestrian only.

Settling back at BYU House, I found another internet spot outside the Carnegie Library down the street. The Librarians inside were somewhat grouchy.

Carnegie Library, Cathays, Cardiff.
I wanted to say to the grouchy librarians, "Hey! Carnegie was our capitalist exploiter!

And there was the Fish Bar on the corner run by some very kind Muslim guys who served very large portions.

More Cardiff adventures on the next day!