caerdydd aka cardiff, wales.

had a relaxing and peaceful day at cardiff, wales.

took a morning train to cardiff and went on a short walking tour of all the major sights.

cardiff central train station.

millenium stadium for rugby. the welsh are crazy about the sport.

river taff over the cardiff bridge.

random bar with the iconic red dragon.

one of the many animals on "animal wall."

cardiff central market!

freshly baked bread!

welsh cakes. yummmm

gorsedd gardens

national museum of wales.

cardiff castle. and the locals hanging out on the grass.

view of bute park from top of the keep.

spent about 2 hours at the castle, walking around with my audio guide. learned a lot about welsh history.

then, took a 25 minute boat ride on the taff to cardiff bay.

beautiful harbor overlooking fresh open water, albeit artificial.

welsh millenium center. home to a lot of cultural organizations and performance venue.

VERY modern looking national assembly building.

pink ice cream truck. sunny day on a boardwalk, how could I not have soft serve ice cream?

little norwegian church that held a small local art exhibit.

mermaid quay. a giant commercial complex with lots and lots of restaurants.

sunset.

cardiff bay is currently undergoing a major revamping/regeneration, so there's a lot of modern buildings and the government's planning on building lots of sports centers to make the city one of the social hubs of europe.

in fact, I was surprised by how commercial and young cardiff was. most of the people I saw on the streets were mid to late teens.

it was a rather perfect, sunny day for me to take a day trip to wales, walk along the taff, and the boardwalk at cardiff bay. had plenty of time to explore everything that I wanted to without feeling rushed. it was nice to see 'open' water for the first time in a while.