This is Cardiff

Sweet Babou’s company got him a new phone here quickly, but trying to get a local phone for me has been a nightmare. You cannot get a contract without a British bank account and a passport alone is insufficient to get a bank account; you must have your visa biometric paperwork. It’s taking it them a while to get through it.

We didn’t know that last week, though –  thus we boldly entered Cardiff to get me a phone. We were doomed to failure, but we got to see some of the city and Bute Park, so that was nice.

Cardiff has some lovely old buildings lining its bustling streets (mostly Georgian and Victorian) and a big ol’ castle right smack in the middle of it.

Even the newer, less spiffy parts of Cardiff have attractions. The painting on the side of a pharmacy near the bus stop for city centre is an good example:

Right next to the castle is an awesome green-space by the name of Bute Park. The River Taff runs through one side of it, and you can take water taxis and bay cruises from there. It is a lovely place and ideal for picnics and walking along the footpaths and letting children romp around.

The park is also full of “Champion trees”; trees that are among the oldest and biggest of their species in Britain … including some extremely rare species of alder trees and maples. Along the River Taff just after you enter the park is a line of huge old beech trees that are common in the UK but are venerable and impressive nonetheless. Beech roots are also perfect places to sit down and eat a snack:

I told Sweet Babou that the tree roots were “gnarly to the max”. A child of the 80’s, my hubby got the joke and chortled. Sadly, my children looked at me like I was even dumber than they had suspected.