Lovely Cardiff

Jet lag was still taking its toll on us and we slept in until 10:30. Geoff and Kate came down to the hotel to take us on a tour of Cardiff Bay. It was our first day of rain since we arrived. Geoff first drove us by the Llandaff Cathedral. The heads of all of the monarchs are carved around the tower. Legend had it that when they made a complete circle, the monarchy would end. The last head on the circle was Edward VIII - and the monarchy did wobble a bit when he abdicated. But, they started a new course of carvings and the monarchy continues.

At Cardiff Bay, they've built the Wales Millennium Centre, housing their theatre and opera. The locals call it "the armadillo". Kate calls it "the slug". We stopped there for a "cup of tea and a bun". Since we missed breakfast, we had an overpriced sandwich and a coffee.

After our goodbyes to Geoff and Kate, we walked to Cardiff centre and stopped for a few glasses of wine at the “Ha-Ha” bar (next to the “Slug and Lettuce”). A charming couple joined us (she was from Nottingham, he was from Cardiff) and we had a great chat, finding kindred spirits, at least politically. We laughed about George Bush's meeting with Gordon Brown and the bomber jacket that George gave to Gordon as a gift. He'll be forever known as "Bomber Brown".

We had dinner at a Malaysian restaurant – our first ethnic food after a steady stream of heavy English meals. Refreshing!