Well, Well, Wales! (Part 1): The Shift to Cardiff!

- June 23-24, 2026, Tuesday to Wednesday. 

- Taking off from my previous entry, I rushed to London's Paddington Station to catch my late afternoon train ride to Cardiff, the capital of Wales. Wales is another country in the United Kingdom, and is located west of England. The trip from London took around two hours, and I was in Cardiff in no time! The first thing I noticed was how compact Cardiff was, so it was easy for me to walk from Cardiff Central Railway Station to my hotel, Angel Hotel.

I AM HERE!!

Angel Hotel. Despite being an "actual hotel", it does not have air conditioning. I was given a small desk fan at least but....huhu. (Just when I thought I could escape the great heat wave.)

Hotel lobby.

- I had a bit of sunlight left because it was summer, so I used my time to not only look for a place to eat, but also to familiarize myself with the layout of the city. I ended up eating at Jollibee, and is the first of a few times I ate at Jollibee in the United Kingdom. The menu, as expected, was a bit different from what we have in the Philippines. Taste is almost the same, but chicken sizes could be bigger.

Streets of Cardiff.

TASTE OF HOME.

FEELS LIKE HOME.

LOOKS LIKE HOME. Hahahaha. (And because dishes in the UK are generally blander than Asian flavors, my meals in Jollibee across the UK have been some of the best hahahaha.)

- While preparing for my trip months back, I've read in many articles that many people tend to skip Cardiff when traveling to the UK as it is a smaller industrial capital city compared to the flashier capitals of, say, London and Edinburgh. However, one of my favorite singers was born in Cardiff and I've long wanted to visit the Welsh capital. Little did I know that Cardiff had its own charm, with the convenience of being able to see most main sites on foot because of its compactness.

- After a heart Irish breakfast from my hotel the following morning, I crossed the street to visit the Cardiff Castle. Originally built in the 11th century, with Roman walls built earlier, functioned as a fortress and a lordly residence. During World War II, parts of the palace were used as air raid shelters. Cardiff Castle may not look too big at first glance, but boy did I spend the whole morning there! So much is hidden behind its walls!

Can't believe that my hotel breakfast buffet was cheaper than expected!

Castle apartments.

Main castle! The castle itself doesn't have anything in it. Entry to the castle is free, but tickets are necessary to enter the other buildings like the apartments.

On top of the castle. (You can see Principality Stadium at the back.)

Llandaff Cathedral from afar.

Another look at the apartments.

Arab room.

Banquet hall.

Library.

Castle clocktower.

Paddington Bear is here!

Entrance to the air raid shelters.

How the air raid shelters were used by soldiers.

Honestly I was just glad I had companions inside because the tunnels gave a really eerie feeling.

Outside the castle walls.

Castle's main entrance.

- I later walked to National Museum Cardiff. Opened in 1912, it functions as both an art and science museum. 
 

Museum facade.

Basking shark!

Whale skeleton.

Archaeopteryx model and fossil replica.

I really love my dinosaurs, you can tell.

Mammoth. Literally.

Museum's main hall.

Art galleries.

- I thought of also passing by the Museum of Cardiff, which is a totally different museum found in the heart of Cardiff, in contrast to the National Museum which was a bit away from the center. This museum is located inside the old library and mainly shows the story of Cardiff. Despite the age of the building, the museum itself was just opened in 2011. The museum was rather small but informative.

Museum of Cardiff.

I absolutely love the interactive exhibits!

Entrance to the old library, which the museum has preserved! Look at those tiles!!

The museum has a dedicated area to special exhibits. This time, it was about the Sikh diaspora in Cardiff!

- I thought of finding lunch inside Cardiff Market, which is located across the Museum of Cardiff. I didn't have much luck since many of the stores decided to close early or for the day because of the intense heat. There were a couple of interesting stores like old record stores and artsy knick knacks, but nothing that really interested me at that time. I did get to buy the famous Welsh cake, which some would say tastes like somewhere in between a short bread and a scone. I liked it as it wasn't too sweet!

Cardiff Market.

Market interior.

Welsh cake!!

Market interior from the second level.

- I ended up having lunch at Jollibee because it was the only place I could find with proper air conditioning. I wanted to try other items in the menu anyway. 

Explored some of the arcades I came across. Cardiff is a city of arcades after all!

City center.

One of the things I like about Jollibee UK is that the burgers do feel like actual beef burgers, and the buns were spongey and light!

- The rest of the afternoon was spent walking around window shopping, and winding down at the hotel after an early dinner just to catch up on some rest. I needed to reserve my energy for the days to come anyway. Cardiff so far has my heart, but the city center was not the only place to see in Cardiff - that's why I'm glad I had one more day to see the other sides of Cardiff!