Postcards from Cardiff

The site of Cardiff Castle has been for a very long time the main centre for human settlement and trade on the Cardiff Bay. The current heritage of the Norman castle and the preceding Roman fort remains are witness for a strategic military and civilian presence that goes back for almost two millennia. Now Cardiff is a modern and vibrant city with a high level of quality of life for its inhabitants and an interesting tourist destination that competes well with other European capitals, with an offer of cultural life and history that is very attractive,

The vast green space the the West of the Castle, Bute Park, and the commercial area of the old town to the South offer opportunities for curiosity, entertainment and relaxation. The renovated Victorian shopping arcades, with a moltitudine of small shops and cafes, are teeming with locals and tourists alike, enjoying the rich variety of amusements on offer. To the East of the Castle, the Civic Centre in Cathays Park comprises a collection of Edwardian buildings such as the City Hall, National Museum and Gallery of Wales, Cardiff Crown Court, and buildings forming part of Cardiff University, together with more modern civic buildings.

Despite I have been living in London for almost 30 years it never happened to me to visit Cardiff before and I made a point of discovering the city and its world class music scene. Worth mentioning that the St David’s Hall is the venue for the notorious BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition and the new Wales Millenium Centre is hosting, among other institutions, the Welsh National Opera, producing and staging an intense opera season every year. The modern auditorium and the acoustics are really amazing and really worth the experience.

The area along the shores of Cardiff Bay is being gradually regenerated and is featuring some important new buildings, like the Wales Millenium Centre (WMC) and the Senedd, the Welsh Parliament, that give the quarter a very appealing feeling. The WMC has been designed and built to express an immediately recognisable “Welshness” with building materials sourced from different parts of Wales and a gigantic inscription on the façade in Welsh and in English. The words of the inscriptions are by Welsh poet Gwyneth Lewis and translate as Creating Truth Like Glass From Inspiration’s Furnace in Welsh and In these stones horizons sing.