Cardiff

Cardiff was absolutely amazing. I didn't actually spend all that much time in Cardiff central, but everything I was in and around Cardiff was amazing. The castles are better than Disney land, and I really mean it, because they have all the elements of fantasy, but they're real.
The red Dragon is the symbol of Wales. This is a red dragon in a flower pot - new - with a roman section in the CArdiff Castle in the background.

Tis is the keep of the Castly with the Welsh flag flying above it.
THis is the tower that has been decorated in the 18oo's. The entire interior of the living areas of the castle also are decorated with massive carvings and painting, even more so than the tower, but i couldn't take pictures on the inside.

THis is from the inside of Castell Coch - the Red Castle. It was decorated on the inside by the same person who did Cardiff Castle, but here you can take picture. This was above a fireplace in one of the rooms and it is a carving of the 3 fates from Greek mythology. The one of the left is spinning the thread, the one in the center is measuring it and the one of the right is cutting it. Beneath the women are little depictions of the 3 ages of men.
This is a detail from the fireplace of the Lady of the House's bedroom. Its Psyche, cupid's wife - notice the butterfly wings - holding the family shield.

CAERPHILLY CASTLE

prounced ka-phily
The castle is huge. It was built as a strong hold to keep out invaders. Not only did they build giant walls and a moat they built 2 lakes around the castle, because what's better at keeping out invaders than a moat? A LAKE.

This is the outer gates from the bottom of the hill.

There are a lot more pictures and i'll have to put them up in the next post.