Return to Cardiff

            My (Dakota's) parents and little brother arrived in Bristol on my birthday after a flight cancellation fiasco.  We celebrated my ancientness with chocolate cake and spaghetti and of course presents. Yay! And after not nearly enough rest for my jet-lagged family, we left the next morning for Cardiff.

            Upon arrival our first order of business was to go to Cardiff Castle (our second time but my families' first). We did a little research before we left and learned that we could get season passes for the same price as our ticket! So we took advantage of that opportunity, especially since we will be returning there when Harper's family comes in June. Hurray for saving money! This time instead of taking a guided tour of Cardiff Castle we got free audio guides and listened to all sorts of facts about Cardiff Castle from its Roman beginnings to its use as a bomb shelter in World War II. Surprisingly my 8 year old brother Jed listened to all of the adult tour and enjoyed it just as much as we did! Since when do youngsters listen to lengthy historic facts? And more than that remember them!?

            The highlight of the day was our trek up the stairs to the top of the tower on the keep. Jed loved that experience and all 5 of us (us, Jed and my parents) counted the stairs from the bridge to the keep to the top of the tower, in total we reached somewhere between 104 and 109, our results varied depending on if some "extra steps" counted. The weather was splendid in Cardiff once again so we were perfectly comfortable eating an ice cream treat in the Castle lawn. Jed and my parents felt strongly that dairy products in England (or at least Wales) were far better than at home! After our treat we went into the Wartime Museum in the Castle visitor center, where we took turns trying on war uniforms. Jed's favorite part was putting on WWI outfits and posing with machine guns; one staff member took a liking to all of us Americans and had us try on different period outfits. The best part was when my dad put on a full Red-Coat outfit, a little ironic being an American!

            Craig, a really friendly guy who worked at the museum, proceeded to give us facts about all sorts of artifacts. One of the most interesting facts was about horse hooves found throughout the display cases. Cavalry members cut of their horses foot after it had died as proof to their superiors that there horse had died and they were in need of a new one. Many of these hooves were turned into decorative ashtrays, how pleasant!

            He also showed us an American flag which was captured in the War of 1812. It was one of very few American flags that have ever been captured and they sure are proud of that flag they caught!

            After 5 hours at Cardiff Castle and a couple more at the Cardiff Museum we headed home to get some proper sleep!