St Fagans ....

...is the National Museum of History in Wales and is regarded as one of the best open air museums in the world.

There are over 50 original historic buildings which have been moved from all over Wales and have been rebuilt at a parkland on the outskirts of Cardiff.

Each building opens a door into Welsh history, the buildings being frozen in time and giving a fascinating glimpse into the past with furniture of the relevant period.

The site has also been used to film episodes of Doctor Who and Poldark

There is also St Fagans Castle which sits on its original location and has some splendid gardens

The oldest part of Kennixton Farmhouse was built in 1610 and was moved from the Gower peninsula to the museum in 1955  - the red colour was thought to protect the occupants from the evil spirits 

Looking up to the Castle 

The Gwalia Stores opened in Ogmore Vales in 1880 and became known as "The Harrods of the Valley". It is recreated in the style of the 1920s

 It wouldn't be a holiday if somewhere we didn't come across a reference to Sherry's family name and on this trip it only took 3 days!

On the way back to town we called into the seaside suburb of Penarth - at 16 degrees the locals obviously thought it was warm enough to wear singlets and t-shirts whereas we had cardigans on to protect from the cold wind!

Like most back home I will be watching the 2nd Lions test tomorrow morning, our time, and I am expecting a result! If the Lions lose then the sports store in Cirencester which I visited some days ago and which at that time had Lions apparel heavily marked down as well as offering 2 German beers with any purchase is going to have to rethink their marketing strategy to get rid of all the gear that will remain unsold.

Caerdydd yn croesawu Dewi a Sieri!

Thank god they also give the English translation on signs otherwise we would be totally lost!

A leisurely stroll took us into the city centre today with our first impressions being that it was a little dreary, but perhaps that was because of the overcast weather.

The centre of town is dominated by two things - the Castle and the Principality Stadium, the Castle being at the end of High St and the stadium just around the corner.

The castle is pleasant without being overly spectacular and consists of the outer walls & the House and the Keep which dominates the centre of the grounds within the walls.

The outer walls during the Second World War were turned into air raid shelters and as we walked through the tunnels (which were the shelters) the background sounds were of sirens blaring, planes overhead and bombs dropping which gave one a good impression of what it must have been like to be in those shelters when the Hun came overhead and dropped their bombs - so much so it gave one goosebumps and you could feel the same fear those in the shelters must have felt.

The Keep as said is quite a dominating feature, the steps up to it are quite steep and those within as one climbs to the top of it are very steep and slippery (just ask Sherry).

From the top there is a good panoramic view of inside the castle grounds and of wider Cardiff

(on the Keep)

No more than 500 metres stands what us older folk know as Cardiff Arms Park with the infamous Angel Hotel of Keith Murdoch fame on the corner of the road leading down to the stadium

It took all I knew to keep Sherry under control today but I succeeded!

Delightful Cotswolds

After breakfast this morning we loaded up the 3008, adjusted the settings on the dash display to show miles instead of kilometres and set off for Cirencester the largest town in the Cotswolds.

Having left the M4 as we neared Cirencester the drive through the country side was quite delightful with trees partially overhanging the road, lush green paddocks on either side of the road and numerous stone houses some of some size.

Cirencester was very attractive reminding us of Ambleside which we visited on our last trip, the difference being that the buildings were constructed of light coloured stone whereas in Ambleside most were of dark grey slate stone.

The women's fashion shops had displays of garments which Sherry greatly admired but as the saying goes "going shopping with your husband is like going hunting with the game warden"

We left Cirencester late in the morning and again driving through beautiful Cotswold countryside arrived in Tetbury a smaller town in the district.

The buildings were similar to those we had seen earlier in the day and the town had numerous antique outlets - having looked at residences for sale in the area in land agent's window displays the style and age of these large homes (6 bedrooms was the norm rather than the exception) almost dictated that they would be furnished more with antiques rather than modern furniture.

If you had £1-2million you too could own one of these estates and your vehicle of choice if what we saw on the roads was any indication would be a Land or Range Rover

Leaving Tetbury we crossed the Severn Bridge into Wales and headed for our accommodation, this creating some issues as the phone number the host had given us was wrong and we could not make contact and we didn't have the exact address other than it was in an apartment block in Lloyd George Rd, a road that had at least 6-10 such multi-storey blocks - the intrepid travellers finally made contact and their heart rate slowly come back to normal.

Late in the afternoon we strolled down to Cardiff Bay in temperatures that reminded us of winter back home and had dinner before stocking up at the Tesco supermarket, returning to the apartment content having enjoyed what we had seen - as Sherry said "the beauty and tranquility of the English countryside characterised by the narrow lanes and stone cottages and the country estates is quite overwhelming"

How does it feel to have your arse kicked, Orifice!

On the flight into Singapore the announcement of Emirates Team New Zealand's race win to recapture the Americas Cup was greeted with applause by a large section of passengers and a glow of pride swept over me as I sat there in my ETNZ t-shirt!

I know nothing about yachting apart from you need wind to make a yacht move across the water but I had been mesmerised over the last couple of weeks watching the races and trying to comprehend how 3 ton of yacht could rise out of the water and fly along on what looked like no more than 2 ice block sticks and a bent pin.

To think that NZ came up with the most innovative design within the class rules and executed on the water better than the might of Oracle and the other challengers who were in fact pseudo defenders blows me away.

The disappointment is that we are now out of the country and will miss the celebrations that will surely follow over the next week or so.

GD and team you have done us proud and have earned the right to return this competition to more closely reflect the Deed of Gift rather than the "dog" which Coutts and Orifice turned it into!

The flight up from Auckland on Air NZ's Dreamliner was uneventful and after a 2.5 hour stopover in Singapore it was back onto an A380 for the 13 hour drag to Heathrow - while the Dreamliner felt more spacious than the A380 the service offered by Air NZ paled in comparison with that provided by Singapore Airlines.

We arrived at Heathrow around 26 hours after leaving Auckland but as we left at midnight and we had got up at 5am to watch the yachting that morning the body was beginning to shutdown after 45 hours punctuated by around only 4 hours of dozing on the Auckland to Singapore leg - not complaining mind as we choose to come through without breaking the trip in Singapore.

Having cleared Customs etc. we rang to be picked up and taken to the London Eurolease supplier and was introduced to our new Peugeot 3008 which will be our wheels until we sell it back to Eurolease in Paris on 10th September.

We set the GPS with some difficulty it must be said and off we went to our first nights accommodation around 50 miles west of London at Curridge, Newbury in a delightful English pub/inn aptly named The Bunk Inn arriving at 6.45pm.

Driving in a left hand vehicle on the left side of the road while feeling shattered in rain and heavy traffic was a challenge but one we accomplished without coming to blows😅.

A partial unpack, a pleasant meal and a bed which looks so inviting .....zzzzzzzzzzzz!