Bike Route: Penzance Apartment to Train Station 1mi
Train Route: Penzance to Cardiff 5.5hr
Bike Route: Cardiff Train Station to Apartment 1.5mi
Accommodation: King Double Room in Victorian House (Airbnb); host Derek. The house has a warm, traditional yet modern Victorian feel. There are 2 separate listings for 2 double rooms. There are 2 bathrooms (and 2 cats, Jake and Maurice, who stay downstairs in the conservatory/kitchen and the back garden. Derek is an art consultant for the university, and artist and designer, and a recreational cyclist.
Dinner: Matsudai Ramen noodle shop on the high street near the apartment. Neighborhood restaurant. Perfect food to follow a long afternoon on the train.
Chris came downstairs to tell us good-bye as we checked out in the morning. After a quick ride to the train station less than a mile away, we picked up our tickets (ordered earlier online) and parked our bikes on the platform to wait for the train. About 10:30, the train pulled in and one of the crew unlocked the bike storage car. We loaded the bikes and strapped them down, then made our way to seats in the next car.
Penzance is about 250 miles from Cardiff, but the train travels farther because it goes all the way back up the coast to Plymouth and then northwest through Bristol. I slept most of the way. At Plymouth, a couple with bike gear boarded, and Ken chatted with them. They were very recently retired and joining friends in Cardiff for a three-day tour along the coast up to Fishguard. We were going to Fishguard too, but were taking a different route up through the Brecon Beacons National Park.
I did wake up to deboard in Cardiff, and was able to meet the couple before they headed off on their bikes in one direction while Ken and I steered for the opposite direction. We wove our way through the edge of Cardiff onto the Taff cycle trail and up the Taff River a short way to our room for the night.
Our host, Derek, was warm and friendly, recommended a restaurant nearby, and suggested that we walk back to Cardiff and stroll through the castle grounds and old streets of the city afterward. We took his recommendations and had a lovely evening. I really liked Cardiff. It's a fairly large city, and busy, but not crowded or overwhelming.
 |
| Cardiff Castle was closed by the time we arrived, but the park surrounding it was open and full of people enjoying the lovely weather. |
 |
| Within the park, through a clearing in the trees, we spotted a ring of stones and circle of picnickers in the grass. |
 |
| The people of Cardiff are very proud of their castle. Several that we met asked if we had seen it and urged us to find a way to visit it. |
 |
| Unlocking the front door in the gorgeous front entry of the Victorian townhouse we stayed in. Ken is the designated accommodation key guy. On our first long bike tour, we took turns being in charge of the keys, and we were always forgetting who had them and searching through pockets and bags looking for them. Now, we just know that Ken has the keys, and if he can't find them, we only have to look in HIS pockets. Whatever we can do to simplify memory tasks... |
