Glorious June

June was upon us, and the weather turned nice. For a change. We had a yummy spur of the moment dinner at the Conway one Friday. Matt went on the second stag night for Dai, the butcher. I suppose he's allowed to go wild on his 4^th time around!

On the 11^th we went to the CAMRA (CAMpaign for Real Ale) Welsh Beer and Cider Festival opening day. Mmmm, a day off work to drink beer... This was the first time we'd been to a CAMRA event and thought it was an interesting mix of people there early in the day. There were your weirdy beardies, older guys in for a few, people around our age, students skipping lectures, and people coming in for a day out or an evening bevvie after a day at work – but we saw few of the 'usual suspects' until much later in the day. I think they suffered the next day, as most went straight for the cider – which of course is a lot stronger than ale. We had a good day, and found a few we really liked – the 'D' round was particularly spectacular. On the way out Kathy sprained her ankle on very uneven ground which was hard to see. Not badly though. We finished the day poorly though – we went to a really crap 'all you can eat' Chinese place called China China. It was horrible. Salty, greasy and fatty. Ick.

The next day (12 June) we went to Portsmouth (see our separate blog entry for that).

The weather in June was simply gorgeous. Warm and sunny, but humid. We could forgive that. Beautiful warmth.....

Towards the end of the month Kathy found out it was the inaugural Armed Forces Day. Even more exciting, the Welsh event was promising a Spitfire fly past!!! Naturally, we went. It was a beautiful day for an event in Bute Park,

continuing the warm and sunny weather of the rest of the month. There was quite a lot to look at, from all different parts of the Forces, including cadets, volunteers, and various 'PR' type units. There was lots for the kids to do, with activities ranging from abseiling and obstacle courses to target shooting with paintball guns. We saw Taffy the Goat.

Taffy and the Goat Major

The main focus of the day was a parade to celebrate the various returned service personnel.

There were representatives from the Royal Welsh, who have recently returned from active service,looking every inch the professional soldier,

Veteran from various past conflicts with their standards (we were trying to decide where the youngest served. Matt thinks Korea, Kathy thinks Falklands), there were cadets (several of whom needed a lot more marching practice),

people in period costume,

and heavy horse.

No, not this sort of heavy horse

This sort of heavy horse

And his mates

Of the marching units of the 3 branches of the forces, the army put the others to shame – crisp and disciplined. The best bit for us was the Spitfire fly past. Oh, the sound of that engine!!! It was incredible! If that was the noise 1 plane made, imagine a what the amount that took to the skies every day during the Battle of Britain, or just a single squadron must have sounded like! It's no wonder people got excited (and still do) about that plane. It glinted and sparkled silver in the sunlight during it's 3 passes over the Park. Just incredible. It's amazing to think that dedicated volunteers keep those marvels airborne.

During some of June the Halfway was being renovated. This is a very sad sight.

After that, we went to the Cayo to watch the rugby – Lions v South Africa. Pity the Lions managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Pity, they'd done so well during the tour matches, but just couldn't produce the goods during the tests.

Next day we went for a walk along the Taff down to Cardiff Bay. It was a lovely walk, with the river on one side and houses on the other – certainly a lot more pleasant than the usual way we walk. Lunch was Turkish Mezze at a place called Bosphorus. It was, again, a beautiful day, and a good way to end the month