So, July started off as beautiful weather-wise as June ended, but ended with rain and grey skies. We started off the month going to the CAMRA Hereford Beer and Cider festival with Linda and Phil. We got in early, and so went to Hereford Cathedral.
It's an amazing 11th Century cathedral. Some of the ceiling was still painted with the most amazing ceiling roses still picked out. There was a lot of beautifully carved stonework as well. The best part of the visit to the Cathedral was the Mappa Mundi. For those who have never heard of it, it's the only remaining Medieval world map remaining in the UK. It was incredible! Such a beautiful artifact, and it's just incredible that it is still in existence. Hereford also has a chained library – thankfully still around because of the monks who set up the Cathedral and its use as a library for many, many years. It was brilliant to see so many things so beautifully preserved. Outside we stood and watched what we think was the Youth Group abseiling down the outside of the cathedral.
As for the festival, it was OK, but not as good as the Cardiff one. There was insufficient shelter and seating – the day ranged between scorching hot (for the UK) and windy and raining. The beers were OK, but there was nothing outstanding – nothing that said 'drink me again!'. That said, it was good to try some different beers. One good thing about Hereford was that we could cash in our unused tokens and get £2 back on our glasses when we left. We later found out that the Festival was drunk dry later that day. We like to think we did our part. When we got back in to Cardiff we went for dinner at a restaurant called Bali – Indonesian, of course (not Balinese, but that doesn't really matter). Linda and Phil had not tried Indonesian style food before, and I think they liked it – they were certainly enthusiastic about the different tastes and textures they experienced.
The week after was THE CRICKET!!!!! We have soooooooo been looking forward to this. Matt took the whole of the week off, and spent a lot of time just wandering around Cardiff just soaking up the atmosphere.
We had tickets to Day 1 and Day 3. Brilliant...... We also live nice and close to the stadium, so of course we had to go.
Day 1 we rocked up, it was beautifully sunny, and it was our wedding anniversary.
View of the pitch from our seats
We went to the cricket and found out that we had seats near the Barmy Army, which was fun.
We could also see the Fanatics – even better....
How close we were to the Fanatics and Barmey Army
Our seats were in the middle of a block, so we didn't have much getting up and down. The pre-match entertainment was a bit twee. It was odd hearing Katherine Jenkins singing “Land of our Fathers” at the cricket, instead of the rugby. It was pretty shameful to see how many Welsh who sang “Jerusalem”. Tsk, tsk. There ready for the first ball of Day 1.
It was really cold, though – we froze. And got windburn. While we saw all the wickets fall on Day 1 we left just after tea because we were just so cold. Either that, or the really dodgy singing by some dyed blond dwarf in a shamefully shiny suit singing dreadful nonsense. Apparently he was some person who got through to some round of some alleged talent quest. Apparently. Walking home it was amazing to see how many people were standing on the pathway along the Taff watching the cricket from outside the ground.
Of interest to some may be that we sat next to Mike Hall. Worst part of the day was it taking Kathy 30 minutes (!!!!!) to buy lunch – and it was terrible. Oily and nasty fish and chips.
Because we're so close to the ground our little street was blocked off to anyone except residents. Cool. On Friday Matt was sitting playing on the computer when he heard clip clop clip clop down the street – a pair of mounted police went past the window.
On Saturday we went back to the cricket, much better prepared for the cold. And it wasn't as cold. We also took food and a thermos of Jasmine Tea, so were much better prepared for food. At one stage the Fanatics, who were feeling a lot more chipper than they had been on Day 1 were giving as good as they got from the Barmey Army, singing “we all live in a sunny paradise... you all live in a rainy shithole” (to the tune of yellow submarine), and chanting “where's your summer gone?”. They also got stuck in to Flintoff – they put a beer on the top of a fence post (what was with that?!?) and kept getting stuck in to him. Another good day at the cricket.
On Day 4 we were sitting in Tair Pluen (soaking up the atmosphere) and were watching the people passing by. There was a billboard set up right outside for a local strip joint – classy, in the middle of the day with kids passing by. 2 SE Asian guys stopped and took a photo of it!!!!
During the Ashes the Halfway re-opened. It was the same, but different. Not sure of the couches, and there certainly isn't enough seating at the right heights for eating off of . And the toilets haven't been renovated. We'll see how it settles.
We sat at home watching the end of the First Test, right on the edge of our seats, gnawing our nails and reacting in horror that the Aussies couldn't bowl out Panesar. Panesar!!!!!!!!!! Blimmin' blimmin'!! Anyway, Cardiff looked really good with the cricket and on TV, and everyone was pleasantly surprised at the way the wicket performed.
Big excitement after the cricket was the opening of a new pub – Y Cadno. In English it translates as The Fox. Yummy beers, good food, but the staff need more confidence, experience and speed.
The week after the cricket we had lunch with Les and Gaynor, which was lovely – especially as it was sunny. We also had a quiet lunch out for our anniversary, at a French bistro at Cardiff Bay. And of course the cricket. Ah, summer wouldn't be summer without the last thing – rain. And lots of it. And it started as soon as the cricket finished, and seems to have barely let off.
Ah, the British summer.....
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