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Wishing Wales
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A flashy sports car, ruined castles and winding roads... our man is in heaven in the U.K.
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Good food, real ale and lots of tongue twisting names is what Wales is all about. Most tourists visiting the UK tend to just bypass this varied country that boasts a thriving city scene, gorgeous landscapes and medieval castles. And the roads are excitingly twisty and scenic too, and I was fortunate enough to have a mouth-watering, mid-engined Toyota MR2 Limited Edition coupe for my week here.
The day I started my trip around Wales was the hottest the region has seen for many years. And so, the top came off and I was soon blitzing down the motorways into the interiors. The 1800cc engine revving happily behind me was potent enough to keep the speedo needle between 80 and 100 mph. Yes, mph, because in the UK distances are measured in miles and yards. I set off from my base Tintern in the south of Wales - a small village whose claim to fame is a gigantic, ruined abbey. All over the village are ruins and today, even if you find playing fields and new houses amongst them, an artist's impression I got to see showed me what it was like half a millennium ago.
What you see in the picture is the MR2 parked in front of the magnificent Raglan Castle in South Wales. This was Britain's last medieval castle and was once a sprawling display of wealth and power. Built in the 15th and 16th centuries, it was initially intended as a solid fortified castle but subsequent inhabitants gradually modified it to make it a grandiose and stately home. It became a flashpoint during the civil war, when the Parliamentary soldiers tore open its Grand Tower.
From here, I drove south to Cardiff, which became the capital of Wales in 1955 - and is therefore Europe's youngest capital city. To experience some good times, the best place in this city has to be the Cardiff Bay. Restaurants and bars line the waterfront with large sit-out areas catering to a multi-cuisine, multi-cultural populace who all come to eat, drink and laugh very loudly. Boats line the bay and large sea gulls gliding low and squawking loudly add to the ambience.
Cardiff Bay is the kind of place where you need to spend two evenings at the least, to appreciate to some extent its lively eating and drinking scene. Unfortunately I had just three hours here and the next day I was at the wheel of my flashy red car, experiencing some thrilling roads. More on that next week...
RISHAD SAAM MEHTA
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