| Learn the local customs of Cardiff. Tips and photos posted by real travelers and Cardiff locals. Cardiff Map |
 | Cardiff Local Customs | Tips 1 - 10 of 36 |  |
 City Arms, Quay Street by aaaarrgh
Traditionally beer is pumped by handle direct from the cask. In my view this is the best beer to drink. Brains Smooth was introduced several years back, which is pleasant, creamier and colder, poured from a tap (so not so authentic).
Brains Bitter , or ‘light’ has a very mild, pleasant taste. It is only 3.7% proof, so is quite a civilised pint!
Brains SA (nicknamed “Skull Attack”) tastes far stronger than it actually is. Personally, it gived me a dreadful hangover, but is worth it! By far the best pub in Cardiff for Brains SA is the Royal Oak, on Newport Road. They keep their barrels of SA behind the bar and pour the drink directly from the tap attached to the cask. It tastes like nectar!!
Brains Dark is well spoken of by beer experts. It is very malty like the old fashioned ‘stout’. And it sounds great pronounced with a thick Cardiff accent (Daaaaaaaarrrk!!).
A recent addition to the portfolio is Reverend James. This is not an original Brains beer – "Buckley’s" bought Brains Brewery recently and Reverend James is a Buckley’s recipe. All the same, it is even stronger than SA and an extremely tasty rich flavour.
Brains old brewery on St Mary Street was closed, redeveloped and became the new, trendy “Brewery ¼” in 2003. Brains moved to Buckley’s brewery next to the river. You will see the chimney there. Leave a Comment
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 Bang, whhoooosh, BAAAANNNGG!!! by aaaarrgh
Often they last for 20-30 minutes!! I know I shouldn't complain, we are very lucky. But sometimes Cardiff can fell like downtown Bagdad, or Palestine :-))
The New Year events are usually spectacular with a big fairground , ice rink and fireworks in the city centre.
In the first week of November, usually Saturday, each year 'Cardiff Round Table' hold a massive firework display in Coopers Field, behind Cardiff Castle. There is an admission charge but the display is very well done, there is an enormous fire, music and food stalls.
There are other regular events which are excellent entertainment, especially the Cardiff Big Weekend of music and fairground rides, the first weekend of August.
Check out Cardiff Council's List of Events. Leave a Comment
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 bilingual street signs by aaaarrgh
However, there is a Welsh TV Channel, S4C, and the Welsh Language Act requires many things to be translated into Welsh. Cardiff is a big media city - if you want to hear Welsh spoken then head for some of the pubs off Cathedral Road, which is near to the BBC/S4C studios! The Y-Mochyn-Du has regular Welsh speaking nights advertised.
A lot of staff at the tourist attractions (such as the Museum of Welsh Life, or Castell Coch) will be required to speak the language. If you feel adventurous, the Welsh for thankyou is Diolch (pronounced 'dyolk').
Iechydd Da ('yekid ah') is the equivalent of Cheers/Santé/Prost and literally means 'Good Health'.
And for toilets, 'Dynion' is the Men, whilst 'Merched' is Ladies!!
If you want to pronounce the double-L sound (as in Llandaff, or Llanelli), its a bit like the English 'cl' (as in clown) but with your tongue firmly placed behind your top front two teeth!! Leave a Comment
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 Bilingual signpost at the
station by HORSCHECK
When visiting a foreign country, it is always nice and helpful to speak at least a few words in the local language. So here are a few useful phrases in Welsh:
Cymru = Wales
Shw mae = Hello
Bore da = Good morning
Dydd da = Good day
Hwyl = Bye
Diolch = Thanks Leave a Comment
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 Brains Logo by HORSCHECK
During our VT meeting I had a few Pints of Brains SA in the Goat Major and I have to admit that it tastes delicious. And no, I didn't have a hang over the next morning ... ;-) Leave a Comment
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 Last Orders? by M0B1US
As well as beers, they had a selection of Ciders and Perries (a Perry is brewed from pears in the same manner that a Cider is brewed from apples – could give cockney rhyming slang a whole new meaning…;-))
The festival runs over the course of three days from Thursday to Saturday and I went along on the Saturday to meet up with several Uni friends to partake…
The cost of this liquid taste extravaganza was an entry fee of a mere £3 (£1 for students), which also got you a free souvenir beer glass and programme. One minor complaint of mine which will be a running feature of this tip is the fact that the festival didn’t seem adequately prepared for its huge popularity and had run out of souvenir pint glasses – so I just got a clear one!
Once inside the main hall, you had a choice of around 100 beers, ciders and perries – however by the time I got there on the Saturday, more than half of these had run out and the ciders and perries ran out before I had a chance to taste them. Moral of the story: don’t turn up on the last day!
I still was able to taste some great beers with wonderfully descriptive names such as ‘Dark & Delicious’, ‘Espresso Stout’, ‘Pitchfork’, ‘Topsy Turvy’, ‘Chase Your Tail’, ‘Mutt’s Nuts’, and the wonderfully festive ‘Red Nose Reinbeer’ and ‘That’ll be the Sleigh’. For a full list, check out the website link.
The cost of the beers was £1 for a half pint and £2 for a pint (paid for in tokens), though we had a scam going where we would order a half in our pint glasses and invariably get far more than a half as it was difficult to judge without over pouring…;-)
So, if this whets your whistle, why not check out the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) site to find out more about Britain’s fantastic range of ‘proper’ beers! Leave a Comment
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Cardiff is one of those cities that has its own local "VT Welcoming Commitee". Sean (aaaarrgh) was kind enough to offer the organizing logistics as soon as I announced my arrival. He may have had some troubles announcing the news (related to geography ;) but his choice of places in the Cardiff bay was great - from the architecturally interesting bar to culinary interesting Chinese restaurant.
Other members of the local Welcoming Committee were Vicki (Myfanwe), Morgan (Lamb_Chop) and Gwilym (M0B1US) and they all made the evening very pleasant. (They did convince me that I didn't have enough Brains so I had to try to find them, but it seems this is a local custom here.)
Thank you all! Leave a Comment
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 41st foot of the Royal
Regiment of Wales by M0B1US
As a Cardiff Pass holder I was able to attend over the weekend of Sept 18th & 19th and was entertained by falconry displays and re-enactments by the Cardiff Castle Garrison (c. 13/14th century) and the 41st foot of the Royal Regiment of Wales in Napoleonic Dress. All of these groups are actually based at the castle.
It was great to be able to watch the Napoleonic forces fight each other in skirmish line formation with artillery support - though very noise and smoky!
The mediaeval encampment was open to visitors and it was fascinating to watch chainmail being made as well as getting your hands on the weaponry and finding out what a Fuller's Groove on a sword was. I was there on the Sunday and apparently there were supposed to be a few mediaeval skirmishes as well - but apparently too many of the guys had hurt each other the day before! Something about slipping on the wet grass... ;-) Leave a Comment
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 CIA Cardiff by diocletianvs
After making a semi-official inquiry I realized that the CIA stands for "Cardiff International Arena" and that the crowds were simply waiting for their concert tickets.
I wonder why this arena is the only place in Cardiff where I didn't notice bilingual signs. Simple ARC (Arena Rhyngwladol Caerdydd) would cause less questions ;) Leave a Comment
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 St. Fagans Park by GonerLeave a Comment
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