I’m on my way to Dylan Thomas’s birthplace, so it’s no surprise that we did “not go gentle into that good night.” Thunderstorms around Dulles and turbulence over the Atlantic made for a rather active flight. I did not, however, “rage against the dying of the light.” Rather, I enjoyed a not-so-wee dram of Scotch, reclined my seat, closed my eyes, and pretended I wasn’t on a trampoline.
All’s well that ends well (to quote an even more famous Brit), we landed intact and early, I breezed through passport control, took the train to Paddington Station, and spent an hour people- and pigeon-watching while waiting for my train to Cardiff. Paddington is known for the teddy bear, of course, but the appropriate animal mascot for the station is the pigeon; flocks of portly birds bopped, darted, stole food, and generally lived up to the whole rats-with-wings vibe.
As for the train ride to Cardiff, Dylan Thomas nailed it: “Going out/Out over the racing rails in a grumble of London-leaving thunder/Over the maze track of metal/Through a wink and a spin of towns and signals and fields/Out/To the edges of the explosive the moon-moved man-indifferent capsizing sea.” (Actually, the water was mirror-flat.)
After leaving my bags at the hotel (St. David’s, a modern building on the bay with friendly staff and a decent restaurant) I walked to Mermaid Quay, which overlooks Cardiff Bay and boasts countless food stalls, including purveyors of meats, roasted nuts, candies, cheeses, cannoli, chocolates, locally distilled gin, and something called “Welsh oggie pie,” which I lacked the bravery to inquire about. The quay was overrun with strollers, dogs (though no dogs in strollers), and, continuing the avian theme, pushy sea gulls.
After eating, I walked further along the bay, past the old and new parliament buildings. The old one is suitably stately; I thought the new one too severe. Further along the pier is an old Norwegian church – a white wooden structure – which now is a coffee house. That makes perfect sense: in my travels there, I found that Norwegians as a rule worship coffee more than any non-caffeinated deity. The rest of the day consisted of a restorative shower, a refreshing dinner, a relaxing glass of wine, and a restful night with no lines from Dylan Thomas racing through my head.
PuffinlessTravel 
Cardiff! Nice! I have only ever been to Cardiff bay, it was a bit empty when I went but it sounds really busy when you were there! I thought it was quite pretty but what I wanted to point out which I thought was funny is that there is a actual memorial for a fictional character in Cardiff Bay, a well known tv show set in Cardiff called Torchwood.