retiredmartin

August 2026. Cardiff.

I’d dragged Mrs RM down to South Wales for a few days to escape the monotony of that Yorkshire-Cambridge-Kent run, and treated her to a couple of nights in the Zip hotel on the corner of David Lloyds sprawling fitness centre that impressed me so much in 2023.

£31 a night buys you a windowless en-suite room that brings to mind capsule hotels, but once they strip out the pointless stuff you’ve got a functional room with good WiFi and lots of sockets. And Mrs RM loves sockets.

Free parking and regular buses into town along Newport Road’s endless retail parks.

But we stop short of castle and Taff, the roads closed ahead of the Charity Shield in 4 hours time.

So we get to see built-up Cardiff,

the upside down house,

and see Queen Street in the best light for a while.

Sixty thousand football fans decscending on the M4 from (mainly) London and Manchester is a recipe for travel chaos, though actual trouble was apparently minor for this glossed-up friendly (I say that about any game City lose).

Conforming to stereotype, the Tarquins of North London arrive with newly ironed red and white scarves, families in tow, heading to the chain restaurants.

A bit like us, nipping in Mowgli with its proper seating,

and a genuinely great fish curry and slaw.

City fans, prioritising beer over food, take over the pubs.

It fair makes you proud to be a plastic Manc.

Not all 60,000 are squashed into Westgate’s and St Mary’s pubs, mind.

Plenty are exploring the castle,

the Boulevard de Nantes,

and the marvellous National Museum with its giant sun sculpture.

On days like this Cardiff feels a major city, not just a capital city.

But, once I skip quickly over the actual match, you’ll be wanting some pubs, I guess ?