Working in Cardiff

One of the aspects of working as a consultant is that you usually have to work where the client is.

Being based in London that is not usually an issue as working in one London office is much like working any other regarding commuting and lunching. But sometimes you have no choice but to work from home.

Two years ago I did a couple of months in Sheffield and now it looks as though I will be doing a few months in Cardiff.

The logistics are not too bad.

If all goes well I can leave home at 7am on Monday morning and be in the office in St Mellons (approximately half-way between Cardiff and Newport) at 10:30.

The big proviso here is that I manage to catch the 08:41 train from Reading to Cardiff. The Richmond to Reading train gets in at 08:40.

In Cardiff I stay at the Radisson Blu hotel, that's the tall white building on the left, and eat in Wagamama, which you can see in the bottom-right.

I'm still experimenting with the buses but there's an odd one that leaves opposite the hotel at 08:06 that goes close to the office arriving around 08:45. Other buses get within a mile or so which leaves me with a bit of walking to do.

And that's just as well as I'm not doing much walking otherwise.

I've been there three weeks so far and managed to go for some sort of walk just once. Things like bad weather, having other things to do and being dead tired keep getting in the way.

I did get out once and managed to find the castle. The front of the castle faces on to the nondescript shopping district but it also sits in the corner of a large park that follows the river Taff through the city.

So far I've only managed to explore the section of the park nearest the castle but have seen enough to tempt me back as soon as the time and the weather allow.

Following the river South past the main road, the appropriately named Castle Street, brings you immediately to the Millennium Stadium.

Access to the stadium from here is via a wooden walkway that weaves gently in and out providing enticing vistas of the river, the bank opposite and of itself.

The only flaw is that the walkway stops at the stadium and is not possible to follow the river all the way down to the bay, the spiritual heart of the new Cardiff, and of Torchwood, with its opera house, modern flats and trendy restaurants and bars.

I've made one fleeting visit to the Bay but that was late in the day and too dusky to take many interesting photos. I hope to rectify that soon.