Monday, August 19, 2013

Caerphilly


Caerphilly is a glorious cheese town. People visit Caerphilly on account of a 13th century castle fortress thing, built to help a guy named Gilbert take over Glamorgan, a chunk of south Wales. More importantly to me though, they make cheese. And lots of it.

Upon my arrival in Cardiff, Lukas took me to the grocery store for my required goods; welsh cakes, custard cremes, hummus, and cheese. Last year I bought standard sandwich cheese. This year Lukas insisted I try a local cheese and suggested the Caerphilly brand. And so I bought it. And so I have eaten two blocks of it since I've been here.








It's just a quick little bus ride out of Cardiff to get to this charming little town. I know I said Cardiff was colorful but this place... I just can't explain. Deep deep colors. We walked around a bit and sat and had baguette sandwiches by the castle moat. Once inside we discovered there was a wedding going on and were instructed not to join in. T'was a neat castle. Spiral staircases, long creepy corridors, etc. Mostly I enjoyed being on the top near the turrets as I could look down onto the merry wedding reception. While I hemmed and hawed at the big bride and tiny groomsmen, behind me Lukas was trying to climb the turret up to the "restricted area" where they proudly fly the Welsh flag. Bad kid.

I insisted he stop "right this instant" but he continued springing up and down, desperately reaching for the ledge. This jump, he informed me, has been completed once before on a previous trip to Caerphilly. He in fact climbed to the top and stood proudly about his dodo-like disposition. Unfortunately this time his flip-flops were to blame for the failure and he was in fact, very disappointed.





Once he gave up on acrobatics and I finished creating the dialogue for the party down below, we headed back into town for cheese. Glorious cheese. I told Lukas I would move to Wales if I could work for the cheese monger. He told me I'd be "all blocked up". 
To my HORROR they had sold out of Caerphilly cheese for the day but had a nice selection of other Welsh cheeses. "FINE!" I shouted in my mind, stomping one foot on the ground for effect. In reality I smiled and acted like I wanted alternate cheeses the whole time anyway. 
I settled for a cheese from Snowdonia called, "Green Thunder" and politely handed over my change. I threw Green Thunder into Lukas's backpack and away we went back to Cardiff.

The Thunder and I are now close friends. The way he crumbles when I toss him just so. The bits of herbs that shimmer in the florescent lights up above. The way the cheddary goodness melts on my tongue...

Caerphilly is a glorious cheese town.

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