Might as well start with the highlight reel. Swansea beach is the main attraction in town.Swansea has the second highest tidal range in the world (2nd to Canada’s Bay of Fundy). The tide rises and falls here around 10 meters each day. At low tide I walked out to the waters edge and took this photo looking back. Gives you a good idea how far it goes out. And when the tide comes back in, the beach completely disappears. What about the rest of Swansea then? Historically, Swansea was a very important city for copper smelting. At the peak, 90% of the worlds copper was processed in Swansea. Even the copper in the Statue of Liberty is from here. The Swansea port would have been packed with cargo ships transporting copper around the world. Today, it is mostly full of boats for leisure.As a result of the importance of Swansea for copper production, during WWII Swansea was a key target for German bombing. Much of the city center was destroyed during a 3 night bombardment on the city.Fortunately, a portion of Swansea castle survived. What else is Swansea famous for? How about the largest indoor market in Wales. Where you can buy fresh fish, or local delicacies such as Welsh Cakes. Or something called Lava Bread which contrary to the name, doesn’t contain any lava, but is made from seaweed. Or cockles, which is kind of like a clam. And if seafood isn’t your thing, how about some copyright infringement instead?Swansea has what they call a high street, where at night it seems the objective is to see which girl can drink the most and still navigate the cobblestones in high heels. It it named Wind Street, but the locals pronounce it “Wine’d Street”. This street will be full of people partying in just a few hours. Swansea is also the birthplace of Catherine Zeta-Jones and Dylan Thomas, the poet who penned “Do not go gentle into that good night”
Being in Wales, Swansea also uses the Welsh language everywhere. I think this means bus stop… maybe?
Swansea is also home to many old churches and buildings. But the locals don’t even give them a second thought. It is just another church after all?Or how about this church, right in the middle of a round-about. With the local guy wondering why I am taking a picture of an old church?Another local tradition in Swansea is all the car dealers would open the trunks of the cars for sale. I still don’t understand why this is done? Do people walking by look in the back, think to themselves I’ve always wanted a trunk like that, and buy a new car? On top of that, it rains all the time in Swansea, so the sales people have to run out and close them all when the rain starts. So if you do happen to find yourself in Wales, and would like to try some Lava Bread and cockles on the beach, why not drop by Swansea?
Just don’t forget to bring your umbrella. The UK weather office named Swansea as Britain’s wettest city. And that is saying something. Even this hotel has rental umbrellas. You’re going to need it.
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