Cardiff ... Principal shopping magnet for all of western Britain – opened a year too late

"Yet the centre flourishes. Come here on a match-day to see it at its peak. Street theatre, music, men on tightropes playing violins, Roma bands with clarinet and double bass, student duos with bright guitars, the Red Choir – some of them sitting now – still ushering in freedom outside the covered market, Chinese selling me my name bent in wire, Ninjah in bling and Sgt Pepper Jacket beating rhythm on the street furniture. The Big Issue seller with his dog in costume. The Coptic Christians. The Gaza protestors. The shaved heads of the Hari Krishnas weaving through the crowd. More vibrant life on Queen Street than at any previous time in its history."

http://wearecardiff.wordpress.com/2011/02/18/cardiff-city-of-new-height-capital-of-wales-darling-of-the-valleys-principal-shopping-magnet-for-all-of-western-britain-opened-a-year-too-late-peter/