Onto Cork, Cardiff is delightful

by on November 27, 2005

Went into Cardiff today. Someone keep Maryam out of the shops! heheh. Anyway, Cardiff is a delightful town. Everytime I travel I’m reminded at just how much influence American culture has had abroad. You had to go no further than the Starbucks that had a long line waiting to get to the counter. Made me feel right at home!

Of course we don’t have castles dating back 2,000 years. Tomorrow we head off to London, then to Cork, Ireland. More adventures ahead. Less blogging, too, hope you have a great week!

Oh, and if you complain gas prices are high back in the states, you should travel. Everything here is a lot more expensive than back home. Gas is .90 (pound) per liter, which makes it about $7 a gallon. Whew! The exchange rate is really working against Americans right now, so invite your European neighbors across the pond. Computers and A/V equipment are a lot more expensive here too, which explains a lot why I haven’t seen many Macs here. One Sony plasma screen I was looking at back home is running about twice here what it is back in Washington.

  • Bon Voyage.
  • A large proportion of the fuel price is tax - two different taxes, actually, 'fuel duty' which is a fixed cost per litre, plus VAT ('value added tax', effectively sales tax although companies registered for VAT can claim back VAT on business expenses) at the standard 17.5% rate. That's deliberate - the intent is to discourage people from driving, or at least driving excessively.

    Indeed, you should deduct the 17.5% VAT rate from most goods in the UK before comparing prices with the US, since I noticed when in Seattle last year that sales tax is added to the sticker price - UK sticker prices include VAT. Nevertheless, in general, goods _are_ more expensive here. There's a reason I bought my digital camera after arriving in Seattle, rather than before leaving - I paid about $450 rather than £450.

    Traditionally US companies have completely ignored the actual exchange rate and simply slapped a $1 = £1 price on their goods. I think we were quite pleased when the Xbox 360 came in at only £280 or £210 for the 'core system'. At today's exchange rates that's actually slightly better pricing than the US (once you've allowed for VAT - £280 less 17.5% is £238.30, using www.xe.com/ucc gives $408.47).
  • Oh, and if you are driving: find a supermarket, the one near my flat in Reading is currently charging £0.86 per litre for unleaded 95 octane petrol. I also noted that the petrol (gas) sold in the US has a significantly lower octane rating, I think I saw three options at the 76 in Sammamish, 82, 87 and 92 octane. That does assume that the US testing methods are the same as the EU ones - it doesn't appear to be an ISO standard.
  • Jon
    Cardiff DOES rock, yeah! I was in the UK last year on business and I happened to have the opportunity to go to Wales for an overnighter. I didn't get to spend a lot of time in Cardiff, but I certainly enjoyed the time I did.
  • I went to Cardiff briefly around this time last year - it's certainly a very nice place. Much of the new series of Doctor Who was filmed in and around Cardiff - in fact, the first episode of the most recent series was set there even though it was supposed to be London :) .
  • I would not quite call a town, more a kick ass city with tons of interesting pubs, bars and clubs.

    The Petrol prices you quoted are not that bad. As someone already said, you can get cheaper if you go to a Supermarket Petrol station but when you get to London the prices will jump up again. Along the M25 you will still see prices at 94-96p per litre.
  • I live in Guernsey were fuel is a lot cheaper, but the local government is looking to increase this with hefty new taxes to fill a looming black hole in our local economy
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