It's not the winning ...
That's it then - another Eisteddfod over and the bright pink pavilion in the centre of Cardiff that launched a thousand fuchsia choral blouses (or subtle pink accessories in our case of course) is on its way down.
Where next? Bala in 2009 followed by Ebbw Vale in 2010 - two towns that sound as though they were almost handpicked to illustrate a speech on the Welsh language by Carwyn Jones.
Could Cardiff City Council have put up a few more banners and signs bang in the centre of town pointing people in the direction of a festival that was happening just out of sight, two hundred yards behind the castle walls? Yes but let's not be churlish. Their skating rink on the 'maes' was a big hit and there was something surreal about the experience of landing flat on my back, again and spotting - through the haze of fake snow spewing from the corner - the leader of the council, Rodney Berman, looking down from on high on the papal balcony of the city's stand.
What's the Eisteddfod about? If your answer is 'taking part' then you won't think twice about the fact that Plaid held a celebration towards the end of the week to mark fifty years since one of their most prominent members joined the party. Which member? Dafydd Iwan, the current president who is in the throes of an election campaign to hang on to the job.
Then again, if your answer is 'winning' and if you're in any way connected to the man who has challenged for the party presidency, Elfyn Llwyd MP, you may well have raised at least one eyebrow. Was it really appropriate for Plaid to be seen to be throwing a party for Dafydd Iwan in the middle of an election campaign in which he's involved? The Elfyn Llwyd camp didn't much like it so why didn't they say so out loud? Probably because their man wasn't in Cardiff at all, opting for Croatia instead and the line that the Eisteddfod is not an appropriate place to canvas for votes.
Really? Who told him that?
The final competition was "Individual Humorous Presentation". The final competitor, his name on a piece of paper shoved in my hand, was "Rhodri Morgan". Oh please, please let it be him with a medley of greatest metaphor-hits, a First Ministerial open mic session with his honest take on Gordon and the Millibandits, or 'how to afford a General Election when the coffers are empty' and a quip or two thrown in on stamp duty.
It turned out to be a teenager from Swansea, who came second out of two.
I'm Betsan Powys, Ö÷²¥´óÐã Wales' political editor. I'll be blogging the inside track on .
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