Welsh Castles day
Trip Start
Jun 27, 2009
1
7
30
Trip End
Jul 26, 2009
Bristol,
England,
United Kingdom
Thursday, July 2, 2009
We're currently on the ferry from Fishguard to Rosslare and this is the first internet connection I've had so far! Of all the places, eh??
SOrry there are no pics yet, I have plenty to upload but no power left to do so.
Will update this all as soon as I can.
My mobile is working if you need to contact us urgently.
Sam, if you're reading this, Pat and Reilly both miss you very much!
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(yeah, I'll get to this one tomorrow... and there are still a few photos to catch up on.)
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Finally...........
First stop was to visit Grandpa on final time. When we arrived we found out that they had just changed the visiting hours the day before and that we weren't really allowed to go in. But we insisted that we had come all the way from Sydney to see him, so that let us in. The boys and I didn't stay too long, we went for a walk while Mark had a bit of time alone with his Grandpa. It was a bit emotional for all as we might not get back to see him again.
Then it was time to head over to Wales to see some Welsh Castles.
Lucy had been set-up to avoid toll roads and tried to take us the long way around into Wales, but we worked it out in time to turn around and head over the very long bridge.
Caerphilly Castle
And the toll was not too cheap either at 5.40 GBP. The kids missed seeing the bridge as they were both asleep again.Our first stop was Caerphilly Castle. We had a nice lunch in a cafe directly across from the castle after a quick visit to the very pretty visitors centre.
Caerphilly is a very big castle with 3 moats. It remained undefeated in its day, and now is only being defeated by time. The great hall was amazing - sooo big - and the fireplace was big enough for all of us to stand inside with room to spare.
The castle was a great place for the kids to run around in and explore and really nothing for them to break. The only kid issue were the places where they could have fallen off walls or slipped under fences etc.
The next stop was Raglan Caslte. Whereas Caerphilly was made to be a true fortress and was built to be defended, Raglan was more of a palatial castle house. In its day it would have been very beautiful and was highly decorated. However, it did have some protective aspects, such as moats and a very sturdy tower as the last line of defence, with walls over 2m thick.
You can walk all the way to the top of the defensive tower, which was more than a little bit scary with the 2 boys, between the spiral staircase winding all the way up and the not so high wall at the top of the tower!
Patrick had a great time wandering around and trying to imagine what each of the rooms might have been used for.
Then off to Tintern Abbey through the beautiful village of Usk.
Great Hall, Caerphilly Castle
But when we got there it had just closed, so we could only have a look from the outside. It was still stunning as ruins, I imagine when it was just finished it must have been amazing.Then off for a quick look at Chepstow Castle on the way home. It too was closed, but it was nice to see it from the outside and the village was lovely to drive through.
Then back over the bridge to England and back to Anna and Alun's for a family send off.
Alun's parents were just leaving when we got there, but it was lovely to have a quick chat with them before they left. Shirley, Claire, Harvey and Maisey were all there for a last family gathering. The kids all had a great time with water pistols and playing football with Mark and Alun while the women-folk chatted inside. It was such lovely weather that it was easy to let them stay playing in the garden until after 9pm, and so it was after 10pm before we got back to Grandpa's to get the kids off to bed. Then Mark & I did our best to pack as much as we could ready for a quick early morning start the next day.
