Wales Vacation - Day 4

We were now in the hear of King Edward I's Iron Ring around the north west of Wales.

We left Harlech in the morning for the drive to town of Caernarfon. The castle dominates the town. Caernarfon Castle was the site of the Investiture of Prince Charles as the Prince of Wales. In fact, he is the first English Prince of Wales. Caernarfon's history is tied very closely with the Welsh drive for independence in the 1200-1400s. Not long after construction was complete it was attacked by Welsh rebels and the part of the town located within the castle's walls were burned. Caernarfon was one of Edward I's bastide (planned) towns where the castle walls were extended to encompass the surrounding village. This provided protection for some of the local inhabitants.

The views from the castle's towers were amazing. One could look out over the channel that runs between the mainland and the Isle of Anglesly. We walked around the town and stopped at a little tea shop for lunch.

Next up was the drive to Beaumaris Castle on the Isle of Anglesly. Beaumaris doesn't command the skyline nor the village like Harlech and Caernarfon but the castle's setting was made Beaumaris comparable in it's own right. Just outside of the castle walls is the dock. At once time the waterline came up to the castle and the docks were used to supply the castle. Seen from above, Beaurmaris is amazingly symmetrical. It was also the largest and the last of King Edward I's castles to be built in Wales (begun in 1295). As with all the other castles the kids were able to climb on some of the walls and run around the grounds.

Our next stop was a town on the Isle of Anglesly that is known as having the longest name in the world. Its full name is Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwll-llantysiliogogogoch which means The Church of St Mary in the hollow of the white hazel near the rapid whirlpool and the church of St Tysilio near a red cave....shortened to LlanfairPG. We just stopped so I could get a picture of sign.

Our last stop for the day was the Bryn Celli Ddu Burial Chamber. It was a little walk to the chamber but it was neat knowing that people were there in 2000BC. In fact, Anglesly contains a large number of Prehistoric remains.

Tonight we went back to the old tried and true Travelodge's...this time in Bangor...

Wales Vacation - Day 3

Most of this day was for driving. Unfortunately the only dual carriage ways that we saw today were the first 5-6 miles. We didn’t have to drive over the Black Mountains but some of the roads were very windy and climbed up and down hills.

It was this way that we noticed a few subtle and not-so-subtle changes. Sheep were now everywhere. We were wrong when we thought that there were a lot of sheep around Croughton. Once we got away from Swansea up the Cardigan Bay coastline of Wales the street signs, while still bi-lingual, now listed Welsh first followed by English. Additionally, a few signs had been sprayed painted over with “Welsh Not.”

Today, as with every day during the vacation, we did feel very welcome by the Welsh that we came across in stores and walking around. The drive up the coastline was great. We drove through the tourist town of Aberystwyth. We didn’t stop here but at one town the castle in the town was supposed to have rivaled the 4 castles that we still were to visit: Harleach, Caernarfon, Beaumaris, and Conwy.

The scariest part of the drive was through the town of Barmouth. The A496 went right through the heart of town. Today was a Bank Holiday so the roads were jammed with beach goers. I was able to breathe a sigh of relief once we made it through the town. During the drive up the coast we stopped at a little pull off to stretch our legs. At this point the road was not very far off the shoreline. Between the road and the shore were farmers harvesting hay. Also, cows were grazing pretty much right up to the water.

We got back in the car for the last left of the driving day and drove up to the town of Harlech. The castle in Harlech was one of the “big 4” that remain on the north west coastline of Wales. The castle was one of many built by King Edward I in the 1200s in Gwynedd (North Wales) so that he could control the people and the land. The castle and most of the town sat on a large cliff overlooking the beach and the flats. When the castle was built, the water came right up to the edge of the cliffs. Getting up to the castle was an adventure. We missed the turn to get to the upper part of the town and had to take a switch back road that winded up to the castle. At some points we were faced with a 25% incline. When we got there the car park for the castle was full. The only place to park was right on one of the roads in the town. We were a little worried about doing that but everyone was and it wasn’t a problem at all.

The views from Harlech were simply amazing. When you climbed up to the top of the castle you could look out over the to the mountains about 20 miles away up the coast and also out to sea. It was very windy up there and one could only imagine what the soldiers manning the castle must have gone through.

As with all of the castles words can’t explain it well enough: the winding spiral staircases up the towers, the thickness of the walls, the great rooms, etc.

The wind was unceasing. As we were driving to Harlech the wind was so strong and constant that the trees grew away from the wind.

We stayed in a local hotel in Harlech called St David’s. From the restaurant in the hotel one could look out over the ocean. Before dinner we walked down to the beach and the kids ran in the water for a while. The wind made it very cold but the kids loved it.

Wales Vacation - Day 2

This was our first full day of castle touring.

Our first stop was Chepstow Castle about 30 minutes was of Cardiff. Chepstow Castle lies on a cliff overlooking the river Wye. Construction of the castle begin in 1067. The first part of the castle to be built was the Middle Bailey. Later inhabitants of the castle added the Lower and Upper Baileys along with the Upper Barbican for defenses.

It took a few wrong turns but we made it out of the town of Chepstow and headed up the A468 to Tintern Abbey. It was a two lane road that winded up the valley on the side of the mountain. Tintern Abbey was in a secluded valley about 15 minutes from Chepstow. The abbey is in ruins now but the main church building is still amazing with the gigantic arched windows. Inside the main church are a few unmarked graves stones. King Henry VIII brought an end to the monastic way of life and the church fell into ruins over the following years.

We picked up a few sandwiches at a shop across the street and ate right by the abbey,

We left Tintern Abbey and head towards Raglan Castle on the way to the town of Abergavenny.

Raglan was perhaps the most non-militaristic of the castles that we saw the entire vacation. It was first build in the 15th century and a battle during the English Civil War was fought at the castle. The Great Tower of the castle was surrounded by a large moat and could only be reached by a bridge from the rest of the castle.

Our last castle of the day were the ruins of Abergavenny Castle. Nothing really remains of the castle except for a few walls but that in itself was fun. You could climb over walls and the kids could roll down hills.

After this tour of the castles we drove to Swansea where we stayed for the night. After checking into the hotel we drove to the Maritime district of the town for dinner at a restaurant called the Pump House. Right before dinner we walked to the very small beach. While driving in Swansea a drunk Welshman came up to our car at a red light and talked with us asking where we were from. It was pretty funny…

We called it a night to prepare for the day of driving ahead of us….

Wales Vacation - Day 1

We got off from Croughton around 9AM and heading out to Cardiff. As soon as we crossed the border into Wales all the street signs were in both English and Welsh (English listed first).

Our first stop was at Caerphilly Castle, which lies just north of Cardiff in the small valley town of Caerphilly. The castle lies right in the middle of the town at the bottom of the hill that leads into town. We got a 7 days pass from Cadw (Welsh Heritage) which gave us free admission to all properties under the managements of Cadw.

It was an amazing sight seeing the castle’s towers rise up behind houses and businesses. You could climb up a number of the towers and also climb over/across some of the remnants of castle walls.

We just got a few sandwiches and headed off to downtown Cardiff. The only hard part of the drive on the first day was parking in the car park in the center of town. The car park was right next to the Millennium Stadium. Cardiff Castle was our next stop.

After WWII the Bute family gave the castle to the city. We took a tour of the castle and got to see a number of rooms. The paintings on the children’s bedroom had scenes from various fairy tales. My favorite room was the Arab Room because of the very ornate ceiling. After the tour of the main house we climbed the high stairs to the Keep. It is the only original section of the 12th century castle remaining. The view from the top of the Keep was amazing.

The last part of the castle that we saw was the remnants of a wall dating back to the original stone castle built by the Romans back in 77AD. It was covered during the Norman era and preserved in great shape. It is 8-10 feet thick.

At this point we decided to call it a day and headed to the Travelodge for the night. It was exactly what we wanted. Throughout this trip restaurants and gas stations were always in the same complex with the Travelodges.

Banbury visit

We went to Banbury yesterday so get the kids some of the school clothers. There is a mall in the center of the city. It's nice but nothing like the malls we think of back in the states.

Banbury is an old market town. It has an interesting history dating back to the Saxon times.

A nursery rhyme, 'Ride a Cock Horse', has made Banbury one of the best-known towns in England. It has been suggested that the 'Fine Lady' of the nursery rhyme may have been Lady Godiva or Elizabeth I. More likely it was a local girl who rode in a May Day procession. The original cross was pulled down at the end of the 16th century. The present cross was erected in 1859 to celebrate the wedding of the then Princess Royal to Prince Frederick of Prussia.

"Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross,
To see a fine ladyupon a white horse,
With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes,
She shall have music where-ever she goes"

Visting Oxford

We decided to stay close to home this weekend so Oxford was our destination of choice. The park and ride lot made things so much easiers since the roads in Oxford are not very wide.

Our first stop was the Ashmolean Mueseum. We only made it to a few parts of the museum's rooms. The Roman Exhibit from an excavation in Narona(Croatia) was amazing. The detail on all the pieces of scultpure was fanatastic.

One of the other exhibits that we visited was their Egytian Exhibit. It contained a number of mummies, many amulets both large and small, and even a complete temple in one of the rooms.

We definitely will have to go back and visit the rest of the library during our time here.

We did a little walking around after lunch. We walked down to Christ Church College but didn't go in. We saved that for another time. Instead we walked in the Christ Church Meadow briefly.

We were going to climb up to the top of Carfax Tower in the center of Oxford but children under 7 aren't allowed. I've heard the the view of the city from the tower is great.

Next, we walked down High Street towards the Bodleian Library. The library was already closed for the day so we couldn't go in to see the exhibits or look around the architecture. The library is the British equivalent of the Library of Congress in the US.

At this point the kids were tired so we took the bus back to the park and ride and went home.

There are many more things to do in Oxford and we still plan to do as many as we can!

Stowe Landscape Gardens

Today the family went to Stowe Landscape Gardens in Buckinghamshire. The various sculptures and buidings that are placed throughout the property are amazing. You can pretty much walk anywhere...you just need to watch out for the sheep that are grazing all around.

We also decided to join the National Trust. It is a great deal considering that it provides for free entry to all the National Trust properties.

Car Arrives

On Friday, Aug 6, our car finally arrived. We can venture off base again. On Monday the 9th, I will drive down to near Heathrow and pick up Leo!....

Summer Camps

Two weeks ago Natalie and Rachel attended a cheerleading camp. They both had alot of fun. On Friday of that week there was a performance of the 2 routines that all the girls practiced.

Last week Natalie and Colin attended a drama camp. On Monday they were placed in parts for the performance of an adaptation of the jungle book. Natalie was Wolfie, the largest of the wolf cubs, and had a number of lines. Colin was one of the monkeys (how appropriate!). On Saturday they put on a performance. It was great...especially considering that there was only 1 week of practice.

This coming week...Aug 9-13...all 3 kids will be in a soccer camp on base.