Sunday, February 15, 2009

We had the same breakfast at the hostel as the day before, then departed to go to Caerphilly Castle in Wales. LL1 was back in GB's van with the others. We picked up a lunch at a rest area (not like a small one, but had a few shops, restaurants with take away sandwiches and other easy to eat foods on the road. We ate in the van on the way to Caerphilly. We drove through beautiful Bath. It would have been wonderful to go touring there. The amount of litter seen around Caerphilly was staggering. It was everywhere and disenheartening to see.

The castle! It was built in just 3 years! This place was huge! It's hard to describe, in words what it was like. Instead, I'll share pictures. Ask questions in the comments if you want more info!

View of the castle as we approach from the parking area.

Front of the castle- notice the wooden gate in the middle.

Top of wooden gate, from the inside.

Looking up a spiral staircase. We climbed many during the trip!

I loved this picture. The birds were very distressed by our presence in the tower and were fluttering about. We left and went further up. On the way back down I saw this one resting on the floor and she seemed so much more peaceful than she was moments earlier.

Trebuchets! They were huge! Behind you can see part of the village.
The castle well

Lookie! A poop shoot- somewhere up above is the privy. The waste just falls onto the ground, but back then may have led to the moat. The one yesterday was a giant pit.
The leaning tower

A very cool door.

Interesting mineralization on the castle walls.

For the grandmothers!

An empty great hall

Some of the children singing in the great hall.

A group on some old stairs.

An old window

We went to Tintern Abbey after Caerphilly. What a majestic place! I don't know enough words to accurately describe this place. A few days after returning, I was at Barnes and Noble and saw a book about the 1,000 places to see before you die. Tintern Abbey was listed, and I agree. I guess if I had to sum it up in one word, I would choose awestruck.

Again, if you have questions, pop something in the comments! I'm just going to pop in a bunch of pictures here, a few will have notes.

I loved this blue feather on the ground.

An ancient stone on the ground. The picture does not do its beauty justice.

The big window is just massive. I wish there was a person standing below it so you could really understand how BIG this really is. In the picture at the right I am laying on the ground and am unable to get it all in. The one at the left I am at the opposite end of the building.

Well lookie here! DD got a picture of the big window with people in the foreground. Yes, it is THAT big! (added pic 2/28)

Look, even the Abbots had a privy!

Some adults had tea afterwards, and many of the kids got ice cream cones at the shop nearby. DD and LJ both had chocolate ice cream cones and I had green tea. MB bought some crackers that had seaweed in them. Some found them icky, but I liked the texture. DD and LJ picked up postcards.

After Tintern Abbey we drove to St Briavels Castle, which was King John's hunting lodge and is now a hostel. It's said to be haunted and there are some videos on youtube about the ghosts. This video here gives a nice tour. This place was so cool! (Literally and figuratively!) I'll post outside pictures in the next installment!

DD and I roomed with LL1 & LL2, EW and LJ. Our room was the Porter's Room, which was very cold. Actually, the entire castle was. When we arrived it was 58deg in the room and the following morning it was 50 deg!!! BRRRRR. Yes, I had my little thermometer I use when on the playground at school. Some of the rooms had small portable heaters, but ours didn't. Fortunately there were lots of woolen blankets for our beds and we were toasty warm under the covers. Being able to sleep in a castle is such an awesome experience that the cold was not an issue to me. The girls complained about the cold, but I think they'll remember the night there fondly.

LL1 and I had single princess beds that fit into window alcoves.

The girls had bunkbeds

The boys and men were in the Prison Room which GB pointed out had walls that were 5' thick! There was also some interesting carvings on the walls; writing and 2 carved Dutch windmills.

Some of the other girls and their moms were in the State Apartment and Isobel's Room.

We saw the most gorgeous sunset from the State Apartment.

The windows had their original leaded glass and the mantles over most of the fireplaces were textured copper. You can see the Prison Room and The State Apartment in the video tour I linked.

We had a Medieval Feast that we got to dress up in costumes for.

MW was chosen as Lord of the Meal. Another young guest staying with her family, C, was the lady. Both picked their siblings to be their official food tasters, just in case the food was poisoned.

We had a delicious gruel (soup) made with blended potatoes, parsnips, carrots and onions, barley and herbs were added. We also had roasted chicken, baked half-potatoes, and other roasted veggies. There were also sausages and local bread and vegetarian pasties. I loved that the host/Warden noted that the food was local. It seems that's a big deal over in that part of the world. Many Americans I know locally like to eat that way, I hope others catch up with the trend.

We had no utensils, other than a knife for cutting the chicken. We used the bread and potato halves to scoop up the soup. For dessert there was a apple crumble with custard and fruit salad. Each guest had a number at their plate and if the Lord and Lady wanted to be entertained they would call out a number between 1 and 35. If your number was called you had to make them laugh. We had singers, dancers, a juggler, and a magician that tried making fire come from her camera. Her powers weren't quite strong enough (the batteries died at the time she needed the camera the most!) and needed help from the audience. Someone shared a camera with her and she was able to create the fire. But the best entertainment was MB trying so hard to make fire on her own.

GB sang “In the bath” and recited The Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll. LJ sang an operatic version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I'm surprised there was no broken glass afterwards. After the feast, the children played hide and go seek in the castle. The children of the other visiting family joined in and they all seemed to have a great time together.

LL1, TG, SPA, GB, AW1, TR and I went to The George Wadworth pub for drinks. LL2 stayed with EW, DD and LJ and they played UNO in our room with some of the other kids. DL stayed for the boys. The other girls were with the moms and MB, who chose not go to the pub with us. If you do go to the George Wadworth, be sure to say hi to Benjamin the yellow lab and Marley, a terrier mix. When Ben knew that you knew his name, he was your best friend. Marley was less friendly, but I liked seeing dogs in the pub.

Showers were tricky there (maybe it was the pub visit that colored my perception of the ease of use), I opted not to do so that night. It was too cold in there anyways. When we got back from the pub the girls were still up. The room was VERY dark and they wound up using my LED booklight as a night light.

This day was my birthday, and honestly, was the best one I've ever celebrated. I did it quietly and was only known by a couple of people I was with, just as I wanted it to be.

We had partly sunny skies and cool. Part of the day I wore my hat, which I don't do often, even on the coldest days at home.