Monday, February 16, 2009

We had breakfast at the hostel- traditional breakfast, including some delicious chocolate croissants.

Before leaving St Briavels, I explored outside the castle

And the old cemetery at the church across the street. Some of the headstones were so worn the writing was impossible to read.

Somehow I missed the gargoyle chair on one side of the castle and am sad about that. Seeing other's pictures of it was cool though!

(photo courtesy of TG)

We went to Chepstow Castle. Here's an assortment of pictures, please ask any questions if you want something specific!

Lots of little plants like this were growing from the castle walls. We saw them at the other castles and Old Sarum as well.

This is my most favorite picture of the whole trip.

I was able to stand in a fireplace and fit perfectly inside without shoes- Which made it 5' high.

I wish the picture came out better though.

On the inside of the great tower, up at the top were decorative heads along the edge of the inside and corners. It would have been so cool to MacGyver some kind of harness and pulley to get an up close shot of them. (The link provided above for the castle shows one nicely)

There were also some seen on the outside of Marten's Tower, along with what the village looks like below.

The privys there went directly into the moat, unlike the ones at Caerphilly, which were essentially a poop shoot at the base of the castles. At Old Sarum they were large pits. Outhouses seem so modern compared to those drafty holes!

I had far too much fun having this picture taken.

The paper on the right hand side of the bench had a warning saying this room was viewed by CCTV. So don't get too serious about trying it out.

The kids played hackey sack in the courtyard, much like they did the morning we were waiting to get into Stonehenge. Yay to DL for thinking of bringing it along.

At the giftshop I picked up a Welsh for Beginners book. It no longer has the CD with it, but internet links.

We walked into town for lunch when we were through at the castle. DD and I met up with a couple of local police officers and shared a patch from R's department in the US. It never occured to me to get a picture with them. He sent some patches with me to give out and the first day we were in London I forgot to bring them with me, and of course we passed a ton of bobbies there.

This is a cast iron bridge in the village of Chepstow, viewed from the castle.




I thought how the wires met at a single pole looked really neat.

We stopped at the Chepstow Bookshop before eating. DD and LJ each bought a book. DD bought Finn Family Moomintroll and LJ bought the Jacqueline Wilson, Best Friends book. GB bought several books too. He's a voracious reader and has picked some great ones to read aloud to the children in school, as well as ones for group reads. Everyone deserves a teacher like him at least once in their lives.

We ate lunch at the Bell Hanger Pub. LJ had fish and chips (again!) DD had linguini and meatballs, and I had yet another chicken caesar salad. The chicken was so tender. GB helped me discover my new favorite addition to water- a little bit of Rose's sweetened lime juice. Good stuff.

I loved this doorknocker!

And this statue on some steps across the street from the restaurant.

After lunch we drove to Stratford Upon Avon.

On the way to Stratford we stopped at Tewkesbury Abbey.

It kind of reminds me of the Haunted Mansion at WDW.

If you go and need to use the loo, avoid the public one across the street from the Cricket Field. It was absolutely disgusting and reminded me of that awful scene in Trainspotting. Maybe it wasn't quite that bad, but it was BAD! There are clean restrooms at the site of the Abbey's refectory and shop, thank goodness.

Here are some shots around the Abbey. I did not take pictures inside.

When I was near the area of the statues I heard this elderly woman approaching me, chattering away to someone named Tim. She was having a happy conversation with him, but I didn't hear his footsteps. Tim turned out to be this little terrier. They looked like they loved one another very much. I loved seeing so many dogs on the trip.

These hellebores were so fragrant!

Near the car park was a playground, where the children were able to burn off some steam before heading to the hostel for the night. Not that they really needed to burn any steam off at the amount of moving we'd done that week, but they had fun.

The town of Stratford is beautiful, another that would have been terrific to explore! The sunset on the way to the hostel was lovely.

The hostel in Stratford reminded me a lot of the one in Salisbury- it was an old mansion, though much larger than the one in Salisbury.

I don't remember everything that was available for dinner, but I had chili with rice, and this delicious veggie/cheese bake. There was also fresh fruit available.

That night we roomed with LJ, LL1/LL2, MB and EW. Our room had a fireplace, but like the one at St Briavels, was not working. Actually, now that I think about it, I believe the one in Salisbury had one too.

The kids had fun playing uno and goofing off.

We adults met in the dining room for drinks. There was a poster advertising this fizzy pear juice. I had it with.... guess!? :-p I just can't get into the ale.

Sunny skies and the warmest day yet. I was able to wear a light jacket and long-sleeves and felt comfortable. At one point many of the kids were just wearing their shirts.

WHEW!