Caerphilly Castle.

After a quiet week resting and recovering it was time to start exploring. We only have 8 weeks and we don't want to miss anything. We had been left a great stack of pamphlets of places to go and after sorting through them we thought a castle was a good place to start. Plus it was Asher's birthday on Sunday and so we wanted to do something interesting for it.

Thankfully we have Google Maps and so finding places is actually easy. So we plugged in Caerphilly Castle and headed off. 

Our first discovery was a small stone circle. These are similar to Stonehenge, though much smaller. For those that have read Outlander, you know that these are important. Though I have a feeling the one Claire went through is much bigger. I looked for Jamie though but only found these guys.




It was a perfect place for a good jump though.


A war memorial.


And there it was Caerphilly Castle, a proper castle with a moat and a leaning tower. We hoped to find a dragon too.


We wandered around the park towards the entrance, enjoying the view and the parts we could get too.






We made it to the entrance, escaping the terrifying geese that seemed to surround the park.



Yes, we did find some dragons!!! And they had babies. Soo cute. Not dangerous either, though we didn't get to pat them.



The great hall, which was due to host a wedding that afternoon. The smells coming from the kitchen were making us all drool. The hall was well kept and had a beautiful wooden ceiling. 




Asher and Hannah found a staircase that leads to nowhere.

















 They had a few things for children to explore, including a maze, which we did and found the centre. We then lost Asher for a bit. Opps.



We decided that instead of losing the kids we'd just lock them up for a bit.



This is the leaning tower. It leans more than Pisa. This is because a long number of years ago they decided to destroy all the castles so a few cannonballs went into it and made lots of it fall down. This and the subsidence in the land made this tower lean. Luckily for us, someone in the 1800's decided to fix the castle and that is what we see today.




Some siege weapons. We wanted to have a go but weren't allowed. 



Instead, we played a bit of croquet, though I use that term 'played' loosely. Basically, everyone ran around whacking their ball through the holes as fast as they could. Philistines.




The choir warms up before their performance at the wedding. They sounded so beautiful. They did 'The Prayer', it was haunting. We waited around for a while, got to see the Groomsmen (and there were many) having their photos done. Dan got hungry so we ended up leaving and then returning because the bridesmaid (and thier were many) and bride finally arrived. Ahhh to be married in a castle would be pretty cool.




Finally, said Dan, we can eat our picnic. And luckily the geese were all napping. We tried to be very quiet so they didn't wake. 



Alas.




I won't say who freaked out the most. But I've never seen Hannah move so fast. 

Thanks, Caerphilly, you were a great introduction of Welsh Castles.


Comments

  1. Love your writing style hugely Sharon. I think you and Travel Man Richard Ayoade could co-share!!!

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    1. Thanks Martin, it is nice to hear that others enjoy what I am putting out into the universe. Dan has suggested that I write a travel blog as a job but I'm not so sure haha.

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  2. Ahhh! Proper castles x Ahhh Proper geese! Loving the 'Let's see which creature we can feature' in your Blogs. The Garden Slugs may take some beating but Geese AND Dragons come a close second guys! Beautiful place isn't it! Try some Caerphilly Cheese (can you?) H misses her cheeses! You are all doing so well not to be 'Travel-Seen-ed' out! Only 8 weeks... There's a lot you can do in 8 weeks and we can't wait to see what :) Castell Coch was originally a Norman Castle built around the same time as my home church, might be on your horizon and Caerphilly Mountain just to say you have! By the way - the RUFUS leap takes first place too - Un braf! (nice one!) x Enjoy x

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    Replies
    1. It sure is beautiful. We did see lots of cheese but haven't really tasted any. We've been to Castell Coch too, check out a blog in a few days. It is amazing the level of time and age that exists here. It wouldn't be a real adventure without a RUFUS leap.

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