Wales - Cardiff Castle

We are now in Wales, the second country of our journey.  From what we have seen so far from the bus as we drive along, the countryside is really pretty, very green and strewn with pastures that are dotted with sheep or cattle.  The sheep here are raised for their meat, not their wool. 

There are many many castles in Wales.  The one we got to explore is in the capital city of Cardiff, in Southern Wales, appropriately called Cardiff Castle.  The history of this castle dates back to a 10-acre fort built by the Roman Army in the 1st century, approximately 55 AD, almost 2000 years ago.  To see something that dates back to the time of Christ is mind-blowing to me.  Some of the original Roman masonry existed until the 11th century, approximately 1091 AD, when it was rebuilt by the Normans during the Norman invasion.  Not to make this a boring history lesson, I'll just suffice it to say that this castle has survived many conflicts through the ages, the Romans, the Normans, the Welsh, the British, until it fell into the hands of John, the 3rd Marquis of Bute, who renovated it in 1868 during the Victorian era into the very lavish and ornate Gothic style that you see today.

Cardiff Castle

Exterior of the Walls

The Animal Wall

Main Entrance to Cardiff Castle - on the South Wall

The entire property is surrounded by a huge stone wall.  Once you are inside, you realize that these are not just walls, they are buildings in themselves.  The West Wall now houses the very elaborate and over the top Gothic styled residence that was designed and occupied by John Stuart, 3rd Marquis of Bute, in the mid 1800's.  My John said the lavish styling reminds him of Hearst Castle, and he's possibly correct since a lot of the things in Hearst Castle came from the old castles in Europe . . . in any case, it is definitely “grand”.  Here are some photos to give you an idea . . .

The Residence of John Stuart, 3rd Marquis of Bute, in the West Wall.

Gorgeous, Ornate Ceilings and Stained Glass Windows in one of the rooms

The Dining Room

A closer look at the fireplace - there are many intricately designed fireplaces throughout

The Library

This is just a small sampling of what was inside the residence portion of the castle.  Very very gaudy and ornate . . . . 

At the South-West Corner of the castle is a very elaborate clock tower.  Suddenly I am fascinated by clock towers – they are all over the place here.  This one stands 150 ft. high, and housed some bachelor suites, maids quarters, and various other rooms.  The tower is very ornate and the figures are larger than life-size.

Clock Tower - Stands 150 Ft. High

Closer look at some of the figures - they are bigger than life size and very very ornate

We walked across the castle green to the North Wall of the castle.  (Aren’t you proud of me to have all these directions?)  I don’t know what was originally in the North Wall, but during World War II it was used as a bomb shelter.  We walked through it and it was pretty scary . . . inside you heard the very realistic sound of bombs dropping, air-raid sirens blasting, radio broadcasts from that era, and I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.  It really gave you a sense of how it must have been for the people who lived through the war!   Horrible!

Entrance to North Wall

Tunnels inside the North Wall - Used for Bomb Shelter in WW2

Kitchen inside the bomb shelter - it looked like they had just finished dinner

The tunnels went on and on, extending into the East wall as well.  I was beginning to think we'd never find our way out!  But thankfully (obviously) we did!

But my favorite part of the castle was what they call “The Keep”.  It is a separate “castle” inside the castle walls, and was built by the Normans around 1091AD as a place of protection when the castle was under attack.  The original Keep was built of wood, and was rebuilt with stone in the 12th century.  

The Keep is built on top of a 40 ft. high mound and surrounded by a moat

At one time this wall held a tunnel from the South entrance to The Keep to allow protected access during times of attack.

Another view of The Keep

And from the other side - can you tell I really liked The Keep?

 

John and Me just before I climbed all the steps

John went part way up, then stopped.  I continued climbing . . .In this photo you can also see the moat that surrounds the mound that The Keep sits on.

Once you climb the straight steps that you see in the pictures above, there are some 100 more steps going up a very narrow, circular stone staircase that leads you to the top.   It was a hard and tricky climb, but worth it – the view of the city of Cardiff was spectacular.  As I mentioned before, Cardiff is the capital of Wales.  

From the top, looking down inside The Keep

The Keep never had a top.  Originally there were other buildings inside that were protected by the outer stone wall that you see here.

Looking down at the outer stone wall

View of Cardiff from The Keep

After climbing back down all the steps, John and I found ourselves captive in The Pillories . . . 

Oh no . . . Please set us free! 

Flag of Wales

The Red Dragon has been associated with Wales for centuries, although the origin of why it was adopted as a national symbol has been lost in history and myth.  One theory suggests that the Romans brought the dragon emblem to what is now Wales during their occupation of Britain during the 1st century AD.   The green and white stripes were added by the House of Tudor, the Welsh dynasty that held the British throne from 1485 -1603.  Green and white also represents the leek, which is another national symbol of Wales.

Dragon inside the castle grounds.  The exact representation of the dragon is not standardized and there are different depictions of it everywhere.

Back on the bus, we headed for a little seaside town called Tenby for lunch.  Going by Steve’s (the tour guide) recommendation, we headed to this little restaurant and ordered the specialty – fish and chips.  Oh my goodness, I can’t describe how BAD it was . . . . greasy, so much breading you could hardly find the fish, totally not good.  Oh, and it's served with "mushy peas", which apparently is a very popular dish here because everything seems to come with mushy peas.  My opinion of mushy peas . . . well, they taste about as bad as they sound.  Not something I ever want to eat again.  Afterwards, Steve asked John W. how we liked our lunch.  I guess he didn’t want to hurt Steve’s feelings because he said it was “OK”, but on second thought, we should have told him how we really felt because he’s apt to continue recommending it.  We exchanged thoughts with some of our fellow travelers and they didn’t like it either.   We did have fish and chips other places, and it was very good.  My only disappointment, "chips" are nothing more than regular french fries.  I don't know what I thought chips would be, but I didn't expect french fries . . . and theirs aren't nearly as good as the fries we have at home.

After lunch we drove to the docks at Pembrook to catch the ferry to Ireland.   

Ferry from Wales to Ireland

Our last look at Wales from the ferry

Not much to report about the ferry ride, other than it was  L. . .O. . . N. . . G!!!    Four hours and nothing to do but sit and watch the horizon.  We walked out to the outside deck a few times, but it was cold, windy, and part of the time it was raining, so we stayed inside and watched through the windows. 

When we finally reached Ireland, we had another hour or so drive to our hotel.  By the time we got there, we were all ready for dinner and to call it a night.  More about Ireland tomorrow . . . .