Chepstow

A friend told me that Chepstow, Wales had a really cool castle, so I decided to make a day trip out there. Chepstow is basically across the river from Bristol.

Since it was in the middle of the week and really cold, I had the castle to myself.

The entrance.

The castle was built in 1067 A. D.

This is the big dinning room. You can see the where the second story was.

The river Wye and Chepstow.




I love the Welch countryside.

After the castle, I walked along the main street and checked out some of the antique shops there.

Chepstow City Gate, which dates back to the 13th century.

Part of the Port Wall. It wasn't built so much for defense of the city, but to control who could get in and out of the city. The only entrance was the city gate.

I found this out after I visited, but J.K. Rowling actually attended a primary school there.

Barrow-in-Furness

Gavin had a work meeting one day in Barrow-in-Furness at the BAE Systems branch there, which is in north western part of England. If you heard about the sub that ran aground in England, it was made by the BAE Systems in Barrow-in-Furness.

We went with one of Gavin's work buddies, Peter. We had dinner at the fancy restuarant in hotel Peter was staying at. We stayed at this hotel the next night.

Gavin and I stayed the first couple of nights in a nearby town called Ulverston. It's really tiny. While Gavin and Peter were at their meetings, I walked around the city a little bit. That they they were doing a farmers market. Ulverston must not get a lot of American tourists because when I ordered my lunch, the guy dropped the glass he was holding and looked at me in shock when I first started talking.

The next day, Gavin and I started driving around the Lake District. We had heard from everyone that we talked to that the Lake District is absolutely beautiful. The first day we drove, we went along the western edge. It actually wasn't the best day. Since it was off season and a weekday, most everything was closed. It was still really pretty, though.

This is just outside of Ulverston.

We drove past the BAE Systems where Gavin and Peter had their meetings.

Lots and lots of sheep. :)

We stopped in this tiny village for lunch at a pub where we were able to get some authentic British food. . Gavin ordered a steak and ale pie.

I had spotted dick for desert.

As we were driving, we saw these windmills with cows roaming right along them.

We drove all the way up to Carlisle to see the castle there. We got there right as they were closing, but the lady let us in for a minute to take a few pictures.

Parts of the castle date back to 72 AD.

The Military is still currently housed there.

Caerphilly Castle.

After we toured Gloucester, we raced over to Caerphilly to tour the castle there. We barely made it before they closed and begged to be let in with several promises that we would be quick. We were actually able to see most of the castle (we were really out of breath, though).

The entrance to the castle

Walking along the inside of the outer defense wall.

Part of a tower that is now in ruins.

The dinning room.

You can see that this room was once two stories. In the middle of the wall, you can see the supports for the old floor.

Gavin pounding on the doors to get out.

The back entrance to the castle.

It's set on a lake and has a moat around it. It's really pretty.

The catapults.

The city of Caerphilly.

The outer fence of the castle and the moat.

This picture was difficult to get. I was taking a picture of Gavin and a guy who was fishing with his buddies (and drinking a lot by the smell of him) offered to take our picture. He put himself in the most awkward position to take our picture and the first few had his leg or hand in the shot.

The whole castle.

There is a park surrounding the lake and someone had carved this out of a tree. At first, I thought it was a dragon, but it's a squirrel.

In Wales, all of the signs are in English and in Welsh.

There was the most beautiful sunset that night as we were heading home. I didn't get a great picture, but the colors were so intense.