Wales, Cardiff and Castles

We left Belfast and Northern Ireland behind and headed back to the mainland of the UK.  We touched down in Cardiff capital of Wales and we got off to an interesting start.  After almost missing our flight out of Belfast (we had the wrong flight time in our heads), arriving at Cardiff airport, as you depart the plane you have to produce photo ID.  Chris did not have his passport ready so just flashed his Victorian drivers licence and kept walking.  Jess however had her passport ready and got interrogated.  Are you travelling with a group?  How long do you intend to stay?  Where have you come from?  Where are you going?  Chris came back and saved the day!

After our night at the Thistle we awoke the next day ready to visit some castles.  First stop was Cardiff Castle right in the centre of town.

Due to preparations for the Diamond Jubilee Beacon lighting, half of the grounds were off limits.  However the main parts of the castle were still open to the public.

The castle started off as a Roman Fort built back in 55AD.  The Norman keep in the centre of the site was constructed in 1091.

In the early 19th century the original Norman castle was enlarged and refashioned and the Victorian mansion was built.  The rooms of the mansion are lavishly decorated.

We then headed out to Caerphilly to visit its castle.

Caerphilly Castle is the second largest medieval castle site in the UK (behind Windsor Castle) and one of the largest in Europe.  On the day of our visit there was a medieval role playing event on with folk dressed up and conducting activities from medieval times.  These activities included the firing of seige machines and the storming of the castle.

The castle was built between 1268 and 1271 and was one of the first to implement the concentric castle defensive design (Outer and inner defensive walls).  One of the castle's most notable features is its leaning south-east tower of the inner most castle structure.  This tower leans at 11degs compared to the 4degs of Pisa.

We headed back to Cardiff to catch a train back to London that evening.