A Day of Castles

We began our day with a nice sleep-in, late breakfast and set off around 11. We went round Cardiff City first then head off for Castle Coch (with a 'k'), set up on a hill. Quite a steep hill, we climbed by foot.

Isn't is a bit like Brave?

With this filter it's a bit scary.

Which I apparently forgotto take off for my next picture. Ghost baby!

My friend BH took about 1000 shots of this picture. All remarkably similar and none capturing the whole of the castle.

You can tell this was meant as more of lookout, it's not terribly large.

But there is a wonderful view down to the river.

The weather, while the rain held off, was PERFECT for photographing the castles.

Giant J, tiny door!!

Castle selfie!

Not sure what the tiny door at the bottom left was for... Quick escape? Rubbish disposal?

As you move round the castle you see more of it is still red brick, out of direct sunlight.

Sadly, many UK Castles are the locations for suicides. How sad :-(. This must be in memory of one.

You can see glass windows, installed at some point when a zillionaire thought,"let's make this place home!"

JH went down to fetch me some true Welsh slate!! I brought it home with me.

Lovely view as we descended the hill back to the car.

Look solar panels!!! Eco friendly!!

In the middle of the shot Caerphilly_Castle. 

We parked at the only grocery store I've yet seen that wasn't a market. We walked across the street to the castle.  Look it has a moat!

One of the towers is a bit broken, yet it still hangs on. Amazing. When we stare at it it's almost as if we can see it falling before our eyes.

It's quite big!!

Panoramic of the whole of the main entrance. A double walled castle.

Standard arch entry. 

A view to the right, they appear to have a Canadian geese problem as well!

Selfie! J is eating a pastie. A toaster strudel with corned beef and hash inside. True Brit snacking.

Apparently one must pay £4.50 to enter the rest of the castle which we thought was a bit much. So we walked around the part that was free.

Like this part through a lovely arch.

But first we noticed that I sold LUXURY Farmhouse Ice Cream. So I posed!

Our boys talking about the various issues with only building one outer wall. Lovely moat/lake.

This is a great example of archery holes, great amounts of room to move about from within, much harder to conquer from the out.

I thought this was a lovely juxtaposition of castle moat/ village and hills.

People are allowed to camp out at fish. A bit tacky if you asked me.

A look to the left as we exit the keep of the castle.

As we round the castle we discover more secret holes/exits.

This is a view coming up on where we are going to stand, with the castle behind it.

More geese, with ducks mixed in. They looked so cold!!!

The keep from the small bridge.

This creepy statue... Angel? Gargoyle? Pagan god?

The entrance that we approached. Loads of archery windows.

Catapults!! Very clearly replications but still cool!

The welsh flag!!! As well as the creepy statue.

The village beyond the castle. So normal looking!

The keep of the castle

J & I with the castle behind us. Good shot!

Birds hole up in the humidity/drainage holes. Good for them as the wind and rain picked up seriously!

So we headed to the Courthouse pub for the game (so Brit).

Our mate and lovely host & hostess to Wales. (Wearing thoroughly American outfits themselves!)

This is how upset I was by the lack of view I could get with the filtered sunlight. Angels must have been landing.

Is still haven't had a proper cup of tea or afternoon tea either but, JH indulged herself (so Brit!).

Then we went back to their house and met their mastiffs. Lovely big puppies Einstein...

And Izzie!! J's size 13 shoe is a scale to how big Izzie's head is. And she's the smaller of the two!

On the way home we pass through a real posh part of town. Apparently pronounced Rih-bee-nuh.

J and I went for take out. This place was a bit less than flavorful but freshly made and still good. I'm just sad that I couldn't eat it all and we have no fridge or microwave. :-(

J had McDonald's bacon burger off the Saver menu. Bacon is uncooked so he took it off.

Then we went to bed. Big relaxer tomorrow!

Love & Cheers,

Brooke