Day 8 Wales

Do you remember "Faulty Towers", a British TV show? Our B&B in Chester has turned out to be a boarding house--college student residence hall--and B&B all mixed into one. After hearing various conversations in the lobby and breakfast room, it seems most of the adults "always" come here for holiday. And there were several resident male students from a nearby trade school using computers downstairs (the only place in the building with any computer access). Since we could not get the Internet to work AT ALL on our computer this was somewhat helpful--except they couldn't get it to work either. HELP!!!


Our room was tiny but adequate--all the required furniture, fixtures and plenty of hot water.


That is until midnight when this noisy ringing woke me up! I shook Don who was still sleeping soundly----and we both decided it was the FIRE ALARM!!!

On every B&B/hotel door is an evacuation plan--where you should meet, etc, in case of a fire so management can count noses. Fortunately, I had looked at it earlier! But what do you do first?? ----leave the room in your pj's and bare feet?? ----- get dressed? ---- where are my shoes?? ---- where were all the irreplaceable things like the money?? ----- AND THE PICTURES TAKEN SO FAR!! ----- Was it is a false alarm?? ------ The ringing continued!! So off we go, sort of dressed, to meet all the fellow residents outside the building on the sidewalk---where it is RAINING!

But only 8 showed up for this party! Where was everybody else? Is this a regular occurrence?

The night manager (also, sort of dressed) checkout the building--no fire after all so we all trooped back to bed. As we got to our room, the older lady next door comes into the hall to evacuate. She had heard the alarm but stayed put and kept calling the front desk---she didn't know if she should leave her room! I think we just failed Fire Safety 101! I think we need a "just in case" PLAN!

Morning came very fast after last night's uproar. The manager this morning thought one of the students had been smoking which set off the alarm! The fire system could pinpoint the area so heads were going to roll today. He also said that sadly the reaction by the lady was very common ---- what to do, what to do? etc., until it is too late!

Enough excitement--let's drive to Wales. Our plan was a drive along northern Wales to see a couple of castles built by Edward I as he battled for control of this independent land for 20 years in the 13th century. His castles became English islands in the middle of a very angry Wales. Since the United Kingdom is England, Scotland and Wales, the differences have been somewhat ironed out (depending

upon where and who you ask!).

Conwy Castle is dramatically situated on a rock overlooking the sea just as you drive into Conwy (the town). There are great medieval town walls and a quant fishing harbor.

The Castle is a ruin but we got to walk all around inside.

It was very windy but the views from the top were spectacular!

The town of Conway was a very busy slate port; by the 1900's, there were actually 48 pubs for all the sailors who loaded and transported slate to Europe where most buildings had slate tile roofs. Today it is a lazy, very Welsh, holiday place that loves tourists.

There is a tourist attraction, which we walked by, called the "Smallest House in Great Britain". It is about 10 feet tall by 6 feet wide, 1 room down and 1 up, and was really lived in by a local fisherman until 1900 when the town council declared it unfit for human habitation. Doesn't it make you wonder why someone would live where he couldn't even stand upright? He was 6 ft. 3 in.

Caernarfon Castle is our next stop. It wasn't only a castle for defense but a place where Ed I and the family could stay (a vacation with your enemies?) You can see from the model that the castle was right on the coast. That location was good for bringing supplies and more soldiers who then could march into the interior to subdue the locals.

Edward made a deal with the angry Welsh that they would submit to him if he presented a "prince, born in Wales, who spoke not a word of English". I'm sure they were not thinking that Edward's infant son, born in this castle fulfilled all the requirements! There has only been an "Investment Ceremony" for the last 2 of the 21 Princes of Wales.

Driving back to Chester was a rainy ordeal. The Welsh country side is rocky and desolate between small towns. We drove through some of Snowdonia National Park and really loved Betws-y-Coed. This town is the resort center for Snowdonia hiking; a picturesque town surrounded by woods. Add it to "the next time list!"

Day 7 Warwick to Chester

Leaving Wood Norton Hall was so sad. How could any B & B top it? But on to Warwick Castle and a little history. The original Norman mound of a 1068 wooden "motte-and-bailey" castle is now incorporated into the 12th - 15th century stone structure you see today. The Tussauds Group (the famous Madame Tussauds wax figures) bought Warwick Castle in 1978 and turned it into a "Castle Theme Park"!! Maybe they have the right idea for getting kids excited about history while saving an historic monument? There were several school groups in line with us to buy the expensive tickets. Tussauds have staged Warwick for an 1898 royal weekend party with an audio guide by the servants to match. I think this part was for the adults while the kids watched a bowman demonstrating archery, jousting and the trebucket show! I just don't think of "modern living" in a castle even though this one was turned into a country house in early 1600s. Castles should be dark, cold and very drafty with tapestries covering the stone walls! Certainly not with laundry rooms and bathtubs and carpet!!

We drove about 175 miles north to Chester which is near Liverpool on the border with Wales. This was supposed to be a very historic city which can be traced back to founding by the Romans about 70 AD. Until about 500 AD, it was a busy trading port when the River Dee silted up, trade stopped and Chester stagnated. First the Norman-Saxons settled this city and finally the Victorians rediscovered it and made this city into a great tourist area.




We walked 15 minutes into the historic city center and then about 3/4 of the way around historic Chester on the 2 miles long medieval wall looking down on the mostly Victorian era city which I learned was Daniel Craig's birthplace (The "new" James Bond). We noticed a restaurant with a great name--"Slug & Lettuce"! How bad could it be for a pint or two and dinner? In fact it was great! I hope it is a chain restaurant; I would order the very same thing.

By the time we walked back to the Brookside Hotel it was nearly bedtime and we had 5.7 miles of walking behind us today.


Tomorrow we will drive around Wales, saving the exploration of Chester for Thursday.

Day 6 Stratford Upon Avon

Today was our second day of the "Quick Cotswold 2 Day Driving Tour". We headed to Broadway, one of the most popular villages. Broadway was lovely, however, the only thing I wanted today was a sweater--it was chilly! I decided that 5 layers of cotton tee shirts from Florida just wasn't enough, even with a jacket, to keep me warm in England. And those gloves, safely at home for Colorado winter vacations, would have felt really good! Sweaters-no problem, but mid May is "out-of-season" for gloves.

By our mid morning tea break, we were in Morton-in-Marsh where Don had a great conversation about the "Boston Red Sox" with the locals at Martha's Coffee Shop. How do the English know we are from America? Do we really have an accent? We passed through Snowshill (with a 53 acre Lavender Farm), Blockley, Stow-on-the Wold, The Slaughters and Upper Swell and then Lower Swell. Don't these village names sound like a a perfect location for an English murder mystery? Maybe I should go to the library for a new book to read.

As we were driving around the countryside, we saw these vibrant yellow fields planted with something that looked to me like mustard flowers. We later learned this was the rape plant that is harvested for the seeds that yield canola oil and IT IS a member of the mustard family. Wow! My farm knowledge is still there!

Our last Cotswold village was Winchcombe, a village from Saxon times, with a lovely church built about 1450. A local, knowledgeable church member was waiting for any visitors to "show and tell" all about his church, St. Peter's. It was very interesting to get all the stories. There were various items including an altar cloth that supposedly was creweled (embroidery but with yarn) by Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's very first wife.

There was also a large memorial on the wall of St. Peter's Church of a wealthy husband who died before his wife. He left a nice spot for her to kneel beside him when she died--but I guess she decided to remarry instead and must have like husband #2 better as the memorial was never completed and he is still waiting.

Sudeley Castle was about 30 minute walk from St. Peter's so off we went. This was Crown property until Edward VI gave it to his uncle, Thomas Seymour who then married Katherine Parr, Henry VIII last and only surviving wife. We had a brisk walk but the castle was closing by the time we arrived so it goes on the list for the next visit to England.

We did walk passed the castle gatehouse which was as big as our own home and looked like someone actually lived there. Maybe the Castle caretaker?? A Castle gatehouse with a TV antenna looks a little strange!

We walked to the Castle on the Cotswold Way, public footpath that walkers use all over the United Kingdom. The British are famous for going for a walk of maybe 6-7 hours just because they can. And the weather doesn't seem to figure into the pasttime. I highly recommend Bill Bryson's book, "Notes from a Small Island." He writes a great travel book about his "good-by" walks all over England before moving back to the USA.

There are even special "ordnance" maps that show all the footpaths, with all the details of surveys, that cross public and private land. You just need to close any gates you pass through so the animals stay in the pasture. And have raingear with you!

Stratford Upon Avon was our last stop tonight to see the sights and have a good dinner at the local pub. All the tour buses and tourists had already left by the time we arrived. We had the whole town to our selves. So we walked by Will's birthplace, The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, built in 1879, burned down in 1926 and replaced in 1932 (under renovation until 2010) and through the touristy parts of town. This is a town that must survive on tourism as it was a rather lonely place.

Why is Shakespeare still so popular after 400 years? Was it really good PR or high school English teachers just passing on what they had to learn in high school??

Before leaving Stratford Upon Avon, we walked to the River Avon where swans, "the mascots of Stratford since 1623," came begging for food (probably not the original swans however!) and the riverside Holy Trinity Church where William Shakespeare is buried. It cost about $2.50 each to see his final resting place unless you were going to church. We just looked at the regular graves in the church yard and called that close enough.

We only walked 5.3 miles today but saw charming villages and historic towns before heading back for our last night at fabulous Wood Norton Hall. I forgot to mention that we had our own servants to serve our breakfast this morning. I wonder if someone had ironed the 3 newspapers we had to choose from? No wonder wealthy people get spoiled!