Castles and More

Chepstow Castle

Tintern Abbey

Roman Baths

Bath Abbey

Caerphilly Castle

Caerphilly Castle

Hello Everyone!

After a long wait we are now in the modern age with Internet in our flat! This is so exciting so I figured I would take some of the infinite time that I seem to have and update my blog a few times, and share with you what Emma and I have been up to! We have done quite a bit of sightseeing as there is just so much to see and do here. We have been to a number of castles and small towns. Many of the Castles here were built in the 10th to 12th centuries and used for centuries after that. That is about all I know of the history, but each has a unique story that makes them interesting. Most are in ruins, but offer splendid views, and are tucked away in quaint country towns that are built around the castles. Each castle is always in a strategic position for defence, but nowadays that generally means it has great views of the surrounding countryside and rivers!

We have been to two different ones, Castle Coh and Caerphilly, now that were renovated at the end of the nineteenth century by a very wealthy man (suspected to be the richest in the world at the time) from Cardiff, the 3rd Marquess of Bute. This gives you an exciting view into how the castles would have looked shortly after construction as they spent lots of time and money researching how the castles were decorated and furnished, which gives you a great view into the lives during medieval times.

So far we have visited:
Castle Coch
Chepstow Castle
Caerphilly Castle
Tintern Abbey

We also took a day and visited the Roman Bath's, which are ironically located in a an English town named Bath, after ????. Here you can take a step back in time to visit the Roman Baths that were built around 45 AD (Wikipedia). They are amazing as you can walk on the same stones the Romans did. They have been excavated, as the city has been built up around them, so much of it is underground. It has been the most interesting thing we have done so far, as there is so much original stone work. The Romans did live a life with quite a few luxuries. The city itself is gorgeous as most buildings are still built from stone and it gives a great feeling to the place. There is also Bath Abbey, a large cathedral in town, that is still in amazing condition, It has beautiful tapestries, and paintings on all of its plaster walls and great detail in the architecture. It was thrilling just to sit outside at a cafe staring at such a beautiful place!

I will update more later about what we have been up to and try to put in more photos.

Luke