Castle and Bay

Sunday

I was originally going on the coach trip to Pen-y-fayr but the confirmation email convinced me this was more of a hike than a stroll and I cancelled. Reports later confirmed this was a good choice,

Instead I had a leisurely start to the day and then found a laundrette to put through a load of washing.

After that I returned to the games room and another group played the game after which I played Dominion. I also bought a game of Mensa Connections for 10 pound, since the Aussie price was $60, even though it'll probably cause me a some packing problems.

There have been some castle tours but they clash with other events I'd pickled so I used the free afternoon to visit it, stopping for fish and chips on the way.

It is quite an impressive castle and it is right in the middle of the city.  The original walls were a Roman fort and a Norman castle was built on top of it. There is a small round keep with a moat in the middle of the walled area and extensive lawns.

The walls are quite thick with battlements and crenulations at the top. Inside the tunnels you'll find arrow slits for defence and these were also used in WW2 as air raid shelters.

On one side of the court yard, sits the house with some impressive rooms. The Arab room has ornate decorations on walls, ceiling and floor.

There is a great hall, dining room and library amongst others viewable by the public. There were some other rooms that were available for an extra cost.

 
View from entrance

Inside the round keep. It has 360 deg views of the city

 

The remains of the wall that divided the inner and outer courts

Dinner was at a restaurant in Cardiff bay, an former Dockyards area that has been tarted up and now has the arts centre, parliament building and restaurants and bars. It is only 10 minutes from the hotel and most of us went down around 5-30 and had a drink before the meal which started at 7. I found that I had selected my courses when I booked but had forgotten what I ordered. My companion had to look up a translation to see what we had ordered (meatballs it turned out).

Back at the hotel about 10 and I decide to skip the Quiz night and have rep

acked ready to check out and play golf tomorrow.