Wales trip with photos, part 5d

[fbhjr]

Our next castle was over on the Island of Anglesey, so we had to take the bridge across the Menai Strait.



Then follow a constantly narrowing road down along the shore of the strait.


Great views. Even in the clouds and rain.


And, we got to Beaumaris Castle.
http://cadw.gov.wales/daysout/beaumaris-castle/?lang=en

I have to say, this seems like the best playground ever:


When we got there we were asked:
"Did you come here for our Victorian Christmas Festival?"
"No," I replied. "We didn’t even know you had one."
"What?!?! Didn’t anyone tell you about it?"
"No. Sorry."

So, scattered through the castle and town were folks dressed as Victorian characters.

Once in the castle ground we were accosted by these "Oliver"ish characters.


And, this did cause us some historical mismatch problems.
We were asked were we come from.
"The US," I said.
"Oh no! Americans!" the one in the middle said. "I should be afraid!"
I stood there looking confused.
I was thinking: Oliver was written about 1830. The US and UK were not at war then, and hadn’t been for about a generation. Why would he be afraid of Americans…
He pointed to his face and repeated he should be afraid.
I realized he was talking about slavery in the US in the 1830s.
"You don’t have to worry," I told him. "We’re from the north. Boston."
Then, he looked confused. I could see it going through his mind: The north. What does that mean? Why wouldn’t I fear slavery in Boston? What is it about Boston? Wait! The north fought the south and stopped slavery!
"Oh, that’s OK then!" he finally said.
Then, having said Boston, they got onto me about wasting tea in the harbor.
I convinced them we had only dumped empty boxes and taken the tea home and just lied about dumping it.
We all agreed that was a fine solution and went on our ways.

Then, we got to go to the castle!


This castle is in OK condition, but not as good as the previous two we visited. And, being right on the water and in the rain was very damp. My wife and I both made comments about it being like "swamp castle" in the Monty Python movie.


But, still a castle!














I didn’t fit quite as well as in some other castles… These doorways were only 0.9 Frank size.


I must admit I had a lot of sympathy for the folks perfuming there. With Phoenix Swords we have done shows that are just like this. An event where it is at a cool location, but the weather is bad, the folks running it don’t seem to have told anyone about it, and the people who show up didn’t even know it was going on.
We’ve done too many shows like that ourselves not to feel sympathy about it.
Especially the group that said "let’s make a lot of noise and hope folks come over".




When the Punch and Judy puppet show started, this Dragoon was dancing in the doorway. But, he stopped when I raised my camera. Too bad, it was the best part of their show!


But most folks went to see the puppets.


There were lots of warning signs:


I’m not as sure about this one:

I think it means:
Bring your children
Wear your tap shoes
Slide down railings
Remember Hitchcock movies
But, I could be wrong about that…

There were places it was VERY muddy.


You could see the main part of Wales across the strait.

When the clouds parted some you could see snow on the mountain tops.

And, the rest of the island the other way.




We walked along the walls. They had an "interesting" surface.


We had planned to see one more castle that day. But, it was getting dark and the rain was not letting up.


So, we decided to go right to the B&B we were staying at that night.

Another interesting drive along the road durring a storm.





It was quite dark by the time we got there.


Much as I like castles, I’m glad I wasn’t up on one in the dark while wind and rain tried to convince me to get off…

Not that the B&B didn’t have some issues too.


They recommended a pub just down the road for dinner, so that’s where we went.


I liked their social club, but we were there the wrong night.

I still had a pie.

And they had free wifi, and they weren’t even Daleks!


We did meet another couple staying at our B&B for tea before dinner. They were from Liverpool (not far) and were there for a concert. The guy was dressed like he was from a band in the 70’s and had that strong Liverpool accent.
It was like having tea with Ringo Starr….

Comments

[resonant.livejournal.com]

I know small doorways are easily-defended, but those still seem too small to actually serve as useful doorways. Especially in a military structure, where you'd be wearing helmets and carrying bulky bows and swords.

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

I am a big guy...

[chris-warrior.livejournal.com]

i would imagine there are a lot of things that are only 0.9 Frank size. our 1853 staircase in the apartment in this Bath (Maine) is probably only 0.8 Frank size...

i love that you told him you smuggled the tea home and dumped empty boxes. the best of all protests - no environmental damage, lots of hot beverages.

[touchofgr3y.livejournal.com]

I've been enjoying hearing/seeing your trip! Thank you for sharing :)

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

No worries. Thank you for looking at it!

[endlessblush.livejournal.com]

Castles! Isn't it amazing how old everything is over there. It blows my mind. Australia is such a young country in comparison.

[meathiel]

Shame about the weather.
And those poor guys doing the show ... were there any visitors at all???

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

There were some. It's hard to say just how many in a big castle where folks are literally in the walls.
Maybe a dozen folks who weren't working there. Certainly not much more than that.
The puppet show got about that many people. But, it had a roof over it too...

[yesididit2.livejournal.com]

bang head here?

[hindustar.livejournal.com]

I love the pictures of the castle coming straight up out of the water. =)