Castles are cool - Conwy, Wales

[plinko]

As I said in my other thread on the Lakes District, my wife and I got stranded in the UK due to me having a passport problem. After much drinking in a hotel room at Gatwick, she convinced me to rent a car and go find something interesting to do.

Having never been to the UK before (my wife actually lived there), I decided I wanted to go see the coolest castle in the most interesting place I could find. After some research, I decided on Conwy, Wales, a fishing village with a fairly intact castle that also has intact city walls.


WALES 001 by Michael Stroh, on Flickr

After a harrowing, rainy drive from Gatwick (I’d never driven on the left-hand side of the road and WTF is with even country roads having continuous curbs?), we arrived in LLandudno, a seaside resort. My wife chose it kind of randomly based on lodging, and in the autumn it was a bit sleepy, but it had a wonderfully historic and urban looking seafront.


WALES 002 by Michael Stroh, on Flickr


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The local ale:

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Llandudno is dominated at the western end of the bay by the Great Orme, an outcropping of rock that is mostly set aside as a park. You can hike and drive around it and are greeted by great views of the Irish Sea:

WALES 013 by Michael Stroh, on Flickr

We chose tobogganing (on reportedly the longest toboggan track in the UK):

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Conwy is just a short 15 minute drive away, sitting on an inlet to the south of Llandudno. Note all the boats in the harbor, floating peacefully:

WALES 020 by Michael Stroh, on Flickr

To enter the town from any direction, you have to drive through the city wall. Happily, there isn’t much parking within the city walls and there are larger car parks just outside and they make you walk in:

WALES 021 by Michael Stroh, on Flickr

The city walls are beautifully landscaped and offer views of the castle, the town center, and the water:

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I chose Conwy Castle because it looked the most like what a 7 year old would draw if you asked them to draw a castle. All the classical elements, a moat, a barbican, sitting on a point of land high above town, battlements, towers. It had everything I was looking for:

WALES 029 by Michael Stroh, on Flickr


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Uhh, what’s that amazing looking suspension bridge leading right into the East Barbican? More on this later…

WALES 041 by Michael Stroh, on Flickr


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Let’s go explore town. Admittedly, it’s full of trinket shops and restaurants, but none of it felt over-run with tourists or cheesy. I might have a different opinion in the summer:

WALES 066 by Michael Stroh, on Flickr


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This is Plas Mawr, a 15th century residence that is reputed to be one of the oldest still standing in the area. It’s been charmingly restored and the hand cut and doweled roof trusses are amazing:

WALES 076 by Michael Stroh, on Flickr


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Wait…what happened to the water? Apparently this inlet is subject to huge tidal swings…

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Wishing well…

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Let’s go see that bridge…

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It’s a Telford!

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Nighty night kids…

WALES 105 by Michael Stroh, on Flickr

I’m hesitant to put together a thread for London since we only hit up touristy things that have been covered as nauseum here. I did get some great photos of the financial district (The City). We did stop in Oxford for Chinese food and a quick walk as well.

[Buckeye Native 001]

If you're gonna have passport issues, looks like there's worse places to do it

[DetroitSky]

Really cool!

Would love to see the London pics too.

[hauntedheadnc]

Looks like my kind of place. That castle fills me with an urge to take up a whip and go hunting skeletons.

[sopas ej]

Nice photos! Looks like a really nice place to just walk around.

Me being me I guess, as soon as I started looking at the castle pics, that Gordon Lightfoot song came into my head... "in a castle dark, or a fortress strong, with chains upon my feet... you know that ghost is me..."

[LAsam]

Castles are cool, indeed! This one looks particularly elaborate and intact. Thanks for sharing! Do you hear any Welsh being spoken in those parts?

[mhays]

This place looks awesome. One of my favorite books growing up was about just this sort of Castle.

https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/castle...9&idiq=1754395

[EastSideHBG]

Beautiful!

[Coldrsx]

Well that was pretty awesome, thanks!

[muppet]

great pics, great story too -such a randomised plan you all did and how it worked out beautifully.

Wales has something like 600 castles and ruins, but they're not that celebrated as they were built mostly by the English to keep the Celts in check (Scotland over 2,000). Somewhere like Conwy though is undeniably something to be drawn to.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by muppet

great pics, great story too -such a randomised plan you all did and how it worked out beautifully.

Wales has something like 600 castles and ruins, but they're not that celebrated as they were built mostly by the English to keep the Celts in check (Scotland over 2,000). Somewhere like Conwy though is undeniably something to be drawn to.

You know, after reading the history of this castle on Wikipedia, yeah, I have a different perspective about it now. It's basically a result of and huge symbol of early Anglo-Saxon/English colonialism, displacement and destruction of another culture. The relatable thing I could think of where I live would be the Spanish Missions of California, structures that are vilified by some, romanticized by others.

[geomorph]

That really does look like the perfect castle and associated village!

[SLO]

Nice side trip! I cant wait to get back to the UK, I'd love to spend a month touring around the town and villages...

[mousquet]

The remains of the French High and Late Middle Ages in England...
And they love it! Heck, they can't get enough!

Hard to believe, eh?

[mrnyc]

well that looks gloomy, but fine for a few days of off the beaten path exploring, which i highly enjoy doing.

i hope it got you past your passport troubles.