Hiking Trails Along The Coast Of Wales (Aberaeron)

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Even though the winds have been blustery and the light rains off and on, the sunsets along the coast of Wales are incredible.  

These pictures were taken just a few feet from our stay in the caravan park in Aberaeron.  We didn't stay in a caravan but they have a couple of apartments on the property in a house that used to be a 5 bedroom manor and has been remodeled.

Aberaeron Harbor to Lanechaeron has National Trust property with trails that go back several miles into the hills.  Some are free and others include nature guides.  We chose the free trails and came across some interesting finds.   We started out on the bridge from the parking area.  It crosses a small river taking you to the trailhead.  

I had to dip my hand in the water, and it was mighty cold.  The outside temperatures were 8 °C and the winds along the coast were around 35km.  

I'm not sure why they call this "common" holly.  It's a beautiful, dark, and shiny green.

Many trees are knocked over by the strong winds.  The taller they get, some dying or dead, with shallow roots, are susceptible to the winds.  

Wild daffodils.

Juan is taking a lot of pictures for his Facebook posts.

Fungi that have grown on the root system of a fallen tree.

This is liverwort or scalewort.  You see a lot of different types of moss, fungi, and lichen from the very damp and wet area.

It was nice to get out and get our shoes off the pavement and cement.  The hikes we took are one of the highlights of the trip.

Wee dander round mushrooms.

The weather not being so good, most people stayed home.  It made it a great hike.  It was quiet, and you could hear the birds and the water along the river.  A very small but nice waterfall.

The river runs through the town and out to sea.  The colorful houses are everywhere.  Aberaeron was a small shipbuilding town founded in 1807.  

Cardiff - Saint Fagan Castle - And Off We Go To Aberaeron

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We enjoyed our two days in Cardiff.  The Airbnb turned out to be very well-located and comfortable as well.  There is a huge amount of shopping along the main avenue. We took advantage of that and picked up a few items.  The bargain grocery stores are Aldi and Tesco, with many of their generic products.  

There is so much to see.  We try to pick two specific days and whatever else we see along the way, with time allowing.  Saint Fagan's castle was a good stop.  It's historic, and at the same time hands-on and fun to tour.   We had to park first.  They use this whacky parking machine that looks as if it is 50 years old and has never been cared for or cleaned.  You pay with cash or card, and the screen is so worn that it makes it difficult, not to mention the constant use of Welsh on everything.  Not a complaint, but not necessarily easy for the tourist.

They have a visitor's center and museum housed in this building.  The museum and castle are free.  Inside is the history of Wales and the Welsh people.  I won't go into a lot of boring details, but here are some things I found interesting.

The items in this case were found in a lake nearby and date back to 100 BC.  The long chain connected up to five slaves.  The items were found in the 50s and used to dredge the lake and remove old vehicles that had been dumped.  It wasn't until years later that they discovered their history and value.

This picture and the posting board are in reference to the Aberfan disaster in 1966.  Heavy rains caused this landslide, burying a school and killing 116 children and 24 adults.  The board allows people, mostly school children on tour, to leave their thoughts about the disaster.  Some of the children's comments are quite amazing.

After the walk through the exhibition, we started for the outer buildings.  In the 1940s, the government moved 250 to 300-year-old homes, a flour mill, a bakery, and other buildings to the grounds of the castle.  They were disassembled and restored.  It is really interesting.  We don't have much of that in North America.

On our way, we heard this beautiful robin singing in the trees.  

The houses were made from stone, timber, lime mortar, and thatch.  The mill was the most interesting.  The grain came down from the second story through a chute.  The water wheel outside the house along the river turned the stone underneath the chute, and the flour would pour out the bottom side.  We saw a very similar mill in Simcoe, Ontario.

A typical farmhouse from the  1700s.

The path leading through the grounds to the castle.

The original castle was built in 1098.  It was reconstructed into a manor house in the 1560s by Dr. John Gibbons, a lawyer.  He sold it a year before he died to Sir Nicholas Herbert of Cogan.  Much of the construction was reused inclucing the original walls that surrounded it when it was built in the 11th century.

This Italian garden wasn't added until 1902.

I took this picture of the hedge.  You can't see through it, although it is only about 50 cm thick.  It feels and looks like plastic.  Not sure what it is called, but it is common throughout many of the sites we have visited.  

 

Pictures taken from the country roads we took that day.  Very little traffic, but very winding and a bit difficult to see what was coming especially large semis.  Sheep are everywhere, but we've yet to see lamb on any menus posted outside of restaurants.  I like lamb so we are keeping an eye out for that.

Stonehenge - And A Visit With Friends From Canada

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Friends of ours have been house-sitting in the U.K. this winter.  While we were in Poole and looking for an ice chest, I received a message from Jane and Henry.  They wanted to know if we could meet them at the bus station.  They were picking up a friend.  We agreed, and I sent her the location we were at, a Range store where they sell everything.  I guess we'd call it a British version of a Maxi China.  Turns out they were 10 minutes away looking at new motorhomes.  Jane and Henry are from Ontario, and we met about three years ago.  They found us on Boondockers Welcome while we were hosts, and the Boondockers were still serving Mexico.  It was incredible to see them, and we chatted for a couple of hours over coffee.

Our Airbnb location in Christchurch (Poole)

What a great day.  After our not-so-hot stay in Poole (Christchurch), we spent the morning and afternoon in Stonehenge.  I first learned of Stonehenge when I was a young kid in primary school.  We had an old set of encyclopedias at home, and we had to look up things we were learning in school.  I remember it well.

We left Poole early in the morning.  Our next destination is on the eastern coast of Wales, which happens to be the capital.  An hour from Christchurch and two hours from Cardiff.  We headed out mostly on country roads.  It was a beautiful morning with blue skies and some white clouds.  I've got the hang of driving now.  I still feel a bit skiddish as many drivers are very impatient and drive fast.  I got two horn honks in the last two days.  

On our way, we passed Salisbury.  From a distance, we saw an ominous church tower in the distance. 

The beauty of having a rental car is that you can just pull over wherever you want.  Although we were close to Stonehenge, we took the dive.  This is the Salisbury Cathedral.   Construction started in 1220 and was completed over 100 years later.

There are over 70 statues on the outside of the cathedral, saints, royalty, and religious figures.

Across the street is St. Osmond's Church.  St. Osmond was a bishop in the 11th century and was canonized in 1457.  The church is known for its stained glass windows.  

We also saw this beauty sitting on the side of the road in front of Bishop Woodsworth School, which is next to the cathedral.  

The school appears to be a very exclusive school for the rich, taking into account its location and its enormous size and medieval structure. Kids were coming out for lunch in their uniforms, having a good time.  I asked Google about the tuition cost, and it turns out it is free and paid for by the state.  How cool to go to school there!

Off to Stonehenge.  We arrived about 15 minutes later.  The structure sits in the middle of very large fields and can't be seen from the highway.  Everything these days has become a tourist attraction in the sense of the word.  Paid parking, $37 USD for the self-guided tour and walk around the structure.  Well worth it, but the adventure part is lost.  We decided we couldn't come all this way and not see it.  So we did.  These days, you can't do anything without an app.  Even the parking.  A worker came by and said, "Forget it, nobody checks, and the app is a PIA".   So we did.  Shame on us.  

Buses come and go to take you on the five-minute ride to the structure.  Before that, there is a very well-done exhibition with wonderful artifacts.  The exhibition tells the story from what they believe is the beginning, around 4000 B.C.  A burial and memorial site for the dead.   56 burial sites containing cremated remains were discovered along with tools, pottery, and the foundations of homes.  Homes were in clusters, and the people at the time were cattle herders.  This was about the time that cattle made their way to the British Isles from mainland Europe.  

I think this is a jackdaw.  The winds were so high that the birds couldn't fly; they were thrown back to the ground.  One of the guards feeds the birds.  The bird flew up on her shoulder, and she gives them corn flakes.  Kids were more amazed by that than the megalithic monument behind them.

This piece was standing about 30 meters and one of the guides in the exhibition says there is no proof it is part of the structure, but was left by aliens.  He wasn't B.S.ing, but I think he may have been.  

Most of the tourists didn't stay long because of the wind and the cold.  A lot of school groups of all ages.

After, we headed to our next destination, Cardiff.  We found the place right off, but traffic was pretty heavy.  I'll do a post later about the Airbnbs, their conditions, and the pricing.  Very high.  This is an expensive trip for us.

As for our desperate hunt for a "cool box," we found one at the Range store but it was £26.  In Poole, we found what they call "cool bags".   They are £3.95, so it works great for us.  We still need a name for it.  Remember the two ice chests we had, one in Spain, Neverita, and one in Italy, Maury?  The issue with finding the chest is that it is considered seasonal.  Finding the cool bag was the language barrier.  I said insulated grocery bag, and everyone said no.  On a much deeper explanation, one smart clerk said, oh, it's a cool bag!  Done.