Oh, the Places You'll Go!

Like my title? Yep, I thought it was very suitable. A nice, young man sent an audio version of this Dr. Seuss’ classic to me this morning, before my three-week adventure commenced. I definitely thought it was fitting, and so I thought I’d share it with you! Believe it or not, it’s already calmed me down in the numerous times I’ve gotten worked up. Yep, only about 12 hours into my journey, and I’ve already got stories to tell.

Let’s see. Firstly, I woke up this morning, and it was POURING. Thanks a lot, Wales. You always know when to rain on someone’s parade. So, after packing up my final items and straightening up my room (of course, I couldn’t leave it a mess), I decided to call a cab. Problem was, I only had five pounds, in change.

Well, it was a good thing I called the taxi company I had stored in my phone; the number I had saved since the first night I arrived in Wales. This driver was the one that picked me up from the train station and was just SO nice and gave me all kinds of tips and what not, I think I told you about him. Yah, well, he was the one to pick me up this time. I told him, right off the bat, that I only had five pounds on me and that he could just drop me off wherever it got me. However, he insisted that I not worry about the extra 65 pence and took me all the way to the train station. What a nice guy!

So yah, I guess that wasn’t a real setback, but what happened next was:

I had booked my train ticket to Bristol, England (where I flew out of) in advance. After receiving my tickets, I looked up departing times on the website, and specifically remember choosing the departing time I did because of the least transfers (where you actually have to get off the train and load back up onto another one). Well, let’s just say it was a miracle that the conductor asked to see my ticket. I handed it to him, finding it a bit strange, because a). he was a new conductor, and b). I had not had to show my ticket at any other station. He looked at my ticket and then asked me, “and where are you going?” I replied with, “Bristol-Temple Meads,” and he said, “I think you’re aboard the wrong train.”

My first thought was NO! I thought I had boarded the completely wrong train to begin with, like, from Carmarthen. But I soon found out that I should have switched at the station we had just left. Phew. I could handle that. However, I was still so embarrassed. You know that saying, one’s ears are “red with embarrassment,” (or, at least, I think that’s a saying)? Yah, my ears were BURNING. Good thing the conductor was nice, or I probably would have started crying right there. But he just suggested that I get off at the next station. I’d have to wait a half hour until the next train to take me back a station, but if I just tell the conductor on that train, I wouldn’t have to pay for the ticket in between stations. Ahhhh.. Mark another one up for Welsh hospitality. To be honest, in retrospect, I now remember seeing that there was 1 change for this route, but 2 for the others. I don’t know why, but I must have just assumed the “1” stood for one train, not one stop. Woops.

But I finally did make it to Bristol. Thaaaaank goodness. Yep, I made it there and set out right away to find a nearby café with free Wi-Fi, and to my surprise, found one about 100m from the station. Can’t beat that! Well, I guess I could have. I walked in there and had already ordered a drink, when the barista told me that they were closing in 25 minutes. Dang. Welcome to Britain, where the warm hospitality comes to an end, I guess. But I took advantage of those 25 minutes anyhow, and Skyped with some key people (sorry mom, I would have emailed/Facebooked you, except only my Skype was working!) And then decided to just go ahead and head to the airport once they closed.

So, my initial idea of arriving in Bristol, finding a coffee shop with free wi-fi access and hanging out until 9pm or so, and then taking the shuttle to the airport and just sleeping, definitely didn’t go as planned... I definitely arrived at the airport a little past five o’clock. Blahh.. I’ve kinda been a bit bored. Let me tell you, sleeping in the airport is not all that it’s hyped up to be. But man, am I much better at writing these things when I don’t have internet access to distract me. Ha ha ha! Currently, I’ve staked out a spot right next to the bathroom… a nice, four-seat bench near an outlet, that no one thought of claiming. Perrrrrfect! I’ve been thinking about taking a little nap, but I just have so many valuable things with me, that I would totally kick myself if it were to get stolen, because the Lord knows I wouldn’t wake up, even if someone accidentally punched me in the face while stealing my bag. So, I’ve been doing other things to keep myself awake. Wanna hear? Sure you do:

Let’s see . . .

1). I’ve read about 50 pages or so of my book that I’ve brought from home, but haven’t been reading.

2). I tried to work on my homework, I swear, I did. But my computer decided to be neat and not save it… I mean, I’ve figured it out, but I’m just taking it as a sign from God that he doesn’t want me to work while on vacation.

3). I’ve played the laaaaaame games on my computer… mainly tic-tac-toe and collect four. I won both, on accident.

4). I started making a real cool song in GarageBand, but got bored with that realllll quick.

5). I’ve listened to music and have attempted to type the lyrics as I listen. Turns out, I’m not all that fast of a typer.

6). I’ve completely explored my computer. I found a few, new things I never knew I had… I love when that happens!

7). I’ve changed the background on my desktop about 17 times.

8). I’ve written this SUPER long blog entry.

8.5). And now, after I finish this, I’ll probably try to make a numbered list of all the countries I can think of.. sounds like it will keep me busy for a while. Ha!

I do hear a movie somewhere. Let me just tell you how angry I am that I didn’t think to bring any movies. How could I be so dense!? I should have at least popped one into my computer, so that it wouldn’t be taking up any room. DUH. Perhaps I’ll follow the noise, and hunt it down.., lurk in the shadows and watch it over someone’s shoulder. Okay, just kidding, I’m not that creepy, but I was seriously considering asking one of the baggage claim guys, who I KNOW for a fact, has a t.v. behind the counter, if I could keep him company and watch too. But decided not to…

However, back to this whole Dr. Seuss thing. It saved me a few times today. Whenever I found myself at a bump in the road, I just thought about moral of the story… no adventure in life is an adventure if you don’t have obstacles that test your strength along the way. You’ve just got to accept that they’ll happen and either push through them, or make the best of them! Hey, if I hadn’t missed my station on the way to Bristol with plenty of time, perhaps I would have missed a station that I couldn’t have afforded to miss, like when Lacey and I are in Europe. Or, if that coffee shop hadn’t closed early, I definitely wouldn’t have been able to sit and do all these wonderful things in the airport whilst being bored out of my mind! Ha ha ha!

Welp, only about three hours to go before I can even start thinking of packing up camp and attempting to locate my check-in gate. Espana, aqui voy! (that’s terribly translated and literally means, Spain, here I come!) Hopefully, my three years of Spanish in high school, mixed in with a semester’s worth of Italian in college will get me through the week! I will be sure to keep you updated on the subject! Until next time!

Alright, I lied. I’m still awake and I’ve just discovered a warmer part of the airport with a television! Too bad I only found it two hours too late. Crack me up, it was just down the hall from my last camp out spot.. and along the way there are people scattered everywhere. Guess I wasn’t the only one with the bright idea of sleeping here. It’s now 3 o’clock in the morning… and I’m still going strong. Well, kinda. I laid down for an hour an a half or so… never quite falling asleep… but just “watching the back of my eyelids,” as dad would say. Whew. I’m now sitting right next to Subway, and let me tell you, the more I smell it, the less and less appealing my s’mores poptarts are sounding. Ha. Oh well, just an hour more, I will survive. Okay, this time for real. Until next time!

Easter Break Itinerary!

What you are looking at, ladies and gentlemen, is a map of Europe. What's even more exciting though, are those little blue pins scattered around the continent. Wanna know why? Because where each of those pins are, marks a city that Lacey and I will soon be exploring over Easter Break!

Now, you may realize that there are 20 or so pins, and we only have 20 or so days. BUT! do not fret! We have it all figured out. We've spent hours upon hours planning this trip and we feel like we've finally gotten it perfected. Let me give you a little insight on our itinerary:

April 3-8: Valencia, Spain (Lacey won't be accompanying me on this little trip. Sadly, she'll be stuck in little Canterbury for one more week)
April 8-10: Paris, France
April 10-11: Luxembourg City, Luxembourg (that's just another country to add to the books)
April 11-12: Belgium, Brussels
April 12: Amsterdam, Netherlands (we're not even going to risk spending a night here)
April 12-14: Berlin, Germany
April 14-15: Prague, Czech Republic (overnight train to Vienna)
April 16: Vienna, Austria (in Vienna for the day, then another overnight train to Venice)
April 17-19: Venice, Italy
April 19-20: Florence, Italy (with a little day trip to Pisa!)
April 20-23: Naples, Italy (on the 21st, we're going to see Pompeii and on the 22nd we'll be spending the day on the island of Capri)
April 23-25: Rome, Italy
April 25: BACK TO SCHOOL : (

Ahhhhh, the adventures we'll have! Be sure to keep checking back, as I will most definitely be updating as we travel along!

Until next time!

A Day on/in the River

Yep, got it written! I may update it tomorrow with some pictures, so keep an eye out for those!

Hiyah there! Just got back from a wonderful day of adventure! Because it has been raining for the last four consecutive days, we weren’t able to climb again this Thursday, so we decided to do some river-activities instead. And since it had been raining, the river was at a perfect height and the current was pretty decent as well. Honestly though, I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t too hyped up for the day. I figured if the day was going to be anything like the past few days, I was going to be cold and wet - two things I absolutely hate being at the same time. However, when I woke up this morning, the sun was shining and it was actually quite warm. And then, by the time I squeezed into two, yes two, wetsuits, I was more than ready to dive into the unknown conditions of the river before me.

The shop, where we got ready.** Jacque, there on the left, yah, he was a pro kayaker. And then the girl in the blue top and white helmet, yah, she fell out of her kayak too. Good thing she had that helmet on. And don't be fooled by the white-water raft in the background.. or the fact that none of the internationals are in this pic. Or that "Llandysul Paddlers" looks like it's been photo-shopped on. . .

Our venue was amazing! It was located in a little town, about 30 minutes north of Carmarthen called, Llandysul . It was situated right upon a “river,” (or so they say.. I’d call it an extremely swift and deep creek) and was clearly used for kayak runs and other fun activities, as they had good access points and “gates,” or markers that you try to get through when you’re kayaking (see below**).

The best thing I can compare them to are slalom buoys for competitive water-skiing. Anyhow, after we suited up, which took awhile we started off the days activities with a brief session on how to save someone from the edge of the water. We then progressed onto actually getting in the water. We started underneath the bridge, as seen below**,

(The view from the bridge, looking downstream.**)

and we had a quick lesson on how to swim in strong currents – also known as aggressive swimming. We then had a little lesson on defensive swimming, which consisted of pretty much floating down the water, feet first, on our back, casually steering with our arms. Once we finished, we put our newly acquired skills to the test. We proceeded to “swim” downstream, eddy by eddy, until we reached the end. Keep in mind now, that this stream/river does not just consist of smooth water. Quite on the contrary, there were some decent rapids to go through (as you can see below and yep, that's me.. I'm so hardcore**).

They were so much fun! It kind of reminded me of a wave pool, but SO much better.

Once we made it down to the end, we climbed out and hiked back up to the bridge where we started. We were then given the option of jumping from the bridge if we wanted, since the water was plenty high enough, and of course, we all did. Crazy fun, that was! It wasn’t much higher than the docks at the lake, but still kind of exhilarating because once you surfaced, you had to start swimming for the nearby eddy, or else you were going to go for a swim all the way down.

We then took a break for lunch. We went inside, had a cup of tea, some food, and warmed up then went right back out again. Only this time, we did a bit of kayaking. However, unlike the kayak I’m used to, where I’m settled “in” a kayak on smooth water, we opted instead for kayaks in which had no covering, so you were practically sitting on top, and then we took them down the river, over the white water. Again, awesome. We put our kayaks in on the little man-made lake that was right behind the place where we geared up, practiced for a bit, then made our way down to the river via a little stream between the two bodies of water. Again, like the swimming, we practiced how to turn quickly in a current and how to direct our canoe upstream in order to paddle directly across the river, both very important techniques to learn if you hope to make it down any fast water safely.

After all that practice, we set off, just as we did swimming and went from eddy to eddy. We got to attempt paddling straight up stream (which definitely did NOT work out, I totally tipped my kayak on that one), and we got to go through some pretty hefty rapids near the end. It was pretty darn neat. I enjoyed it thoroughly, that’s for sure. I’d definitely say that next to rock climbing, this was my favorite activity thus far in the semester. Although, we’ve got some pretty tough competition coming up. . . kayak and board surfing and coasteering. We shall see who wins…. Until next time!

**Okay, not gonna lie, I didn't take any of these pictures. Since we were in the water all day, it really wasn't sensible to take my camera with me. But the kayaking picture, yah, that's really me, someone else just took it. Okay, not really. It's just some other hard core person..that I wish I could be. Ha ha ha!

Caving!

Okay, one last blog to catch you up on my adventures. Just know that I've already started a blog from today's adventures, which will most likely be posted later on tonight.
Anyhow, last week, for Outdoor Pursuits, we went caving! Not so sure on how keen I was for this activity. The last time I had been in a cave was when I was about 8. We stopped by Mammoth Cave (in Kentucky) on our drive home from a family visit to Florida. All I really remember was this story about how this guy got stuck/lost in that very cave and had finally found a tunnel that he thought would take him out. Well, the tunnel got smaller and smaller, until poor "Abe," I think his name was, got stuck and suffocated. Little did he know, he was only about 100 m away from an exit.
So, great story. Are you a bit uncomfortable yet? If not, now imagine after remembering that story all throughout your childhood and adult years and finding yourself face to face with an environment fully capable of putting you in the same, exact situation. Yah, not so fun. However, the entire ride there, I rationalized with myself that if they were still taking us there, then there was a good chance that no one has ever gotten stuck and suffocated before. That helped a little.
So we arrived in the Brecon Beacon National Park once more, about half past 5 in the evening. We had previously decided to wait until after dark to go so that we'd have the caves to ourselves. Good decision. That, in combination with the fact that last Thursday was a crummy, rainy day, resulted in absolutely no one else besides our group in that cave.
Because of this, we were able to enter the cave in a non-traditional way. We loyally followed our instructor to a mere hole in the ground. Seriously, it looks like the hole Alice fell into in Alice in Wonderland. I was just waiting to see a rabbit wearing a waistcoat or a Cheshire Cat. However, we soon learned that absolutely NOTHING lives within the cave. So it was very important that no food was dropped or trash or anything, because bacteria can't even survive in these conditions and break things down. So what was left in the cave, stayed in the cave. It was quickly pointed out though, to many of our dismay, that things could live near the openings of the cave. What, you might ask? Spiders. HUGE, nasty looking spiders. Ewwww. Yah, that freaked a few of us out.. but once we got further in the cave (by repelling down through the hole), the spiders were gone and we were already looking at our first challenge.
Our first challenge was the most narrow passage in the entire cave. Well, at least I'd get my fears over and done with first thing. In order to go any further in the cave, we had to go one at a time through a gap that was no bigger than 1.5-2 feet between two giant slabs of rock. We even had to have someone push us from the other side in order squeeze through. Since I was determined to conquer this fear, I volunteered to go first. Believe it or not, I didn't get stuck and die!
In fact, quite the opposite happened. After I made it through that first, and certainly for me, the most intimidating obstacle, the rest of the caving we did was cake. We did some more tightly confined crawling, and then later on towards the end, we got into the "wet" side of the cave. Oh, I don't think I mentioned that this cave has a river that runs through it. Somewhere above, the river just kind of starts seeping through the ground and then has carved a path through the cave, which consists mostly of sedimentary limestone. It then exits from the mouth and main entrance of the cave. But it was here, on the wet side of the cave, not far from the river, that, despite our extremely attractive caving suits and rubber boots, we got soaked from the waist down. We started at a place called, "the toilet," - a hole in the floor that has water at the bottom and a tunnel to climb through to get back to where you started. And then later, we actually got to experience walking against the current of the water that was rushing into the cave and got to see where exactly in the cave it comes in. That was probably my favorite part. Even though we were all soaked afterward, I feel like the caving experience wouldn't have been complete without it.
Welp, it looks like I finally have you caught up with everything so far. Like I said, I'm almost complete with today's entry, however, I'm now thinking that I probably won't post it until tomorrow. So, until next time!

St. David's

Saturday was yet another international trip to the city of St. David’s and nearby Whitesands Bay. Known as the smallest city in the UK, St. David’s is named after, you guessed it, the Welsh Patron Saint, David. However, he was not born here. He was actually born a few miles away in near a place called Non’s Chapel, not far from the Pembrokeshire coastal trail. Here (as seen above), a chapel still stands as does the well that was said to have sprung up out of nowhere during a thunderstorm on the night little Davie was born (see below). However, this wasn’t just any ordinary well, it was a well of magical healing powers. The blind could splash its water upon their eyes and see again, and the lame could walk after a quick dip.
St. David, himself, was said to have super-natural powers himself. It was rumored that he raised someone from the dead back in his prime. His real “claim to fame” though, was when it was being decided whether or not he would become archbishop, there were concerns that not everyone would be able to see and hear him speak. Miraculously, the earth rose so that everyone could see him. Needless to say, he became archbishop (http://sucs.org/~rhys/stdavid.html). And yes, I did just cite that. This guy seems to know it all!

So, back to St. David’s. In this town, there stands a cathedral dedicated to David. In fact, before it was built, the monastery David attended was stood there. Now, however, this MASSIVE cathedral still hold Sunday services as well as the occasional choral concert and is open to the public most days of the week. Beyond the newer part, stand the ruins of the first cathedral built. And all throughout the grounds there are several tombstones and other ominous, foreboding objects.. it’s quite scary actually. I definitely wouldn’t want to be there alone at night. But inside the cathedral, it’s beautiful! The alter is absolutely astonishing, as is the gigantic stain glass window that’s at the opposite end.

However, the rest of town isn’t much. There are a few shops and cafes and two candy shops, which I most definitely checked out. My favorite place though, was where we stopped in for tea. It was a locally run café/restaurant/pub/ice cream shop called The Bench, and boy, was it delicious! The girls I were with all got coffee and dessert, but I had to order some food, since I hadn’t eaten since breakfast and it was now nearing 2 o’clock. So I ordered a cup of tea, with extra sugar of course, and a ham and cheese baguette. YUM! It was delightful! And the atmosphere of the place was so neat! There were big, comfy couches everywhere, an outdoor patio, and no two tables were exactly the same (see below for a close up of a table-top). It was buzzing with originality. Even the employees were unique and very welcoming.
Then of course, on our way out, I HAD to get some ice cream. I had been craving it for I don’t know how long. They had lots of flavors, so that made it difficult to choose, but after about 5 minutes of debating, I went with the traditional Welsh honey and lavender. I wasn’t going to.. I thought it sort of sounded a bit odd, to tell you the truth. But I asked the scooper if he recommended it and he said he definitely did, so I decided to try it. It was DEEEELICIOUS! I honestly think it may be my new favorite flavor. Too bad I can’t find it at the local supermarket though. Perhaps I’ll write in to Ben and Jerry’s and suggest that they make it a new flavor!
Well, that’s really all I’ve got for now. So, until next time!

Rock Climbing!

Yes, this IS, in fact, post #2 within 12 hours! Amazing, I know. Actually, I had it written last night, but figured I'd give you some time in between. Looks like my impatience won here..
Let's see, the most interesting thing to happen the week before last was our expedition on Thursday for Outdoor Pursuits. We went rock climbing!! I had been waiting for this all semester, so I was SUPER excited! However, not gonna lie, I was a bit nervous too. My only rock climbing experience included maybe a 20 foot, transportable wall that had brightly colored, obvious hand and foot holds, and of course, a trained professional who "belayed" me (we'll get into what that means in a moment). However, it could have been that since I was only 12 at the time, I THOUGHT the person below me was a trained professional.. for all I know, they were just some circus drop-out, giving rock climbing a try.

But let me tell you, outdoor climbing is WAYYY different than climbing indoors. For one, you're at a MUCH greater risk of hurting yourself, or at least, it seems that way. We set off to climb somewhat early in the morning. Graham, our main instructor, wasn't able to make it, so Simon, (along with the help of two Trinity Outdoor Pursuits students, who specialized in rock climbing) got us geared up and on our way. The place we went to climb was right along the Pembrokeshire coast, not too far from where we had hiked (see above). Actually, I'm pretty sure we hiked right past it on our overnight trip. Simon organized it so that we had a couple different challenges. With the experienced Trinity students, we had about a 30 foot climb as well as a 40 foot climb, and later, a 55 foot climb, all in which, they belayed us from above. Belaying is the feeding of the rope through a "B" clip - if you've ever been climbing, you know what I'm talking about. If done properly, should the climber fall, the stress on the rope kind of "locks" the rope in place, sparing your hands from rope burn caused by trying to support the person from falling any further. Then, a few yards away, from another cliff, Simon set up a situation in which we could practice the technique of belaying from below.

That being said, I wasn't quite ready for the responsibility of Simon's area, so I practiced first on the 30 foot cliff - one that dropped straight down into the ocean (as shown to the left).

Little bit nerve-wracking... especially when I first started. In order to ensure that the rope was as taut as possible, I had to plant my feet, and lean back over the edge, trusting

that the rope, and the Trinity student, was going to hold me. Thankfully, they both lived up to their expectations, and I was at the bottom, ready to climb up before I knew it.

Which leads me to difference #2. Believe it or not, hand and foot holds aren't highlighted in neon colors when you're climbing a steep cliff face. I found this out the hard way... So I was scaling up, not doing too bad for my first, legitimate time rock climbing, and all of a sudden, I'm stuck. My left toe is balancing delicately upon a lip, maybe 5 cm wide, and my right hand has a hold of the only hand hold I could see. Within seconds, my right leg, which I have just pressed up against the rock, starts shaking uncontrollably. The Trinity students call it "Elvis Leg."

Rightfully named, my leg was bouncing all over the place. But at this point, I was in panic mode. I didn't have control of my body, and I knew if I stayed in one spot too long, trying to hold on, I would wear myself out. So I called up to my belayer, asking him for any suggestions of possible options. He pointed out that there was a GREAT handhold about 2 and a half feet up, which, unfortunately, was just out of reach for me. At that point in time though, it was my only way up and I refused to back track and try a different route. So, I dug my toes into the wall as hard as I could (seeing as there was no good foot hold) and pushed off my right hand (which had a good

hold), and reached as far as possible with my left hand for the AWESOME handhold that waited above for me. Here's how the sequence of events played out: Grabbed the handhold with my left hand. Feet slipped out from under me. Panicked, grabbed ahold of the handhold with my right hand too. Sat there dangling, in sheer terror, for about half a second before I realized that I was going nowhere. Then I dug in again with my feet, able to pull myself up until I found a good foothold and then, made it the rest of the way up. It was exhilarating!

After a few more runs on that cliff, I ventured over to where Simon was and tried that face out for size. After learning how to belay him from below, Simon took off up the wall, and along the way, placed these tools called “nuts” into strategically located crevices. From these devices, he clipped in the rope he was trailing, which would then be used as the lead rope for the next

person to climb up. Once Simon reached the top, the next

person started up, following the same path. It was the second person’s job to replace the lead rope with the rope he was trailing, which would then become my lead rope. Once the second person reached the top, and the rope was

switched out, I started up. By this point in time, I felt like an expert. I was only hesitant to c

ross the MASSIVE crevice at the beginning of the climb, but from there, it was easy as cake. On the way up, my job was to

remove the nuts as I reached them. Simon pretty much told

me I was an expert! The trick was to see which was they went into the crevice, then you just push them out the same way they went in. But if that didn’t work, I had a handy, dandy tool that made it easier. I really didn’t think twice about it, and before I knew it, I was at the top!

Ahhhh.. was it an experience! I've found that I enjoy rock climbing because it has the perfect balance of riskiness. On one hand, you can slip and be holding on for dear life, but on the other hand, you know that rope has you and you're never going to fall too far. Kind of like a dream. You can get into all kinds of trouble in a dream, but you know that you’re only a pinch away from waking up. I’m pretty sure rock climbing has been my favorite thing to do thus far! And I like it so much, that I’m seriously considering buying my own climbing shoes and harness when I get home. After all, I am a part of the rock-climbing club at school, I just haven’t taken advantage of it yet! Plus, Hoosier Heights, an indoor facility in Bloomington, is just a 40 minute drive away! I’m pumped! And we're climbing again this Thursday!! So look for yet another

awesome blog! Until next time!

The tallest/highest challenge

Kidwelly Castle

Yep, as you can see from the title, I'm starting to lose the ability to put effort into these blogs. Have no fear though, once I do finally get caught up, which WILL be by the end of this week, I will bounce back to my usual self, and come up with some more creative titles.. But as for now, this will have to suffice.

After my adventure on Sunday, I was ready to do a bit more exploring. So on Wednesday, my day off, I decided to take a train to the nearby town of Kidwelly and see the castle. Got dropped off at the tiny station (only because I told the conductor I needed to be) around 12 and made my way up the empty streets towards the castle off in the distance. Compared to Carmarthen, Kidwelly was tiny and desolate. I passed by only a few cafes and shops, but really, the castle was the only thing going for them.

The castle itself is one of the few Welsh castles in Wales (the rest were built by the Normans). I learned in my Welsh history course that a distinctive trademark of Welsh castles are that they were built in the shape of a "D." This was definitely the case here. Not only were the castle walls still intact, but the interiors of the castle were preserved as well! It was amazing!

Somehow though, despite the fact that I brought two cameras, I managed to drain the battery life out of both of them. Luckily for you however, my Kodak runs on double AAs, so I was able to buy a pack at the gift shop, and still get loads of pictures. I could try to explain all of it, but I think this blog would be better off as a picture blog. So here you go! Enjoy!

As much castle as I could fit in!

Again, from a different view.

The Chapel

Inside the Castle Walls