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| Cardiff Castle Tower |
Thank goodness for good
friends. Our around-the-world trip began
and ended in England. Upon our Heathrow
arrival, we headed to Blundston, a small village at the edge of the Cotswolds
to visit our friends the Beckwiths: Sarah, James, Courtney, Jeremy and 4 footed
Tegen. We had visited the Beckwiths
before we started our around-the-world trip and it was wonderful to catch up
with them. Mark and James have known one
another since their early days in the military. While they watched sports, Sarah and I
enjoyed some long dog walks and girl time.
On Monday, when James had to
return to work and the children back to school, Sarah, Mark and I headed to
Cardiff, Wales. Mark was happy to add
another country to our list—30 so far on our adventure. Cardiff is about 2 hours west of
Blundston. It’s a lovely city dominated
by Cardiff Castle.
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| Cardiff Castle: The Keep |
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| Cardiff Castle in the early 19th century |
The castle dates back
to the 1st century. The Roman
Emperor Claudius invaded Britain in 43AD.
The Romans made it to Wales about 30 years later, though the Welsh
proudly state that the Romans were never able to completely conquer Wales. When the Romans left around 400AD, it
appears that the castle site was abandoned.
It wasn’t until the Norman invasion in 1066 that the castle site once
again became a stronghold of Welsh resistance.
However in 1081, the Normans quelled the Welsh and William the Conquer
built a new castle in the remains of the old Roman fort.
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| Perfect for a small dinner party |
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| Cardiff Castle during WWII: The canteen |
Throughout the subsequent years the castle
has many owners and has been used as a fort, home, and during WWII, a hospital
and bomb shelter. Today the Cardiff Castle is a
museum.
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| Cardiff lane |
Our ride back to Blundston was memorable when a motorcyclist indicated one of our tires was going flat. Mark was able to demonstrate his tire changing skills with a little help from Sarah.
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| Sarah and Mark hard at work |
Sarah also shared one of her
favorite springtime walking spots with us, a National Trust Park called
Badbury Clump.
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| This couldn't be real |
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| Sarah and Tegen |
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| Badbury Clump adored with bluebells |
As much as we enjoy England,
the weather was a bit of a problem. Rain
was predicted for 10 days and it was bone-chilling cold. With a limited wardrobe and having grown
unaccustomed to the cold, Mark with fortune smiling upon him, found us an eight
day Egyptian holiday with Memphis Tours.
By taking EasyJet, a low-cost carrier, similar to Southwest in the
States, we were able to afford this treat.
Our Egyptian blog is forthcoming.
After Egypt we once again
returned to England, this time for less than 48 hours. While we were in Egypt we learned that
England’s weather was not improving so we decided to head out again, this time
to Spain. We had hoped to connect with
my uncle Dave who lives in Southern England but unfortunately he wasn’t well so
we slept in, played on the Internet and took a walk into the lovely little
village of Charlwood about a mile from the Russ Hill Hotel. What a delight to find a Norman-styled church
completed in 1683. Of course I didn’t
bring my camera.
So we are back at Gatwick,
this time at 3:45AM for our 5:50AM flight.
Who said traveling isn’t work?
