Conwy Castle

[HelenM]

Yay - we went there today - one of the places I most wanted to see on this trip to England :yup:

(Actually it's in Wales, but anyway...)

Helen

[livius drusus]

Oh wow, Helen... It's just perfect, isn't it? It's the perfect castle. I hope you're having a wonderful time. :)

[Scotty]

How much is rent on that thing? Does it cost a lot to heat?

-Scott

[viscousmemories]

Castles are really cool. Glad to hear from you, Helen, and glad you're having fun. :)

[pescifish]

Thanks for the picture, Helen! Have fun and keep us posted when you can.

[HelenM]

Oh wow, Helen... It's just perfect, isn't it? It's the perfect castle.

It's drop dead gorgeous :D

(If you like that sort of thing)

I hope you're having a wonderful time. :)

Yes thanks!

How much is rent on that thing? Does it cost a lot to heat?

-Scott

Why don't you ask the managers? I expect they get asked those questions all the time by rich Britophile tourists and have prepared a FAQ sheet on it by now. ;)

Castles are really cool. Glad to hear from you, Helen, and glad you're having fun. :)

Yep, they sure are! :yup: I asked my (11 year old) son about going around a big mansion today but he said "Why? They're like castles, only with all the fun parts missing". One of the great things about Conwy is that it has a number of tall towers which are still safe to go up. As he pointed out, you don't find those in mansions. Anyway, due to lack of interest we'll probably do something else instead.

Another very cool thing about Conwy is that the King of England (who built the castle to secure having conquered Wales) also built a wall around the town, which largely survives and around the top of which you can still walk (see photo). The views from it are awesome.

Thanks for the picture, Helen! Have fun and keep us posted when you can.

Thanks! I'm having fun this week; I brought my laptop (my birthday present a few months ago :)) and my father-in-law has a wireless network with DSL :D. Next week we're staying with my parents and my two brothers and their families in a rented house which won't have it. So I'm not sure how that will go. I mean, being with them will be great fun, of course, but no Internet...aaaaarrrggghhhh :eek:

Helen

[Ronin]

You'll make it, Helen...

...deep breath innnnn....annnnd...exhale!

:read:

Great pictures, by the way, beautiful place.

[HelenM]

You'll make it, Helen...

...deep breath innnnn....annnnd...exhale!

:read:

With your support, I expect I will ;)

Oops...I wonder if lunachick saw that comment... :runaway:

Great pictures, by the way, beautiful place.

Thanks - yes, it really is. :yup:

Helen

[Larry]

Thanks! I'm having fun this week;
:)

Hope next week is just as good (fun) if not better Helen! Enjoy!

Larry :)

[Penni]

Stunning! Looks like you're having some pretty nice weather up there, too!

:cheetah:

[HelenM]

:)

Hope next week is just as good (fun) if not better Helen! Enjoy!

Larry :)

Thanks Larry :)

Stunning! Looks like you're having some pretty nice weather up there, too!

:cheetah:

Yes, it was wonderful weather that day - warm and quite a lot of sun and only a few drops of rain.

Helen

[freemonkey]

Wow, great pics, Helen. Its so weird seeing cars near castles.

Hope your trip continues to be wonderful.

[livius drusus]

Stunning! Looks like you're having some pretty nice weather up there, too!

:cheetah:

Mmm... travel pics...

/me subtly prods Penni

[AspenMama]

I've been there! Wales is gorgeous. I lived in Carmarthen for 6 months back in '87. Have you been able to check out the village markets at all? The used and rare books are awesome. And Welsh cookies-- I miss those!

[livius drusus]

Whoa. You lived in Wales, Aspen? That's so cool! What are the cookies like?

[AspenMama]

The cookies are a sort of shortbread-- many villages have their own version.

I spent a semester of college there-- Trinity College it was-- studying the poetry of Dylan Thomas, Russian History and a few other fun classes. I drank mucho beer and threw darts in the local village. I traveled to Spain on my spring break, then later to Germany and back to England for a narrow boat tour with some friends I met there.

One evening a bunch of us American kids dragged a barrell of beer up the trail side of an old castle. We partied all night and watched the sun come up. The castle was near the ocean and very much in ruins-- no parking lots or such-- it was a small hike from the village.

[livius drusus]

What an extraordinary experience that must have been. Not just beer 'n sunrise party, but the entire 6 months, from the schoolwork to the boat tour and back again.

Oh and, mmmm.... shortbread... :homer:

[Beth]

Wow, Helen, those are beautiful! Such romantic scenery! Sigh

[freemonkey]

I've been there! Wales is gorgeous. I lived in Carmarthen for 6 months back in '87. Have you been able to check out the village markets at all? The used and rare books are awesome. And Welsh cookies-- I miss those!

/me so jealous! :yup:

[HelenM]

I've been there! Wales is gorgeous. I lived in Carmarthen for 6 months back in '87.

Wow - what an experience! :)

When I was five my father was doing something at the U of Cardiff and we lived near there for a year. I don't remember much about that, but in the last 10 years we've been there on vacation with my some of my family and it was beautiful.

Have you been able to check out the village markets at all?

We were only in Wales for the one day, so, sadly, no.

The used and rare books are awesome. And Welsh cookies-- I miss those!

I'm not sure what Welsh cookies are like, actually. So much for my cultural background :D

(Oh, I just read that they are like shortbread. Mmmm...I'd like them, then.)

Wow, Helen, those are beautiful! Such romantic scenery! Sigh

Thanks Beth - yes, I think so too :)

Helen

[livius drusus]

And a bump cause surely Helen is back by now armed with pictures and stories galore. :)

[HelenM]

And a bump cause surely Helen is back by now armed with pictures and stories galore. :)

Yes, you're right...at least I seem to be back...I think my brain must be coming by boat - or perhaps it's just the jetlag...

How do I post pictures like Penni did - embedded in the text, rather than thumbnails at the bottom of the page?

Our second week went well; we were staying in a pretty area of Northumberland, near the coast, with my brothers and their families and also my parents, in a big rented house. We had a beautiful view from the house over a bay and out to the sea and in the distance we could see Lindisfarne Castle (see attached photo).

We had a lovely day walking around Lindisfarne, which is reached by a causeway you can only drive across at low tide.

We didn't go around Lindisfarne Castle (which is more like a stately home than a castle inside) but we did go around Alnwick Castle - the one where the quidditch flying scenes in Harry Potter were filmed - and also Bamburgh Castle, just a couple of miles from our rented house which spectacularly rises above and overlooks miles of sandy beaches.

We also went to Chesters Roman Fort along Hadrian's Wall, the most complete Roman remains of a fort in England. Hadrian's Wall was the wall the Emperor Hadrian built from coast to coast across Northern England to keep the Scots (or then equivalent) out, because he wasn't able to conquer them as well as England. It had a one room museum stuffed full of broken bits of roman altars to various gods, collected from the forts and along the wall, presumably.

And we saw Durham Cathedral very briefly, although we couldn't walk around much of the inside of it because someone was about to get married there right then. I love cathedrals. We saw enough to see it has gorgeous Norman columns and arches in the nave.

We managed a bit of time on the beach for the kids to dig in the sand and to stand at the edge of the waves - that's about as far into the sea as most people would want to get on a Northumberland beach, because they aren't warm!! On our third time at the beach there was a strong cold wind and even the children didn't want to stay long. But the other two times they - from the one year old to the 11 year old - all had fun digging channels with water in.

Helen

[Penni]

How do I post pictures like Penni did - embedded in the text, rather than thumbnails at the bottom of the page?


The FF site is hosting the pictures for me, since I am not technologically advanced enough to do it myself. I'm sure livius' service charge would be similarly generous for you. You should definitely do it...I had/am having fun putting it together.

[livius drusus]

Lindisfarne looks like a beautiful place, and I've always wanted to visit Chesters Fort. Mmmm... Roman masonry...

Penni's right: we've got much room on the server and will be glad to host your pictures. Once that's done, it's just a matter of mastering the float code (http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/misc.php?do=bbcode#float) and you'll be travelogue ready. :)

[HelenM]

Thanks...I could probably use my own site, actually, if the FF allows links to externally hosted photos.

Helen

[livius drusus]

Yup. We're nothing if not permissive.

[HelenM]

Lindisfarne looks like a beautiful place, and I've always wanted to visit Chesters Fort. Mmmm... Roman masonry...

Tell me about it...I was just reading today about how various English churches re-used Roman stones when they were built and you can see them if you look around. I could spend forever looking at old stuff...

Penni's right: we've got much room on the server and will be glad to host your pictures. Once that's done, it's just a matter of mastering the float code (http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/misc.php?do=bbcode#float) and you'll be travelogue ready. :)

That's nice of you - but if it would work to put them on my site and link to them, I might as well do that.

I got back Sunday but have been focusing mostly on whatever is involved in returning to 'normal life' and the beginning of the new school year. That and the jetlag is why I hadn't posted yet. But, certainly, the trip did go very well :)

Helen

[viscousmemories]

Welcome back, Helen. I'm looking forward to the travelogue too. :)

[pescifish]

Welcome back, Helen. I'm looking forward to more trip photos and info.

[LadyShea]

Looks like you had an amazing time, thanks for sharing!

[HelenM]

Ok then...in response to the requests, here are some selected photos - but not as many words as Penni's travelogue...

Our Trip

We arrived in England on August 15, for two weeks. The first week we spent with my parents-in-law who live near Warrington (which is near Manchester).

Monday Aug 16: Manchester area

In the morning we went to the science museum in Manchester, which is pretty good - has some big steam machines which they had steamed up and working.

After that we went to Salford, where there is a cool new footbridge.
http://www.geocities.com/mildenhall@sbcglobal.net/photos/aug04/images/IMG_0994.jpg

Tuesday Aug 17: Conwy, Wales

Conwy Castle - one of my favorite castles!

http://www.geocities.com/mildenhall@sbcglobal.net/photos/aug04/images/IMG_1098.jpg

My son and I (!) on top of a tower at Conwy Castle
http://www.geocities.com/mildenhall@sbcglobal.net/photos/aug04/images/IMG_1039.jpg

The C13th town wall, built at the same time as the castle, still complete enough to walk around the top of most of it.

http://www.geocities.com/mildenhall@sbcglobal.net/photos/aug04/images/IMG_1091.jpg

Wednesday Aug 18: Tatton Park/Knutsford

Cool tree (ok, so I like trees) in the parkland belonging to Tatton Hall.

Notice how green the grass is. It always is in England, but we happened to go in the wettest August for 100 years *sigh* so it especially was this year...

http://www.geocities.com/mildenhall@sbcglobal.net/photos/aug04/images/IMG_1107.jpg

Courtyard in Knutsford (the village bordering Tatton Park) which I thought was pretty.

http://www.geocities.com/mildenhall@sbcglobal.net/photos/aug04/images/IMG_1143.jpg

Thursday Aug 19: Centerparcs, Nottingham

We spent a day at Centerparcs with cousins - it's a holiday center with an awesome swimming area.

http://www.geocities.com/mildenhall@sbcglobal.net/photos/aug04/images/IMG_1181.jpg

Friday Aug 20

It poured with rain until it was too late to go anywhere significant. Hopefully you know what rain looks like...because I have no photo of it...

We did pick up our rental car.

Saturday Aug 21: driving day

We drove from Warrington to Northumberland to spend the second week with my extended family (my parents and my brothers' families). On the way we stopped briefly at Durham, which has a beautiful cathedral.

(Evidently the Harry Potter movie cloister scenes were filmed at Durham Cathedral cloisters)

http://www.geocities.com/mildenhall@sbcglobal.net/photos/aug04/images/IMG_1225.jpg

We continued and took a short detour along Hadrian's Wall (remains of wall built by the Romans all the way across England), stopping at Chesters Roman Fort.

There was a one room museum there stuffed full of bits of Roman altars that had been found near/at the wall.

http://www.geocities.com/mildenhall@sbcglobal.net/photos/aug04/images/IMG_1251.jpg

The countryside where the wall remains were was beautiful.

http://www.geocities.com/mildenhall@sbcglobal.net/photos/aug04/images/IMG_1255.jpg

My children exploring the remains of the barracks building at the fort. Chesters is the most complete Roman fort remains in the UK.

http://www.geocities.com/mildenhall@sbcglobal.net/photos/aug04/images/IMG_1262.jpg

There was an awesome sunset from our rented house on our first evening there.

http://www.geocities.com/mildenhall@sbcglobal.net/photos/aug04/images/IMG_1295.jpg

Sunday Aug 22: Lindisfarne

Before we left the house, I took a photo of the view from upstairs - you can see the bay next to our house, going out to the open sea and the distant piece of land is the island of Lindisfarne.

http://www.geocities.com/mildenhall@sbcglobal.net/photos/aug04/images/view1.jpg

To get to the Island of Lindisfarne you have to drive across a causeway which is only open at low tide.

http://www.geocities.com/mildenhall@sbcglobal.net/photos/aug04/images/IMG_1313.jpg

The weather was beautiful that day and the island was very pretty. In the distance you can see the ruined priory.

http://www.geocities.com/mildenhall@sbcglobal.net/photos/aug04/images/IMG_1338.jpg

Monday Aug 23: Alnwick ("Annick") Castle

Someone had the smart idea of lining up all the cousins (plus one parent, my brother) for a photo before we left. Our rented house is in the background and the children are standing in the garden.

http://www.geocities.com/mildenhall@sbcglobal.net/photos/aug04/images/IMG_1409.jpg

This was an impressive castle which was used for various outdoor Hogwarts scenes, such as the first time Harry flies around on his broom.

http://www.geocities.com/mildenhall@sbcglobal.net/photos/aug04/images/IMG_1420.jpg

Tuesday Aug 24: Bamburgh ("Bamborough") Castle

Bamburgh Castle is another impressive castle; it was just a couple of miles from where we were staying and right on the coast, with gorgeous sandy beaches right below it.

http://www.geocities.com/mildenhall@sbcglobal.net/photos/aug04/images/IMG_1548.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/mildenhall@sbcglobal.net/photos/aug04/images/IMG_1547.jpg

It was supposed to rain heavily on this day but we were pleased that somehow the rain didn't reach us - so after going round the castle, the children were delighted to have an afternoon on the beach.

http://www.geocities.com/mildenhall@sbcglobal.net/photos/aug04/images/IMG_1487.jpg

Wednesday Aug 25

It was raining and my son had quite an upset stomach on this day; we went to a pottery painting place we'd found in the town of Alnwick then my husband and I took my son back to the house to rest because he wasn't feeling well enough to be out any more.

Thursday Aug 26

A beautiful morning; we went to Seahouses to take a boat trip out to the Farne Islands to see the birds on them.

http://www.geocities.com/mildenhall@sbcglobal.net/photos/aug04/images/IMG_1556.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/mildenhall@sbcglobal.net/photos/aug04/images/IMG_1565.jpg

Unfortunately the movement boat made almost all of us feel ill - and many other passengers too - there must have been quite a swell even though the sea looked quite calm to me before we left. We were very glad to get off when the ride was finally over!!!

(No photos of people throwing up - that would have been Too Much Information)

Fortunately we recovered enough after the boat ride to have fish and chips for lunch, after walking around Seahouses a little.

In the afternoon we went to a beach near Beadnell. Notice the ruined limekilns in the distance - a feature of the Northumbrian coast.

http://www.geocities.com/mildenhall@sbcglobal.net/photos/aug04/images/IMG_1632.jpg

Friday Aug 26: the beach and back to Alnwick

We went to the beach one more time, but this morning there was a strong cold wind off the sea (English people familiar with the North East coast will know how cold it can be even in August!) and so even the children didn't want to stay long.

http://www.geocities.com/mildenhall@sbcglobal.net/photos/aug04/images/IMG_1760.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/mildenhall@sbcglobal.net/photos/aug04/images/IMG_1764.jpg

We went back to Alnwick, which has this awesome gateway into the town

http://www.geocities.com/mildenhall@sbcglobal.net/photos/aug04/images/IMG_1821.jpg

and visited Alnwick gardens, which is mostly under construction but has an impressive cascading pools fountain.

http://www.geocities.com/mildenhall@sbcglobal.net/photos/aug04/images/IMG_1824.jpg

The next day we drove back to Warrington, stayed one more night there and flew back to Chicago the following morning.

That's all, folks... :)

[LadyShea]

:clap: Really great, clear photographs and looks like a wonderful time.

[livius drusus]

Castles, causeways and all the Roman masonry you can ask for (mmm... Roman masonry...): what a gorgeous trip. That green grass looks so good I almost wish I had 5 stomachs.

[viscousmemories]

Thanks a lot for sharing your trip with us, Helen. Those are some beautiful pictures of equally beautiful places. :)

[HelenM]

Thanks, everyone :)

LadyShea, I got a new digital camera (Canon S60) in June and I'm very pleased with the results.

Helen

[Beth]

Oh how lovely, Helen! Thanks so much for sharing! So beautiful there. I hope to travel there in the next year or two.