We drove to Caernarfon Castle this morning.  We parked outside of the city walls and were able to use our credit card to do so.  We walked around to the entrance of the castle and paid 25 pounds for the two of us.  We were told that the castle would be open until 6pm and we could come and go as we pleased as long as we kept our ticket.  

As you can see from the pictures, the castle is completely open in the middle.  It started being built in 1283 by Kind Edward I (he also established Conwy Castle and several others). The walls around the city were built while the castle was under construction. The work on the castle was not finished until 1330, but many parts were never actually completed, including the total plans for the King’s Gate, which would have been an impenetrable entrance.

We started our exploration of the castle by climbing the spiral staircase to the top of the closest tower.  There is an amazing view of the sea and it was quite windy.  We explored many dark corridors and came upon the military museum, The Royal Welch Fusilier Museum, which occupies two towers and four (I think) different floors. We tried to travel inside around the entire ring of the castle, but it doesn’t connect in every section.  

The Queen’s Tower (which was also never completed) had a cool display of former kings and important people in the form of giant chess pieces. There was also a display on the second floor of the life of Queen Eleanor.  It was beautifully carved from thin wood.  She was married at 12 and had her first child (a stillborn) at 13.  She bore 16 children in her life.  I believe four daughters and one son grew into adulthood.  Most of her children died soon after birth or within 5-6 years old.  It’s amazing that she survived bearing that many children in that time period.  It’s also said that she had a very loving marriage, that her husband was one of few kings who did not have illegitimate children. She died at 49 of an undisclosed illness and her husband mourned her up until his death (even though he married again).

We had an amazing time exploring this castle.  I loved almost getting lost within the towers.  We wandering around all kinds of dark corridors and ended up in different sections that we did not plan.  When you enter the castle they have a “map” on the door, but it only shows you the outside towers, not how to navigate once you climb inside.  I really enjoy learning about places in this way. 

I took several pictures of the castle and city walls, some of which were right at our parking lot. We took a road around the water in order to take a picture of the entire castle.  No, I don’t know why there is a ferris wheel on one end. 

We took so long exploring Caernarfon that we had to pick only one more castle to visit today.  We chose Penrhyn Castle because I was excited to wander around the interior and see some cool furniture and architecture.  It is considered a country house.  It was built in the style of a Norman castle. There was a manor house on the site in the 15th century and was acquired by Richard Pennant (first Baron of Penryhn) in the 18th century.  He earned his money through slave trade in the West Indies and was a staunch supporter of slavery. He earned a great deal of money from the slave trade and also from slate mining in his nearby estates.  The house started construction in the late 1700s. 

The garden and view from the house are magnificent.  You can see both the sea and the mountains of Snowdonia. 

We arrived a bit late and the house closes at 3:15 to enter and the gardens close at 4.  It cost 28 pounds for both of us.  You need to walk up a hill on a graveled walkway up to the castle to enter it. The inside of it is very grand.  The first picture below is the stairway to the family’s apartments. 

The entrance hall was immense and I love how the stained glass windows and the architecture make it look like an angry face.  The dragon light pedestals were also amazing. 

The library had so much carved wood paneling that I had to take three pictures to get it all including a neat tower room.  

The women’s drawing room had that red wallpaper that I adore and some beautiful red couches to match. 

The Ebony Room has all ebony carved furniture.  It was very impressive, as was the ceiling. 

This bedroom captured my attention because of the Chinese wallpaper and amazing armoire that you can see in the mirror. 

The bedroom had a sitting room, bathroom, and bedroom all together.  The bed was made from the slate that the family earned so much of its wealth.  It weighs and actual ton. 

I was impressed with the carvings of the armoires in the bedrooms and had to take an up close picture. 

The ceiling and staircase made me stop and gape.  The staircase took ten years to carve.  It has different faces all over it. The detail was unreal. It is made of limestone. 

The dining room was massive.  

I enjoyed being able to explore the servants areas. We saw where they cleaned hats and shoes, the kitchen areas, and their own dining area. 

There is also a railway museum that is housed in the stables.  My husband loved that.  You can even climb in a few of the trains. 

We drove back to Chester and decided to finally explore the town center.  We had to find a good place to park because most of it is just for pedestrians.  I loved the buildings that lined the streets.  I could have taken a picture of every single one.  The stores were all closed by the time that we arrived (around 6), but the restaurants and bars were quite busy.  We did manage to get an ice cream at a shop at the top of the wall.  Did I mention that you can walk on the top of the city walls?  It was quite fun.  We also checked out the cathedral.  It was about the size of half a city block or maybe a full block.  It was also closed by the time we got there. We had a nice dinner at a brew house and headed back to the bed and breakfast.