Perhaps like Alfred P. Doolittle there is a Welsh strain in my heritage. Perhaps not. As we crossed the border into this country of
musicians and miners, writers and working men we quickly realized this is NOT England.
The differences were subtle and hard to identify in many cases. In other ways it was very clear: all the road signs were written in both English and Welsh.
Our first stop was in Chepstow.Here we visited our first of four Welsh castles. Dramatic in location and size,majestic in its ruin, this remains my favorite castle so far.
After a morning navigating steep stone steps, it was lunchtime. We decided to stay in the village to eat and were soon settled in at the Three Tuns, a delightful pub/pie shop in the shadow of the castle.
Not only did we have a wonderful meal but we discovered that this was the pub that inspired j.k.Rowling when she wrote about the three broomsticks pub in the Harry Potter series.
The author herself grew up and went to school here and, according to the pub owner, based her character Snape on a science teacher she had.
On to Cardiff and our flat. We were about a mile from the city center so it was an easy walk to the major sites. Although this is the Capital City of Wales there was not a feel of importance. Rather it was one of practicality and functionality. Cardiff castle centered the downtown area. From the top of the keep you could see the harbor, Millennium stadium and the Edwardian era Civic offices. The area under the castle had been used as air raid shelters during the WWII Blitz. The castle itself had been built on top of Roman ruins, some of those original walls can still be seen.
As we went through the city it became apparent that “Made in Wales” was a proud distinction which would see again later in the week. At the local market, the butcher assured us that the lamb he sold would be the best we ever tasted. Why? “Because it's Welsh”, he replied with a smile and a twinkle in his eye. And he was right!
After only a few days of surprises I looked forward to what was waiting for us as we continued to explore Wales.
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