Wales and England Countryside

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Hey guys. So I know we haven't posted a blog in a while. It has been a little difficult to get reliable internet inside of the hostels and hotels but we are hanging in there. Anyway who cares about that? Let's see what we have been up to.

As Trevor left off, we were on our way to Holyhead in the United Kingdom. We successfully arrived in Holyhead in the morning and were well on our way. This was probably going to be the most interesting part of the trip because we were about to rent a car and of course the English drive on the opposite (wrong) side of the road. The United Kingdom was also as cloudy and rainy as everyone expected. It seemed we lucked out in Dublin, but not so much in the UK. Luckily for us, our fearless driver Trevor was there to man the journey.

Equipped with our Toyota Auris, Trevor quickly figured everything out and we were off to Caernarfon to see a castle (the first of many). While driving through Wales we noticed that there are sheep everywhere and that the various plots of land are divided by stone walls. Another thing is that in Wales and the rest of the United Kingdom they use roundabouts almost everywhere to change roads. They love roundabouts. It all took a lot of getting used to.

A short while later we arrived in Caernarfon. As in about every town or city we drove in, we had a little trouble navigating to where we were going, but eventually we found what we were looking for. Castle Caernarfon was quite the sight to witness. It was really cool when first looking at it because the castle was really big, but also because there was a small town within its walls. We spent some time exploring the castle, getting lost more than once trying to navigate all the corridors, rooms, dead ends and towers. The castle offered some great views of the surrounding countryside and town that lay below. The site was special because it offered a large amount of military history for the Welsh (including the iconic regimental goat) and was also the site of the Coronet for the Prince of Wales.

Upon concluding the exploration of the castle the journey was continued through the Welsh countryside. Assisted by our good friend Sathi we were able to find a suitable route to Bath, which was our next stop. On the way we eventually became hungry and stopped at a pub in a very small town in the countryside where we tried some local cuisine. The place was quiet and the food was acceptable with only a few locals there. It was a good break for a long day.

After a few hours of journeying we arrived in Bath (again getting lost trying to find the hostel). The hostel we stayed at was different from the one in Dublin. It wasn't very nice, compared to the last hostel we stayed in, but we did not have many options in this case. One difference was that it had a kitchen and it seemed like some people had been living there for a little while. It did have a very convenient party dungeon which was good cause the walls were three feet thick so sound wouldn't penetrate them and upset the other guests. All in all, it was a place to sleep for a night. As soon as we arrived we became situated and walked around the city for a little bit. I believe there is a college right near the city so that could explain why there were so many young people around the area. We were pretty exhausted from the day however and called it a night.

The next day we got up early and headed over to the main attraction in Bath, which of course is the Roman Baths. The Roman Baths were interesting to the Romans because they were built upon a hot spring (I believe one of the only hot springs in the UK). The museum provided a lot of history from why the baths were built to how they were built. It was pretty amazing to see the engineering that went into the project and how they were able to get such an extensive system of running water. One thing that I found particularly interesting was that people during that time thought the baths were sacred to the gods. If they wanted revenge on someone, they would write curses on thin sheets of metal and throw it into the bath so that god would bring wrath upon that person. Overall it was an awesome display of architecture as well as engineering and worth the trip.

We had a long day ahead of us so we then left the baths and drove to Salisbury, which was a little ways down the road. There we visited the Salisbury Cathdral which was a massive cathedral built around the year 1200. The entire cathedral took around 40 years to build. Inside, the cathedral was magnificent with various chapels and tombs of clergymen. The main part of the church was beautiful and lined with rows and rows of pews. Another really interesting part of this visit was the fact that in one of the chapels of the cathedral we were able to see a section of the original magna carta. The cathedral was very exciting, but again the day was just beginning as we were then headed to Stonehenge. Stonehenge pretty cool to see and the stones are bigger in person than when you see it in pictures. We were a bit dissapointed when we found out that you could not walk among the stones and had to stay around them (apparently previous tourists would take souvenirs home). If anyone goes to it I would recommend just standing outside the fence and taking a picture. It is really not worth paying for it. but what can you do? (There is a tour among the stones for a mere 79 pounds if anyone is interested!) We also started to get a little tired of audio tours at that point. Little did we know that there were many more to come.

Later that day our trip took us to Oxford. Trevor was a little relieved on the trip because there were not many country roads and the driving was a little easier. We eventually arrived at our hostel which was a pretty cool place. They had internet and also an outside area where other guests would hang out. Later that night we explored some bars in the area and got a few drinks. One bar had live music and I especially enjoyed their rendition of Comfortably Numb to finish off the night.

Our stay in Oxford was short lived as the next day we ventured to Blenheim Palace. This palace, home to the Duke and Dutchess of Marlborough was another sight to see. It was so big that a person could spend a whole day just walking around it. The inside was lavishly decorated with paintings and tapestries that filled up entire walls. Furniture decorated each of the rooms as well. Apparently some of this furniture was taken from the palace of Versaille in France (The British it seems just take whatever they want). The palace was also interesting because that was the place that Winston Churchill was born and grew up. Next the gardens were explored and they stretched as far as the eye could see. It was amazing that they were able to take care of it so well. We even ventured through a hedge maze which was less than thrilling, but was worth a try.

Unfortunately we had to leave Blenheim because our rental car had to be returned, but it was definately worth the trip. Later we bought gas by the litre and travelled to Heathrow airport where we returned our car. Trevor did an excellent job driving (I know this because I am still alive). Soon we would venture to London. Our English countryside experience was packed with activities over a few days, but we had a great time.

Hope everyone is doing well. More to come soon.

Peter Sulich

P.S. Pictures to come as soon as we get to a good computer

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