Our hosts, Warren and Ali, didn’t have any bookings after us, so they offered to let us hang out in the house as long as we wanted. This made for a relaxed morning where Liz and I once again collected all our possessions and neatly packed them into the few bags we’ve got. These kids of ours are really good at spreading their stuff everywhere, so this is quite a process. We learned this lesson last year, so when possible we are trying to stay multiple days in each house.
I happened to be reading some top 10 list that was breaking down the things about Britain. Near the top of that list was an item called the “Sunday Roast.” Well it was Sunday, so we better try that out! We returned to The Strode Arms in our little village and basically ordered the menu – the beef, the pork, and the chicken. Each entrée came with mashed potatoes, a side of “veg,” the meat, a Yorkshire pudding, and lots of gravy. As an aside, we’re really not sure about the Yorkshire pudding. On every menu in the UK the puddings are the dessert menu, and a Yorkshire pudding is definitely not a dessert. We’ve asked a few people (in three different countries), and they aren’t able to give us a straight answer. Anyways, its basically a puff pastry in the shape of a bowl that was set on top of our lunch. The Sunday Roast pretty good, but we all agreed it wasn’t our favorite thing ever.
After lunch we loaded up the van for the drive to Penarth, a small community outside the Wales capital of Cardiff. Once again we navigated the narrow English roads in our giant van mobile, crossed the River Severn, read a little Welsh, and arrived at our next Airbnb. This time we greeted by Rob, who gave us the lay of the land. Immediately upon our arrival Juliette spotted two soccer goals, figured out there was a boy her age who was at home and played soccer, and had Rob drag him outside. What started as a friendly game of 1 v 1 between strangers, turned into a chippy rivalry match between friends. Juliette and Josh hit it off immediately and for the next few days Juliette lost interest in our trip and just wanted to go back to the house to play with Josh!
Rob also had two other children, so before long Samantha was playing with Sophia, and Charlie disappeared into their house to play with their youngest son. It’s just such a shame everyone is so shy. When the family had to go in for their Sunday Roast, Sam gave Sophia a hug and shortly thereafter Sophia said to us “I’ve never had a hug from a girl before that wasn’t my Mum.”
We also needed to eat so we headed into town and found ourselves at a place called the Railway Hotel, a moderately priced pub with moderately good food. The good news was that a place like this everyone found something they would like to eat, which is a great victory! After dinner we headed back to our Coach House and had a wonderful sleep in the most comfortable beds thus far.
The next day we got up, not very early, and took a little drive to Caerphilly Castle. The interesting thing about this part of Wales is that the GPS says something is 9 miles away, which is awesome. Then it tells you it will take 30 minutes to get there. Doh! As you can imagine, there are lots of roads that weave and wend all over the place – definitely not mindless driving!
Caerphilly Castle was, for me, the quintessential castle experience. It has a bridge leading up to it, a big wall around it, a moat that is still filled with water, a second wall around it, and a collapsed tower. It just looks like a castle!! For the cherry on top, there are dragons and a trebuchet. And something just for the kids – a farting soldier (complete with sound effects!)
After thoroughly exploring the grounds, we had a decision to make. Because of our late start, if we wanted to hit Cardiff Castle today, we needed a quick lunch with no fighting. For us, that can only mean one thing – McDonald’s (which also tend to have big open parking lots for us lorry drivers)!
After a quick bite to eat we made the 7 mile journey to Cardiff Castle, and it only took 20 minutes! This was once again a very “castley” castle, surrounded by a wall and a beautiful keep perched on a big hill (a motte for those that like to learn). After the family became super wealthy the interior underwent extensive renovations, and the results were stunning. The attention to detail, the level of craftmanship, and unique theming of each room made it fun for everyone to behold. We also learned that during World War II parts of the castle wall were turned into air raid shelters. We sat in the shelter and listened to the sounds of the bombs dropping outside. Pretty sobering experience.
For dinner we asked the kids to read the menus and decide on our dinner situation. After hemming and hawing for a bit, they finally settled on Caribbean food of all things. I think what happened was that Katie saw ‘ribs’ on the menu and then put her negotiation/power of persuasion skills to work. As with all things, since it was their idea, they were committed to liking it, even if they didn’t. After dinner we headed back to the Airbnb so the kids could play with their new friends before bed!
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