Another day, another castle

The name of the castle this morning was Beaumaris, in Beaumaris, Wales.  Like most castles built by Edward I, it is near the sea so that it can be supplied by ships.  And like some of the other castles we’ve seen, it was never finished—go figure.  I guess it wasn’t as easy to get a stimulus package then.

Beaumaris Castle and Moat

Castle Courtyard

We went back to the Snowdonia National Park to take a ride on the cog railway that the Victorians built up Mount Snowden, the highest peak in Wales.  It took an hour to get up there, we looked around for about twenty minutes, and then an hour back.  The scenery was spectacular, and I didn’t know sheep would graze that high up a mountain.  My lack of knowledge regarding nature strikes again!

The engine that took us up

My dad at the top

Me at the top

Finally, we saw the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct.  It took ten years to design and build, and was opened in 1805. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site (so is Beaumaris Castle), and it is a pretty impressive engineering feat. Those 19th Century Brits really thought they could do anything—and they left a lot around to prove it.

Canal Boats.  We ate at the tavern behind them.

Aqueduct from below

The canal carried by the aqueduct

We’ve eaten pretty well here. If you’ve ever heard the term “full English breakfast,” that means eggs, bacon, sausages, baked beans, mushrooms, potatoes, and a grilled tomato. The bacon’s OK—sort of a cross between Canadian bacon and our kind—but I can’t get into the sausages. I read that they’re ground pork and leek, which makes them kind of mushy, and they are in a “natural casing” which I think is pig stomach, and that turns mine. They’re not Jimmy Dean, that’s for sure.

It's 9:55 PM (GMT) in Trevor, Wales, UK