Vacation, continued
Sep. 3rd, 2017 10:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wildflowersoulMore vacay!
Day 4, August 25- We drove from York to Warwick. It was a lovely day and a surprisingly easy (but still long) drive. Dropped off our dirty laundry for it get to washed at a laundry place (best long-ish vacation decision, pack light, get laundry service halfway through). Arrived at Warwick Castle, which is probably the best castle in England for kids and entertainment value. There are a bunch of rooms in the castle that are done up with wax figures and furnishings, reflecting different eras in the castle's history. Big armor display in the great hall, which was a big hit for West. There are also a bunch of entertainment shows happening all day, there's so much going on it's hard to see everything in one day. Got some lunch at the tea house, with peacocks wandering around the area looking for crumbs. West had a little knight lesson from a guy who had him swing a sword at a post and then do some jousting.
Drew was supposed to do a ghost hunt that night, run by someone who works at the castle, but it was cancelled due to only two people signing up for it. He was able to find the lady in charge of the ghost hunt and talk to her, and she let us (along with the other family who had been interested in the ghost hunt) stand in a special area right up close to the huge trebuchet for the trebuchet firing. It was spectacular, and it felt really special to be among the few who could get up close. We skipped the falconry show so we could climb up some of the old castle walls, and we chose well the wall we climbed, because the birds in the falconry show flew up to a trainer who was on the wall we were on, so we got some really up close views of the birds. Finally, we watched the War of the Roses joust show, which West loved. I couldn't see a thing, but as long as West could, that was fine. We wandered a bit more of the castle, went to the Horrible Histories maze that West was really psyched about, then it was time to check into our lodge for the night.
I had a healthy dose of skepticism about our accommodation for the night, because it sounded pretty rustic. Luckily, the lodges are actually pretty nice, they're very cleverly appointed to maximize the small space, and there's a comfy bed for the adults in the main room, and a tiny room with a bunk bed for kids just off the main room. The bathroom was in good shape, too. It was cleaner and nicer than I expected. Amazingly, with so many kids staying there, it was also really quiet at night. We ate dinner in their "medieval feast" banqueting hall, which was a buffet, but the food was decent, and they had a couple of knights wandering around greeting the kids. For the adults, they had a bar available, which they very wisely keep open during the entertainment part of the evening.
After dinner we went to the entertainment area, which was a nice lawn by the river, and it was absolutely beautiful. West got to practice some archery, the knights taught a swordsmanship class, a "princess" taught jester skills, and the knights did some battles. In between, West made friends with some other kids, and they ran around bashing their fake swords at each other. Most of the adults brought beers from their rooms or the bar, and when I saw someone carrying an ice bucket with bottles of beer and someone else with a bucket of wine, I figured it was fine and joined in the merriment with some cider. It was such a fun night for all of us, in a week full of highlights, this was the most perfect day/night.
Day 5- August 26. We left Warwick after picking up our laundry and headed west to northern Wales. It was another long and traffic-filled drive, but we finally made it to Chirk Castle around 11:00. This castle is near and dear to us because we had a miserable time there on our honeymoon. This time was much better! There was a little kids play area that was really fun for West before we even entered the grounds, so he played there while we waited for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tenillypo's arrival. We successfully met up with T, and went up the hill to the castle. It was a gorgeous day, and the grounds were beautiful. The castle was more furnished than I remembered, so there were lots of rooms to go through, and they had a little hide and seek game set up for kids to look for hidden stuffed wolves in each room, which was a super clever idea, it kept West really engaged. A couple of rooms also had some costumes and gear to try on, which is always a hit with kids. We ate lunch, explored the castle, and walked around the grounds.
With some time left in the day, we all agreed to head to Llangollen to explore the town and check out a fancy old manor house. The town is a warren of tiny, busy roads, and the gps directions to get to the manor were not great, so after a wrong turn and some general driving anxiety, we gave up on the manor and walked around town while we waited for T to finish her fun adventure up to the manor. We all eventually grabbed some beer and then a not-great dinner at a pub, and after dinner went our separate ways.
Our particular way turned out to be a Terror Drive up and down some extremely steep single track mountain roads. At one point we went through a road that was covered by a tunnel of trees, which was kind of cool and very quintessentially Wales, and I would have enjoyed it a lot more if the road had been wider and not completely scary. We were staying at a hotel that was only 6 miles away from Llangollen, but the drive took 20-30 minutes. All minutes felt like an eternity of terror. We finally pulled into the tiniest town nestled in the bottom of a valley between big hills (with plenty of sheep grazing on the hills, normally something I'm totally into for its picturesqueness). Seriously, the town had like 10 houses, 2 inns, a church, and creepy graveyard (yes, Drew and West went into the graveyard).
We checked into our inn, which I had been super looking forward to because it's hella old (it's been an inn since 1670). Turns out that my expectations were way too high and we were super disappointed. Our check in was... weird. The lady checking us in was really not friendly, which, I guess is fine, I don't want to be a diva. We felt like strangers who definitely did not belong, and the weird looks we got from other patrons and the bartender when we got some beers did not help. We took a quick stroll around the area, not like there was anywhere to really go.
So our room was in a wing of the inn that was not historic, it was a few decades old but not well kept up. Our cell phones got no signal, the wifi didn't work in our wing, the tv didn't get any signal, and the landline in the room was dead. Drew pulled out a copy of Nostradamus' prophecies from the bookshelf, and we were thoroughly creeped out at that point. We figured we'd make the best of it and head out early in the morning. When Drew came back from the bar area, we discovered that our room didn't actually lock from the inside. Fun!
To be continued...
Day 4, August 25- We drove from York to Warwick. It was a lovely day and a surprisingly easy (but still long) drive. Dropped off our dirty laundry for it get to washed at a laundry place (best long-ish vacation decision, pack light, get laundry service halfway through). Arrived at Warwick Castle, which is probably the best castle in England for kids and entertainment value. There are a bunch of rooms in the castle that are done up with wax figures and furnishings, reflecting different eras in the castle's history. Big armor display in the great hall, which was a big hit for West. There are also a bunch of entertainment shows happening all day, there's so much going on it's hard to see everything in one day. Got some lunch at the tea house, with peacocks wandering around the area looking for crumbs. West had a little knight lesson from a guy who had him swing a sword at a post and then do some jousting.
Drew was supposed to do a ghost hunt that night, run by someone who works at the castle, but it was cancelled due to only two people signing up for it. He was able to find the lady in charge of the ghost hunt and talk to her, and she let us (along with the other family who had been interested in the ghost hunt) stand in a special area right up close to the huge trebuchet for the trebuchet firing. It was spectacular, and it felt really special to be among the few who could get up close. We skipped the falconry show so we could climb up some of the old castle walls, and we chose well the wall we climbed, because the birds in the falconry show flew up to a trainer who was on the wall we were on, so we got some really up close views of the birds. Finally, we watched the War of the Roses joust show, which West loved. I couldn't see a thing, but as long as West could, that was fine. We wandered a bit more of the castle, went to the Horrible Histories maze that West was really psyched about, then it was time to check into our lodge for the night.
I had a healthy dose of skepticism about our accommodation for the night, because it sounded pretty rustic. Luckily, the lodges are actually pretty nice, they're very cleverly appointed to maximize the small space, and there's a comfy bed for the adults in the main room, and a tiny room with a bunk bed for kids just off the main room. The bathroom was in good shape, too. It was cleaner and nicer than I expected. Amazingly, with so many kids staying there, it was also really quiet at night. We ate dinner in their "medieval feast" banqueting hall, which was a buffet, but the food was decent, and they had a couple of knights wandering around greeting the kids. For the adults, they had a bar available, which they very wisely keep open during the entertainment part of the evening.
After dinner we went to the entertainment area, which was a nice lawn by the river, and it was absolutely beautiful. West got to practice some archery, the knights taught a swordsmanship class, a "princess" taught jester skills, and the knights did some battles. In between, West made friends with some other kids, and they ran around bashing their fake swords at each other. Most of the adults brought beers from their rooms or the bar, and when I saw someone carrying an ice bucket with bottles of beer and someone else with a bucket of wine, I figured it was fine and joined in the merriment with some cider. It was such a fun night for all of us, in a week full of highlights, this was the most perfect day/night.
Day 5- August 26. We left Warwick after picking up our laundry and headed west to northern Wales. It was another long and traffic-filled drive, but we finally made it to Chirk Castle around 11:00. This castle is near and dear to us because we had a miserable time there on our honeymoon. This time was much better! There was a little kids play area that was really fun for West before we even entered the grounds, so he played there while we waited for
tenillypo's arrival. We successfully met up with T, and went up the hill to the castle. It was a gorgeous day, and the grounds were beautiful. The castle was more furnished than I remembered, so there were lots of rooms to go through, and they had a little hide and seek game set up for kids to look for hidden stuffed wolves in each room, which was a super clever idea, it kept West really engaged. A couple of rooms also had some costumes and gear to try on, which is always a hit with kids. We ate lunch, explored the castle, and walked around the grounds.With some time left in the day, we all agreed to head to Llangollen to explore the town and check out a fancy old manor house. The town is a warren of tiny, busy roads, and the gps directions to get to the manor were not great, so after a wrong turn and some general driving anxiety, we gave up on the manor and walked around town while we waited for T to finish her fun adventure up to the manor. We all eventually grabbed some beer and then a not-great dinner at a pub, and after dinner went our separate ways.
Our particular way turned out to be a Terror Drive up and down some extremely steep single track mountain roads. At one point we went through a road that was covered by a tunnel of trees, which was kind of cool and very quintessentially Wales, and I would have enjoyed it a lot more if the road had been wider and not completely scary. We were staying at a hotel that was only 6 miles away from Llangollen, but the drive took 20-30 minutes. All minutes felt like an eternity of terror. We finally pulled into the tiniest town nestled in the bottom of a valley between big hills (with plenty of sheep grazing on the hills, normally something I'm totally into for its picturesqueness). Seriously, the town had like 10 houses, 2 inns, a church, and creepy graveyard (yes, Drew and West went into the graveyard).
We checked into our inn, which I had been super looking forward to because it's hella old (it's been an inn since 1670). Turns out that my expectations were way too high and we were super disappointed. Our check in was... weird. The lady checking us in was really not friendly, which, I guess is fine, I don't want to be a diva. We felt like strangers who definitely did not belong, and the weird looks we got from other patrons and the bartender when we got some beers did not help. We took a quick stroll around the area, not like there was anywhere to really go.
So our room was in a wing of the inn that was not historic, it was a few decades old but not well kept up. Our cell phones got no signal, the wifi didn't work in our wing, the tv didn't get any signal, and the landline in the room was dead. Drew pulled out a copy of Nostradamus' prophecies from the bookshelf, and we were thoroughly creeped out at that point. We figured we'd make the best of it and head out early in the morning. When Drew came back from the bar area, we discovered that our room didn't actually lock from the inside. Fun!
To be continued...
