Na rathaidean fada, lùbach tro Chuimrigh agus Alba

Day 11: 20th March – The Day was Ruined

Today’s trivia about Wales:

Has over 10 million sheep, outnumbering people by more than 7 million
Has more castles per square mile than anywhere else in the world
Has the longest place name in Britain—Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogocgh
Has the world’s first coastal path covering an entire nation
and to be clear, Britain is the island containing the countries of Scottland, England and Wales. While the UK also includes Northern Ireland.

and, the air conditioning remained off all night, thankfully.

At the breakfast “Please wait here” sign, the couple in front said Room 501 to which the waitress said that’s a nice room! When she came back and I said Room 708, I was a bit worried as there was a pause before she said, Oh that’s a veeerrry nuiiccce roooom😃.

We headed off to Porthkerry Viaduct, where we just missed a two car match box style train go over. The Viaduct had a few construction issues soon after being opened in 1898 with foundations sinking up to about 1.3m and a landslide. It finally reopened in 1900 and is still standing now.

We walked along the wind swept grass to the famed course grained beach . . .

Over at Rhoose Point Standing Stone the beach was the same . . .

In 2000, a monument designed by David Lock comprising a large standing stone in a stone circle was erected on reclaimed land. So not something from the middle Bronze Age!

Next it was over to Dunraven Walled Gardens, Dunraven Hillfort and Dunraven Castle. You couldn’t get to the castle as the land owners had closed the access due to government funding, or lack there of.

Ogmore Castle caught my attention as a google comment said free parking and free access. So off we went.

Candleston Castle, was a different story. Badly sign posted, no info, badly maintained and you had to pay for parking that wasn’t in a formed carpark or with designated parking spots.

On the way back we stopped at The twelfth Century St Teilos Church and nearby hatched houses and the swing bridge that leads back to Ogmore Castle via stepping stones but didnt want to get my feet wet.

Dinner was at Tŷ Caws with a cheese and meat charcuterie. We could swap cheese for others, so Annette wanted to swap the Speck – maple wood cold smoked for a brie. I let her ask that to the waitress, who politely informed Annette that it is meat, not cheese! I ordered two ports. When they didn’t come with the charcuterie, I asked where are the two ports. The poor lace looked at me blankly and said there are boards already on the table. I looked at her blankly too! I had to say again, port and point to it on the menu. Oh Port you want!!