Ships, castles and spas – passing through southern England and Wales COMPLETED - Page 7 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Thursday 11 June – part four: this is like no study I’ve ever seen before!
We made our way past the Norman Keep…
… and over to the castle apartments, which is what I wanted to see:
This apartment block was built between 1423 and 1439 by the Earl of Warwick, although it was altered considerably through the years. Additions were made in the 1570s and then again in the 1770s. The house was then rebuilt by the third Marquess of Bute during the late 19th century, when more accommodation was added.
We headed inside, and the guide at the entrance told us we should see the study before heading upstairs. When he said “study”, I was like “ok”, but my jaw dropped when we walked in. It didn’t look like any study I’ve ever seen before!
This was the entrance hall, not very impressive, but much better was to come.
The first room we came to upstairs was the Arab room, which I think was my favourite. It was just breath taking. This dates from the late 19th century and was designed to be an occasional sitting room and was sometimes used as a bedroom for guests. Wow, could you imagine staying in here? The ceiling is actually made of wood, which has been covered in gold leaf and then decorated. The walls and floors are Italian marble and the chimney piece is carved with the names of the architect, a tribute put in by Lord and Lady Bute, so pleased were they by his work. I can understand that.
Next we headed into the Banqueting Hall, the largest single room in the castle and the oldest part of the building. It’s theme is medieval history and the chimney piece shows Robert, Earl of Gloucester, the illegitimate son of King Henry I. The detail in here was just exquisite.
We headed downstairs…
… into this, the small dining room. Well, if this is the small, I’d love to see the large! Interestingly, we didn’t on our tour, and we both got the impression that not all the rooms were open to the public, and we wondered if the large dining room was perhaps one of them.
This room was only used as a dining room for members of the Bute family and originally it was a drawing room. It was transformed into what you see now in 1875.
Next we entered the drawing room, and this is the only interior at the castle that survives from the 18th century, as much of the rest of the apartments were drastically changed a century later.
The final room we visited was the stunning library, the oldest part of the house and part of it once formed the Great Hall back in the 15th century. The bookcases and tables in here since date from the 1870s.
We got a glimpse of the main staircase from here, although I felt it was a shame that we couldn’t see it close up.
Wow! Not even words for everything there. The ceilings, the details, the colors.... stunning!
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We wandered over to see the impressive clock tower. We learnt on our audio guide that all the statues on it related to time, and I was able to zoom in on that and see that for myself.
There was even a photo of it being constructed:
We headed up to the battlements to explore these and get a few more photos…
… then we headed back to the entrance. I went to the restrooms, and discovered a museum all about the regiments that had been based here. It’s called Firing Line: Cardiff Castle Museum of the Welsh Solider. It’s the regimental museum of 1st the Dragoon Guards and the Royal Welsh. It was interesting, but we both commented that they had too many staff and they were very quick to pounce on you and ask if you were alright, which got a bit annoying after a while.
However, I was able to learn about the regimental goat we’d seen earlier…
There was even a bit of Roman wall in here…
I got a fridge magnet from the shop, and we headed out.
We headed over to see the golden post box here. Any British gold medallist in London 2012, either the Olympics or Paralympics, had a post box painted gold to commemorate their achievements. We’ve only seen a few, but as there was one here, I wanted to see it:
I got some more photos of the clock tower…
… and then Mark noticed that the wall had animals on it, and sure enough, it’s actually called the animal wall. It was so lovely:
We made our way back through the city, browsing a couple of shops on the way:
We found this beautiful arcade:
We went into the Disney Store in the hope of finding something Welsh in here, but we weren’t in luck. There were plenty of the tsum tsums…
Am I the only one who doesn’t get this?
Even worse, look at this:
Every darned character from Winnie the Pooh, except my donkey! What the heck is going on here? Let’s just say I was not a happy bunny when I left there…
No donkey....sad, sad. sad. But they did have him in the TSUM TSUMs (which I have one). It is a fun game that Katie and I play on her phone and now she collects the little ones. I have 2, Eeyore(of course) and Grumpy!
The gold mailbox....you went to the cycling events, did you get to see him win?
Those castle apartments are just spectacular!
I have to say, whenever I see the signs in Welsh, I think what a difficult language that appears to be!
So, goats are anti-American then? That explains a lot to me.....I am a lifelong Cubs fan (the Chicago baseball team), and they have the idea that they haven't won a world series since 1908, due to a curse that stems from a goat. Google it sometime if you're interested. But now, realizing goats are anti-American, the Billy Goat Curse makes a lot more sense!
No donkey....sad, sad. sad. But they did have him in the TSUM TSUMs (which I have one). It is a fun game that Katie and I play on her phone and now she collects the little ones. I have 2, Eeyore(of course) and Grumpy!
Well, I guess that's score one for the tsum tsums then!
Quote:
The gold mailbox....you went to the cycling events, did you get to see him win?
We only did the Commonwealth Games cycling events - the tickets for the cycling at London 2012 were amongst the hardest to get. We didn't see him in Glasgow unfortunately.
Those castle apartments are just spectacular!
I have to say, whenever I see the signs in Welsh, I think what a difficult language that appears to be!
Me too!
Quote:
So, goats are anti-American then? That explains a lot to me.....I am a lifelong Cubs fan (the Chicago baseball team), and they have the idea that they haven't won a world series since 1908, due to a curse that stems from a goat. Google it sometime if you're interested. But now, realizing goats are anti-American, the Billy Goat Curse makes a lot more sense!
Oh wow, that is such a cool story - not cool for them obviously, but as you say, the story does make a bit sense knowing that about the regimental goat...
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The ceiling is actually made of wood, which has been covered in gold leaf and then decorated. The walls and floors are Italian marble and the chimney piece is carved with the names of the architect, a tribute put in by Lord and Lady Bute, so pleased were they by his work. I can understand that. 
Interestingly, we didn’t on our tour, and we both got the impression that not all the rooms were open to the public, and we wondered if the large dining room was perhaps one of them. 
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The castle is just beautiful on the inside! 
Katie's graduation
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