With the nice fall weather continuing to hold we decided to take Lulu up to one of our favorite ares - the Brecon highlands just north of Cardiff. Perhaps not high for US-West coast standards they are quite high for this area. Here are some photos from our day out. We visited Brecon Market town, Brecon Cathedral, Tre-tower castle (where Lulu was able to try mulberries off the tree) and a drive up over the highlands before returning home.
Before leaving Dublin today we wanted to swing by and see St. Patrick's Cathedral which was also very close to where we stayed. Being Sunday, it was not open for tours but just walking the grounds and listening to the bells was amazing.
After departing Dublin our next stop was the southwest of Ireland - specifically Killarney in County Kerry. This would be our longest drive of the trip so the car was stocked with snacks, and computers, DVD's, Ipads were fully charged. Nonetheless we were only on the road for less than 30 minutes when Abbie decided she had to go to the bathroom. No big deal - we made great time the rest of the drive and got to our next hotel by about mid afternoon. After getting settled in our rooms we headed into Killarney town to stroll around and find a place to eat.
After departing Wexford we made a stop at a Park area called Glendalough in the Wicklow Mountains on the way North to Dublin. There is a 5th century monastery site founded by St. Kevin! The Irish name for the site is called Gleann Da Locha meaning Glen of the Two Lakes. In the 5th century a monk named St. Kevin chose this secluded setting around a Bronze Age tomb for his home. For 7 years he fasted, prayed, and slept on the hard ground and ate only what he could catch or find. His self deprivation and fervor gained attention from passing hunters and peddlers and soon similarly devout followers found their way here.
The site is very popular and quite crowded. The guide book says to visit early or late, and I would concur. While the weather was not great, the low clouds added to the mystique of the place.
Kevin in front of St. Kevin's Church
Pictures from the grounds. There were lots o really cool old Celtic crosses in the graveyard.
This weekend, we wanted to get out and enjoy the summer sun. It was a little cool for the beach so I packed a picnic lunch and we headed over to another one of the castles in our home area - Coity Castle near the village of Bridgend. We first ran across Coity Castle last year when we were going to a baptism at the church next to it, and took a mental note to visit it again when the kids were in proper play clothes.
More pictures of climbing on the walls
The weather was looking good so we headed west to Pembrokshire in southwest wales. Our target for today was St. David's Cathedral. St. David was born in the year 500 and died in 589. He is the patron saint of Wales and there has been a monstary/church of some sort at this site where the current cathedral sits since the 6th century. It is also the largest cathedral in Wales. The town around is a small and quaint tucked away on the western tip of wales.
After exploring St David's village and cathedral, we headed to the beach. The Pembrokshire coast in south-west wales was ranked the Number two coastline in the world by National Geographic, so it seemed that we could hardly go wrong. I picked a small beach very close to St. David's called Caerfai and it turned out to be everything we had hoped for an afternoon of fun in the sun. Kelly was kicking herself for not bringing shorts/swim suit on this trip but had fun testing out the new telephoto zoom lens on the camera. (see some of the great shots below)
From Caerfai, we looped up around north Pembrokshire to take a different way home. Not being sure I would be in that general vacinity again, I wanted to stop by an ancient megalithic monument called Pentre Ifan. It is what remains of a burial chamber believed to have been contructed around 3500 BC. Amazing rock formation with a 16 ton capstone balancing on 3 points under it. A little off the beaten path to get there but it was worthwhile and a nice break to get out of the car and enjoy the late afternoon sun.
With White puffy clouds floating around south wales Sunday, we decided to take the afternoon and drive up to the Brecon Beacon. This is a mountain region in south Wales that is also 1 of 3 national parks in Wales. Here are some shots as we drove through the the region to and from the village of Brecon. A couple of the pictures feature the mountain Pen y Fan - the highest point in south wales, and southern Britain.
Or main goal for the afternoon was a visit to the market village of Brecon at the northern edge of the park. A great village to explore. We wandered some of the streets and visited St. Johns Cathedral, where we also had a late lunch on the greens. The river that you see in the pictures is the river Usk.
We decided to take a different way home and on the way I stopped to find and take a photo of Tretower castle. Kids were tired so we didn't stay, but there is an apple festival here in mid September that we want to go to. Now know how to get there!
Noah had his first birthday party invite this weekend at a classmates house in the village of St. Donat's He wanted Hunter to stay with him at the party, so Kelly, Abbie, Preston and I went exploring. We first walked down and checked out St. Donat's church which dates back to the 11 century based on the exterior sign. In some of the pictures you can see St. Donat's castle in the background. There is also a picture of nice victorian stained glass inside the church.
Next we threaded our way down to a somewhat hidden beach below St. Donat's Castle which now houses Atlantic College. It is difficult to find and we only found it after some advice from other parents of children at the birthday party. Since the college is now out for the summer, it was quiet.
St Donats Castle itself is very beautiful. It was actually purchased by William Hearst - the newspaper baren in 1925. He spent a fortune renovating the castle, and supposedly held lavish parties when he was visiting the site. If you have ever been to Hearst Castle on the coast in central California, it had a similar feel - at least the parts we could see. It is only open to the public once a year I believe. A couple shots below of the castle pool area overlooking the sea.
