Day 2 11/5/08 - Wales

Brigend -> Caerphilly -> Yatterdon -> London

Highlight

• Coity Castle – quite big, a site that’s free for you to roam around, and you can climb to the top, where you can see the cool cemetery next to the church.
• New Castle was closed, so I told Slokky to skip the next few, but he didn’t listen, and insisted on driving to Ewenny Priory, which was of course closed.
• I told Slokky to go to the seaside for breakfast since he didn’t skip the priory. As usual, he didn’t listen, and insisted on going to the farm, which was, of course, also closed. We couldn’t have breakfast anywhere as a result.
• Castell Coch – a restored castle with elaborate décor. A bit gimmicky, but you don’t need your imagination to see what it used to look like.
• To the scenic lookout, where we climbed a “mountain” to see the views over the valleys, town and Caerphilly.
• Walked around the very pretty park of Caerphilly Castle, with its cool leaning tower and everyone out and about, enjoying the sunshine.
• got some more Welsh cakes, this time from Tesco, which, of course, was not as nice.
• lunch at The Courthouse, where the food was bad but the view was excellent.
• Drove around the town of Caerleon to see a few roman remains: amphitheature, barracks and baths.
• With some time to spare, we paid a quick visit to the National Roman Legion Museum for more Roman collectables.
• Brief wonder around Coldicot Castle.
• dinner at the famous foodie Berkshire, where, taking advantage of the weather, we dined out in the garden.
• A long drive home where we were stuck in traffic. So it doesn’t matter what time you drive back to London, you’ll just be stuck in traffic.

Food

• tea
• Welsh cake
• lunch at The Courthouse:
  • Roast Beef, Yorkshire Pudding, Roast Potatoes & Gravy
  • 8 oz Beef Burger (£4.69) - two 4oz beef burgers, served with barbeque sauce
• blackcurrent juice
• lemonade
• toffee
• Dinner at The Royal Oak:
  • Homemade Smoked Cods Roe Pate with Toast (£7.50)
  • Whole Sand Sole with Herb Butter & Rosti (£16.95)
  • Calves Liver and Bacon with Rosti (£17.95)
  • vegetables