Another quick update

I'm very sorry but this will be another fairly rapid update. We've now left Wales and are back in England - i'm posting this from a town called Buxton in Derbyshire.

Again i haven't been able to post any pictures, which is a crying shame since in the last 3 days we have visited 3 Welsh castles.

The first castle (and the one i enjoyed the most) was Harlech Castle. It is in a very dramatic coastal outlooking village, and as a result the views from its ruined parapets and turret were quite extraordinary. When i eventually get photos posted they probably won't do it justice, but they were some of the most dramatic and beautiful outlooks i've ever seen. The castle itself is partially ruined, which gives it a lovely spooky feel straight out of a Famous Five book.

The second castle was Caernarfon, in the town of the same name. I didn't like this castle at all - it is completely pristine, just waiting for an army to inhabit it, and as a result it is very, very boring. It was the place where Prince Charles was invested as Prince of Wales (he actually swore allegiance to his own mother which must have led to interesting conversations over the Sunday roast). So yeah, chalk that down as a boring castle, something i never thought i would see.

The third castle was Conwy Castle, which we visited yesterday. It is semi-ruined, which makes it much more interesting, and it is also built into the wall defences of the village of Conwy which gives it a fairly unique outlook. It had some truly spectacular views from its turrets out over the estuary at low tide.

We stayed overnight at a TravelLodge in an industrial area of a town near the Welsh/English border. It was definitely the worst accomodation we've had so far this trip, and i had to sleep on what was essentially a sofa, but surprisingly i slept reasonably well. I'm feeling a little homesick and a little bit exhausted at the constant travelling, but i'm looking forward to the rest of this week as we will be heading up to the Lakes District (that's right, Mr Darcy country!).