Last Day in Wales

Today we went to see another castle of Edward I, the Caernafon castle. It's the largest and most impressive of his 4 castles. He built the castle and town walls at the same time and made the town the administrative center of northern Wales. The outside of the castle is finished but much of the interior of the towers was never completed. 

Edward's son was born there and Edward named him the first British Prince of Wales to symbolize the British rule over the entire United Kingdom. The title is traditionally given to the heir apparent by the monarch; it's not automatic.  King Charles was given the title when he was 9 but the official ceremony, which  was held at this castle, didn't occur until he was 20. It was a televised pageant designed to strengthen ties with the Welsh people since many believe the title shouldn't exist. Prince William received the title a few days after Charles became king but no formal ceremony will occur because it's considered divisive and old-fashioned.

The site of the investiture of Charles, Prince of Wales. There's a plaque with pictures of the event.

There are sculptures of hands throughout the castle to honor the architect and the various workers who built it.

There's an elevator that takes you to the roof of the king's tower which has a modern platform. It offers great views of the castle and some of the city walls. It looks like you can walk on various levels of the castle but some of the towers are closed. There were a couple towers that looked accessible but the stairs were narrow and dark and no one seemed to be climbing. 

We had traditional Sunday roast for the last Wales dinner. Sunday dinners are usually served at lunchtime. It was the first restaurant we've seen that offers it in the evening. I had the half chicken and Lola had beef. Excellent meal. Vegetables, gravy, Yorkshire pudding. The server suggested we have sticky toffee pudding but we gave that up a few days ago. We had an Eton Mess one night and tonight we had Banoffee bread pudding with banana ice cream. That had toffee too. The Brits seem to love it. That and chips which come with almost every meal. Some places list them as fries. We've had all kinds--stick size to very thick, crunchy and not. They never offer you ketchup although you can get it when they ask if you want any sauces.

The rest of this trip will consist of packing, taking trains and the underground to Terminal 5 Heathrow where we'll stay in a Sofitel hotel that's in the Terminal. Flying to Cincinnati Tuesday.