Actually the modern version is built into the outer defenses of the castle proper though at the time of construction raids from marauding Vikings were rather sparse and economic and shipping wars were more the norm. We later attended a dinner in the castle after our tour and were treated to a wonderful dinner and cabaret of Welsh humor and music. We also got a sample of "mead" made the old-fashioned way - mehhh. Rather sweet for my taste, which was quickly washed away with bottles of both red and white on the dining tables. All the food was recognizable, unlike some of our culinary experiences in Scotland and Ireland. I'm not sure if all Welsh men resemble Tom Jones but the ladies were quite taken with our version in the MC who also belted out a couple of numbers in both English and Welsh. Sighhhhh
Our hotel, finally, was quite modern with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the busy Cardiff downtown area with its mixture of modern and old timey buildings and it had honest to goodness, real live AIR CONDITIONING! Yay.
Funny side note: the Welsh in Cardiff apparently speak a language that is not all Welsh or English more of a Wenglesh. Anyway all bus drivers are called Drive for I guess obvious reasons, so when you enter or depart the bus (with a Welsh driver) you greet with a "Ta Drive". When in Wales.... Anyway they were having some type of athletic event right downtown the next day and we were a bit late getting back to the local bus after our Welsh dinner. Someone was sure she left her purse way back in the castle. After 3 gentlemen including the guide went back to look for several minutes, she suddenly realized "oops I didn't bring a purse". LOL However we were faced with the dilemma of how to turn a giant bus around in a narrow street as the way ahead was now blocked. Well our "Drive" was an expert especially after we laid bets on his ability to do so.
The next day we headed out bright and early for Bath and my personal favorite, Stonehenge! I was of course looking forward to any signs of ancient or unworldly indications of time travel associated with the stones. As the date was not near any Solstice I assumed I would be perfectly safe in getting close to the source.
Bath is of course, the location of the original Roman settlement near an underground spring or spa. Much of the ancient ruins had been unearthed and the green medicinal waters still bubble up from the ground. Quite a bit of the area was intact which gave one a pretty good idea of how it must have been for the privileged class to skinny dip their way to good health, recreation and amorous romps in the beautiful surroundings.The architecture of the rest of the town is a preservation of the Georgian and Victorian styles when, again, the privileged classes would come here to rest and recreate. The streets are narrow and the buildings are tall. They saved on space by going up rather than sideways. As we traversed the extremely narrow streets with parking on both sides (why I don't know) we heard the wail of a fire engine. Well I can tell you, no one was going anywhere and moving out of the way was not an option. I really don't know how it came out, but I am convinced the town is content to just let the old wood buildings face a fiery demise so they can replace them with modern buildings.
On to Stonehenge. Disappointment number one - you can't drive near the stones. You park about a mile away and either walk up or take a crowded trolley. Though some have figured out if you come in from the back you can avoid the trolley fees and the inevitable gift shop. Disappointment number two- you can't get near the stones. They put wire rope around the monument keeping visitors back due to egotistical dummies in the 70's placing their stupid graffiti on the stones. Hence I was not close enough to hear the "humming" of the time travel portal. Disappointment number three - once you've seen and walked around the stones, you're pretty much done and ready to move on. Love the history; puzzle as to how they got these massive stones here and piled them on top of each other, but that's about it. Glad I saw them alive and in person before they are destroyed by something, but I am pretty much over it.
The end of the day was the final drive back to London and our hotel next to Victoria Station. The tour guide warned us, several times, that they were not supposed to stop and unload in front of the hotel as it is a bus stop. So the plan was they would unload the bags asap and we would be poised to grab them and run also thwarting any possible thievery on the busy street. Ok in theory. Old people. Spoiled old people. Milled around, complained about no porters and were promptly overwhelmed by savvy London commuters who basically ran over them. Heard one say "damn Yanks blocking the sidewalk" LOL. He told you!
We opted for dinner in as we had a 5:30 am pickup for the airport the next day. Asked for a hamburger in the restaurant as I was hankering for one and it came out as a piece of charcoal basically. Did I say how much I enjoyed English cooking? Well on their final try, they did not fail to disappoint. Oh well jolly last night with some of the folks from our group.
Next morning our foreign driver (of course) picked us up. Our debate was whether he was French or Arab. Did not matter as I did not understand him anyway. Our ride to Heathrow was uneventful until we got there. As there was another lady being dropped off he went to her terminal first. Then he proceeded to leave the airport and drive for 20 minutes while visions of kidnapping and held for ransom ran through our heads. However he delivered us to our terminal no problem. Apparently the airport is that freakin' big! Tipped him nicely in gratitude for not being kidnapped. The terminal for Delta also housed some British Airways and was massive. Every luxury store you can think of was represented because where else would I buy diamond earrings than Tiffany's or Harrods at the airport. Strangely there were few restaurants and fewer bathrooms, both of which we needed.
We also walked into a complete breakdown of British Air's computer system which meant 100s perhaps 1000s of disgruntled passengers were now milling around vying for any available seat to virtually anywhere. We clutched our tickets home and headed for the gate post haste. Rather uneventful eight hour trip home with many snack and meal interludes. They do treat you right on a long trip. All stews enjoyed the M&Ms I got them for the trip back, but we didn't receive any special perks for our thoughtfulness. After clearing customs in Detroit where the customs agent did say "Welcome Home" our next encounter was with the money changers. They hollered out "you need to change any money into US?" Hell no, I spent it all! Perfect ending to a really terrific trip.
