Rain and Ruins

Day 9

I was happy that I was up early and able to say goodbye to Georgia before she left for Bath. I had one day more in Cardiff and I was desperate to check out a different city in Wales. Wales has more castles per capita than any other country in the world and I headed off to the ruin of Caephilly Castle.

Caerphilly Castle was built in 1268 and was one of the most advanced castles of its time. It was, however, only in one battle before the English declared control over Wales and the castle was no longer nessicary. The building soon became a ruin and was even used as a quary for other local buildings. Around 1850 the Marques of Butte began to restore the castle at the cost of about US $40 in today's money. Tons of research was done to ensure accuracy while most of the castle was rebuilt and the moat filled with water again.

Some people protested that the castle should be left in its ruinous state. But Buttes changes prevailed. Caerphilly does not look like it has been rebuilt. It just looks like it is in a lesser state of ruin than it was 150 years ago. There is one particularly wonky (my new favorite word) tower that give the Leaning Tower of Pisa a run for its money.

When I got back to Cardiff I quickly checked out the National Art Museum there. It wasn't really anything to write home about, with only small exhibits on French and Italian art. The rest was about the natural history of Wales and I found it quite boring.

In no time I was on a bus and headed to Manchester. After traffic and construction delays I was exhausted and was very very happy to finally have arrived in Manchester.