Storming the Castle

Brain cancer is...

...having fun storming the castle.

If it's Friday, it must be Wales.  As a refresher, Wales is part of the UK.  It's the country west of England, right up against the coast.  We went to two places in Wales today:  First, we saw Tenby, a walled medieval seaside town.  Second, we stormed Pembroke Castle (as you see above: The king of the castle).

Tenby...and the Road There

We learned so much about Wales and related topics from our guide Sarah en route to Tenby.  Our coach took "The Old Road," which is the road that takes you to London...eventually.  I think Sarah said it's a Roman road, very straight.

Here's a highlight:  Farming fields are separated by "hedgerows" here (as you know).  In this county, the traditional hedgerow is very old.  Its base is an earthen hump planted with trees, shrubs, or the like.  For a period of each year, it's illegal to trim the hedgerows.  Hedgerows are a wildlife corridor that allow for animal migration even in farm land.  In fact, the Welsh measure environmental health by checking the species diversity (plants and animals) in the hedgerows.  Here's a hedgerow just for you:

Everything here is very old (as you know).  Every talk begins with, "Starting in the Neolithic era..."  There is evidence of Neolithic humans in Tenby, but humans built a wall around the city somewhere around 1100 c.e.  Here's the "five arches" section of the wall:

It's an impressively lovely town, Tenby.  (That's how we phrase things here.)  Given our slower speed internet, here's just one pic, for now.  We have so much more to say on the topic.

Love the colors?  You can paint your house any hue, as long as it's in the "heritage palette."

Pembroke Castle

We headed next for Pembroke Castle.  It's a Norman castle, not a Celtic one, as you can tell because it's on a river.  It's more of a fortified home than a defensive establishment. 

Two fun Pembroke Castle facts:

1. Henry VII was born here.  (And more fun:  Henry escaped risk of death as a child by escaping with his uncle by sea...via Tenby!...to return to Pembroke as an adult and fight for the throne.)
2. The Castle was never broached, given its thick walls.  Oliver Cromwell's men did overtake it during the Civil War (we hear a lot about that, and it's not the same Civil War), but only by starving out the Royalist troops hunkered down in the castle.

We'll stop here.  It was a great morning.  Wales amazes.  More to say later.  We're back on our ship, now docked near Skomer Island.  The bravest, most waterproofed among us are taking the Zodiac rafts out to find puffins.  Darrell and I are not among the bravest, most waterproof.  We cheer the others on.

Tonight we may or may not cancel one or both of our engagements:  A cocktail party for repeat cruisers and dinner at The Grill.  The Grill involves sitting outside on deck, cooking steak on hot rocks.  You see (above) that it's cool, rainy, and windy today, which is perfect for perhaps everything but eating dinner by the pool.

(Team Alaska, you know whereof we speak.  We wanted to take one for the team and enjoy a redux, but without you our resolve is weakened.)

(Update 5/18:  We love our butler, Chokhoni.  She is very, very sweet, articulate, and considerate.  She also pushes us.  She insisted we attend the cocktail party and dinner both.  She was right.  They were both very pleasant affairs.)

Tomorrow we arrive at Valencia Island, Ireland.

Happy Weekend, Team D!