1st March is St David's Day. Streets of Cardiff city was filled up with people watching parades and ceremony around the Town Hall.... I, in turn decided to leave town to pursus a quieter Day. Well, actually... I didnt know its st David's day .... ahhahahaa... BUT still decided to take a break and head out of town. Boy... was it a good IDEA ??

I went in search of nearby Castles around Cardiff. My friend and I makes plans to go Castle Coch. I have been in Cardiff for nearly 6 years. I rememebered in my 1st year, We were taken on a day trip a few days after I arrived. I rememeber passing Castle Coch while going outskirts to visit other places of interests. The fairy tale castle left a deep impression on me... I have always tell myself that, I MUST GO VISIT IT before I GO....! And I did.... 5 years...later!

ahhahahahaa....

Like I said, from far... it look totally walt disney. BUt... was kinda disappointed after seeing it in front of me... It totally loss the walt disney effect. Obviously, being high up on the hill with trees surrounding it enticed the whole Walt Disney effect...Geezzz. BUT still pretty enough. Still with the food we took along to 'picnic' at Castle Coch tasted extremely delious.... because of its surrounding.... OH .. but... BOY... was it strong wind yesterday.... !

Castle Coch:

( A short intro i taken from another website : http://www.castlewales.com/coch.html )

This building is chiefly known as a romantic folly supposedly reproducing a small medieval Welsh chieftain's stronghold, built in the 1870s, for the 3rd Marquess of Bute to a design by William Burges, and possessing the most remarkable interior decoration. However, it was built upon the remains of a genuine 13th century castle built in two stages. Evidence was found of the building having been deliberately slighted by mining.
The castle was probably founded by a Welsh lord in c1240-65 and had a round tower keep at the SW corner of a tiny D-shaped courtyard with a hall on the south side, all built of rough rubble sandstone from which the building took the name Castell Coch, or "Red Castle." It stands upon a platform commanding the gorge of the Taff and was protected towards the higher ground by a deep dry moat from the bottom of which the walls rise with a very broadly battered base. The keep contained vaulted rooms, and probably had a fourth storey and a conical roof like it has now. The walls are over 3.3m thick above the square battered base from which it rises with pyramidal spurs.
The two eastern towers, the square gatehouse between them, and the upper hall on the south side were superior ashlar faced buildings added slightly later, perhaps by Gilbert de Clare, who is likely to have taken over the castle in the 1270s or 1280s. These works were more damaged than the older part and not much survived of the towers above the rooms at courtyard level. The curtain wall also thickened at the second building period and now has two fighting galleries, a series of embrasures at courtyard level, and a roofed over wall walk open to the court on the inner side.

Then after that, we headed to Caerphilly Castle.

Caerphilly Castell:

( A short intro i taken from another website : http://www.castlewales.com/caerphil.html)

Caerphilly Castle is one of the great medieval castles of western Europe. Several factors give it this pre-eminence - its immense size (1.2h), making it the largest in Britain after Windsor, its large-scale use of water for defence and the fact that it is the first truly concentric castle in Britain. Of the time of its building in the late 13th century, it was a revolutionary masterpiece of military planning
One of Henry III's most powerful and ambitious barons, Gilbert de Clare, lord of Glamorgan, built this castle. His purpose was to secure the area and prevent lowland south Wales from falling into the hands of the Welsh leader Llywelyn the Last, who controlled most of mid and north Wales. De Clare built other castles on the northern fringes of his territory for the same purpose, such as Castell Coch. He had seized the upland district of Senghenydd, in which Caerphilly lies, from the Welsh in 1266 to act as a buffer against Llywelyn's southward ambitions. Llywelyn realised the threat and tried but failed to prevent the castle from being built; it was begun on 11 April 1268, was attacked by Llywelyn in 1270, and was begun again in 1271. This time it was completed without hindrance. Its message was not lost on Llywelyn, who retreated northwards. Apart from the remodelling of the great hall and other domestic works in 1322-6 for Hugh le Despenser, no more alterations were carried out, making it a very pure example of late 13th-century military architecture.

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To sum up the day, My friend and I end up going to a Italian restuarant for dinner and The baked pasta was yum yum YUm...! The weekend has been good cause I have been catching up with the much needed sleep... NOW... sunday and weekend heading to an end... I need to catch up with my work... PLANS...Section.. bleah... bleah..! Super sianz....

Till the next blog.