We decided not to bother with the Glastonbury Tor this morning and instead headed straight to Wells Cathedral, the earliest English Cathedral built in the Gothic style. Tours did not start until nine but the building was listed as opening at seven, so we wandered in, where Janie was greeted by one of the two Cathedral cats. (She would meet his brother later). There was nobody there except a single employee who greeted us so we had pretty much full reign to wander the main Cathedral, the various chapels and admire the gorgeous architecture.

After walking around the small town near the Cathedral, we were back in the Mercedes for the long drive to Wales. We crossed the Prince of Wales bridge over the Severn and were greeted by a small sign with the Welsh dragon telling us we had finally arrived.

Our first stop in Wales was an exterior visit to Castell Coch, the "red castle" in Fforest Fawr that was once Marcher Lord Gilbert de Clare's hunting lodge. We are not really keen on reconstructed interiors, and given this castle was in the midst of major renovation work, we decided to admire it solely from the outside to save time.

Our primary target for the day was Caerphilly Castle, constructed in 1268 by de Clare as the largest in Wales, and second largest in Britian, behind only Windsor. Edward II granted the castle to Hugh Despenser who added ornate touches to the fortress. During the English Civil War, the southeast tower broke away, either due to an internal explosion, external forces, or just poor construction. Either way, it now tilts at a precarious angle. The Welsh government did a good job here adding multimedia presentations in the rooms that explained the history of the castle and its importance to Wales.

Our plan before the trip was to stop at small cafes and find scones or pasties for breakfast or lunch but as we drove through the small towns, we did not really see much. As we left Caerphilly, the restaurants were not yet open and we did not want to wait given our schedule. So J. R. looked up some spots along our route and we chose The Castell Mynach, a cute little pub in small hotel to enjoy a cider and a pint and have a proper sit-down meal.

We chose to skip Weobley Castle and the Gower peninsula and Tenby Castle's ruins and instead stop by Carew Castle, built in the 1300s but expanded under Henry VII and Henry VIII and converted into a manor house in the late 1500s.

We made Carew an exterior-only visit so we could have time for Pembroke Castle. Built by the Normans in 1093, Pembroke is a formidable castle where the Tudor King, Henry VII was born. The Wogan Cavern was closed to the an archaeological excavation but they had a live stream with a curator who spoke to us about what they were finding in the ancient cave.

We decided not to take the coastal route we had planned as it was getting late and we were tired, so we took more modern roads to Aberystwyth. Finding our hotel was difficult as the address took us along the coast road where there was a sign for the hotel, but the entrance and car park were actually on the road before. The car park was tight to get the car into and out of, but Janie managed it. We checked in and took our bags upstairs. We wanted to explore what seemed like a cute town, but we were really beat, so we had an unsatisfying meal in the hotel restaurant and turned in for the night.

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