When in Wales: Visiting a Welsh Prince's English Castle

Yes, I am officially the world’s worst blogger.  Instead of pretending I am actually going to start writing more often, I hope you can enjoy these posts as they do come along.  This week though, I want to share a somewhat recent trip I took with IFSA-Butler to Northern Wales.   Although this was a rather full weekend, my visit to Caernarfon Castle was a particular highlight for me because if you give me an old building and a good story about it I will be a happy person.

The bus came to a stop on the slate paved 

street just steps from a massive stone wall that

Caernarfon Castle built in 1303 by King Edward I.

rose high over the tops of any other building in the town.  Although conscious of the fact I was in the twenty-first century, the stone walls in front of me were drenched in the medieval past of this seaside town.  Caernarfon (kyre-nar-von), though now a world Heritage Site and relic of the past, still has a significant presence that emanates a history of what once was.

My geek senses were on 100 as I stepped foot into the courtyard of this massive palace.  The classic stonewalls of Shakespeare sets and English folklore stretched high into the air around me, and three huge turrets reached toward the sky on every side.  Despite the fact stones protruded yet from unfinished walls because the palace was never finished, it was easy to imagine how a little plaster and lush fabrics that would have once decorated this castle made it unlike any other. 

Although few rival its size and elegance, Caernarfon is much like most of the castles in Wales in that it was built by English conquerors.  Caernarfon though was unique in that King Edward I made it a seat of power.  The site itself is steeped in legend as Edward I choose to build on the site supposedly chosen by a Roman Emperor who searched the globe for this dream location.  As he began construction of this castle in the early eleventh century, Edward I added further legend though surrounding the birth of his son.  After killing off the last two dynastic Welsh Prince’s, the King promised to give the Welsh people his son as the new Prince of Wales in order to appease them. Legend says he promised the Welsh people “A prince born of Wales who could never speak a word of English.” Edward of Caernarfon was born in the palace in 1284, while it was still under construction, and was crowned Prince of Wales in 1301, a tradition that has continued in the English royal family since this time.

Window view from Eagle Tower.

The room in which Edward II was likely born is now covered with swept wooden boards part way up Eagle Tower, the highest turret in the palace.  Like much of the castle this room could only be reached up a precariously small spiral staircase and over a large threshold stone that thankfully once in the room kept me from falling out.  The view from this room through windows deepest into the curtain walls was amazing, and ultimately enjoyed by the Prime Minister who would have kept residence there once the palace was closer to completion in 1330.  Although a political stunt in many ways, the birth of Edward II at Caernarfon made the castle significant enough to be preserved to this day and was most recently renovated when Prince Charles was invested there in 1969 (see pictures here).

Wandering around a place centuries older than the United States itself is truly remarkable, and at times quite creepy.  However, if you ever get the chance to visit, I highly recommend taking some time to explore as though it were the first time anyone has seen the castle.  I found the most beautiful view outside of the tour by climbing up staircase after staircase until I could climb no more, and reached the highest point possible on Eagle Tower.  Wales in general was a beautiful place to visit, and I encourage you to visit my IFSA-Butler Bog to read more about the natural beauty of Llanberis where I stayed.

~ Wonder at Wales ~

Although Edward I promised the Welsh people a Prince who would never speak a word of English, this really was not a difficult promise to keep in the time so it is a little surprising to me there was not more hostility toward the royal family.  Edward II would have most likely only spoken Normand French, which was still the language of nobility in this time.

An A-bridge-d Tour of London

Alright, you have been patient long enough.  I have finally written the second installment to Living on the Edge of the Thames.  I apologize for the wait, but I became quite ‘poorly’ (British for sick) a week before classes started here, and am just within the past few days feeling myself again.  It has also been quite an adjustment to a new university, so I will definitely write more about Trinity Laban as I reflect in the days and weeks to come.

In the meantime however, there are some fun touristy things I would like to catch you up on, that I have been saving for a few weeks now.  Although orientation is long past, those were the weeks I got to be a tourist and see as much of the city as I could in a matter of days.  London, as many of you know, is a rather expensive city.  So I did what all college students on a budget do…found a way to see the majority of it for free!

Instead of paying for a tour, I went online and searched for the best walking tours in London and from that added a few sites I really wanted to see to create my own route.  For the most part I combined the “Bridge” and “Cultural” tours you can find here.  After convincing a friend of mine to humor me, we set off to Buckingham Palace and wound our way across the Thames for four hours.

               

                     Walking Route…if you can make it in two hours the first pints on me!

Buckingham Palace was the first stop on this tour, a short walk from the Victoria tube station.  Although none of my pictures do it justice because of the angle of the sun, the palace is quite beautiful.  I spent a fair amount of time in front of the gates, watching the guards and trying to capture the detailed, gilded doors with a camera zoom that did not have 

Buckingham Palace Gates

a prayer.  The royal family was not in at the time I visited because they were on holiday, but even so I was surprised how close we were able to get to the Palace itself.  Although the President and Queen hold very different roles in the United States and England respectively, the only thing we have comparable to Buckingham Palace is the Whitehouse, which can barely be seen from the road miles off.  Here, I was easily fifty feet from the front doors.

Since it was such a beautiful day, people were spilling into Green Park, so I joined them taking a path via St. James’s Park toward the Westminster Bridge.  Along the way we entered the most iconic part of London, Parliament Square, just steps from Westminster Abbey, Parliament and Big Ben.  Obviously I made stops to see all three, although the Abbey is currently under renovation so it was a little difficult to see.

           

              St. James's Park

Westminster Abbey

Pro-Tip:  If you must have a picture in a telephone booth (because lets be honest, they are too iconic to pass up), I recommend taking those pictures somewhere along the route between Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey.  These are the cleanest booths in all of London, and the sidewalks are also big enough that you will not block the flow of traffic.

The best place to see the Palace of Westminster (house of Parliament) though is from the opposite bank of the Thames, which is where I was headed next across the Westminster Bridge.  After taking many more of pictures I then made a left toward the London Eye.  I will say this was probably the worst decision of my tour path, but I did want to see the Eye up-

Palace of Westminster

close.  For those who do not enjoy crowds of tourists though, the area surrounding the Eye is probably the most crowded place in London and walking a few extra blocks away from the river bank would be advised.  That said, I was witness to some great African Dance by street performers along the way and a lot of people making bubbles.


Heading north along the river then I went towards two more bridges, and with them two areas that represent my two interests quite well – Law and Art.  After crossing the Waterloo Bridge, I found myself very close to the ‘Inns of Court,’ where what we know as law firms are housed.  Most notably in this area are Summerset House and Temple Church.  Farther down the river then, and across Black

Shakespeare's Globe Theater

Friar’s Bridge begins a taste of the artistic and cultural landscape of London.  This area on the South Bank of the river includes Shakespeare’s Globe Theater and The Tate Modern within easy walking distance from one another.  The Milenium Bridge and St. Paul’s Cathedral can also be seen from here, although I decided to continue farther up the river.

The last bridge on my walk was the Tower Bridge, so often confused for the London Bridge, that is another icon of London.  Although the view of it from the London Bridge is great, that is really the only reason to visit the London Bridge since it looks like a pretty standard highway crossing.  I crossed the Tower Bridge though among hordes of people there to see the Columbian football match that evening, and to meet up with some friends for a picnic in Trinity Square Gardens overlooking the Tower of London and just a few steps from Tower Hill tube station.

 Although it was a really long walk (and this is a really long blog post), it was also a great route to take for the highlights of London.  I would highly recommend my personalized walking tour if ever you visit this lovely city.  More of my adventures will come soon, but until then I hope you enjoy this post and if you have not yet seen my latest blog through IFSA-Butler you can find that here.

~ London Logic ~

When the London Bridge was originally built in 1176, it was the first permanent (non-wooden) bridge to cross the Thames.  It was needed to aid traffic since the only other way to get across the river was by ferry or wooden bridges frequently destroyed by fire.  However when it was completed, the bridge was host to several shops and houses whose rent funded the construction, but whose existence significantly limited space available for traffic.  In those days crossing the bridge could take up to an hour. 

Now if you are really wondering if the London Bridge fell down, instead of finding extreme interest in this historical traffic problem…it did!  The bridge collapsed on multiple occasions, including in 1281 when Queen Eleanor was blamed for misaproriating revenues to repair the bridge.  This was cause for the addition of “my fair lady” to the popular rhyme London Bridge is Falling Down.  What a scandal!

Click here for more information about the London Bridge.