Cruise Control In Caerphilly And A Beef With Burger King

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

For some reason the Bank Holiday gods seem to have been kind to me and my family. I'm not working this weekend (tick),the weather in the west of Britain has been good (tick) and even on Saturday the grass had been done before the situation had reached jungle stage (Big,big, tick).

Indeed the fact that the grass had been done brought on the very unusual situation of  a neighbour apologising to me for the state of her grass ("My lawnmower's broke...I'm so sorry"). My response was some sort of benevolent understanding given that I was too stunned to do anything else. Though if you asked why I hadn't offered, she'd hired someone else to do it.

What was also unusual for a Bank Holiday Weekend was that we actually had a plan for Sunday. Unfortunately there wasn't any live sport for a short period that would've persuaded wife/daughter to have come and watched.So a look online had revealed a "Medieval Experience" at Caerphilly Castle for the weekend. Where there would be demonstrations of the "sights,sounds and smells" of  Britain at that that time.

Caerphilly is with clear traffic about 40 minutes away from Bridgend and since the traffic would've been mainly aimed in the other direction for the coat that would not have been an issue. Furthermore we hadn't visited the town for a about ten years. There was no good reason for this other than we had was no reason to go there (though we have been further up the valley a few times to the the village of Abertridwr where some of my wife's family lives).

Caerphilly Castle is a curious mixture of  medieval castle, ruin and restoration. It dominates the town and I remember that it was the landmark that represented Wales in Legoland Windsor.

When you walk to the castle you will find geese in your path. Wife/daughter were scared but personally I find if you don't draw attention to yourself and have no food in your hand they don't bother you.

The Start 

Of course the closer you are the more geese appears. Some people were happy to throw food to them. These fools obviously never having seen Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds

Better get ready to run when you've run out

But when it comes properly into view  Caerphilly Castle has the sort of aura that only a true landmark has.

You have to be impressed

And imagine you're a soldier in the middle ages and are confronted by this.

Imposing

Once we paid our money and went inside daughter was thirsty. So we bought a small bottle of dandelion and burdock for £1.75. Had we realised this we would have brought drinks in And would have had a small picnic on the grass as others did.

Makes a change from a country field

But of course one of the highlights was the view from the top.

More about those white tents later

Of course there were things to see inside as well. Though to be honest it doesn't have the wow factor of the outside.

Perhaps a call to IKEA?No?

Getting back to the views from the top.

You can gaze at that for a long while

And again.

Stunning

Do you remember the "Medieval Experience"...and those white tents? Well I think you know where this is leading.

An "In tents" experience

This involved someone in appropriate garb talking about life in those times. Including "Medieval Masterchef". But to be honest my stomach was demanding that it time to leave. But not before we went into the gift shop to get some things. I collect bookmarks, for reasons I won't bore you with today, I got this.

I know you're impressed

But there are limits and I didn't get this one.

Enough said

So we were out and it was time to eat something. The wife wanted to go to the top of Caerphilly mountain and have lunch there but daughter had noticed a Burger King. Being neutral I abandoned all parental responsibility and tossed a coin. Burger King won.

I must admit when it comes to a choice between Burger King and McDonald's normally big M would win. If only because there always seems to be a race to see whether you can eat a Burger King burger before the bap dissolves in your hand. This time however it was worse. A floor that seemed sticky as you walked.No water, No barbecue sauce and a very underwhelming meal that was heavy on your stomach and light on your wallet.

This cost me £17.53 for three

I had the Aberdeen Angus meal. It was so tasteless that it could have been Angus from Aberdeen.for all I knew. It hung on my stomach for the rest of the day as if I'd put my belt a notch too tight. It will be a long while and a state of desperation before I have a Burger King again.

We did wander round the town centre,but not enough to make a proper comparison with Bridgend Town. Does seem brighter though.

And it was a Sunday afternoon

The legendary comedian Tommy Cooper was born in Caerphilly despite sounding as he'd lived in the East End all of his life. His act was a show of deceptive simplicity when in fact it was extremely clever. This is the statue to remember him in his home town which was unveiled by Sir Anthony Hopkins.

Just Like That

And it was time to go. Burger King aside it had been an enjoyable day.

All together now....ahh

Until the next time.