Wales: A Castle, a Beach, and a LOT of Dogs

It has been a while since I have written an update--in fact, we have now been to 3 additional countries since I last wrote a post! I apologize for the delay. During our week in Wales I kept intending to reach for my computer...and ended up grabbing my book instead. After a busy 2 weeks in Ireland, it was nice to stay in one place for a little while. We had no car and were in a small town, so we were really limited to as far as our feet could take us, and as far as we could get with our canine hosts for the week: Olive, Una, and Benji.

Now you might be thinking, "3 DOGS! That's a lot!" And you would be right. Fortunately, all of the dogs were small--Olive is a French Bulldog, Una a Pug, and Benji a mixed terrier. Also fortunately, Beaumaris, Wales is probably the most dog-friendly town we have ever been to. Almost all the businesses in town proudly advertise their dog-friendly status, and it was impossible to walk downtown without spotting at least one dog every block. Beaumaris is a bit of a resort town--it reminded me a bit of Anacortes or Ocean Shores back in Washington--and visitors (mostly Brits) come for the weekend to enjoy the beach, and many bring their dogs along for the trip. All but one of the pubs in town was dog-friendly, and there is even a shop that sells doggie ice cream!

One of the main features of Beaumaris is the Castle, which began construction in 1295 and is now known as "the greatest castle never finished." While initial construction was incredibly fast--most of what can still be seen today was completed in the first 5 years--funds ran out as the project went on, as the English Crown instead focused its gold on the ongoing fights in Scotland. Today, the Castle is right on the edge of downtown and can be seen through the windows of many homes and businesses. We visited the Castle early in our week--you can watch the video I made of our walkthrough below--but it continued to be a constant feature in all of our walks downtown.

The other key feature in Beaumaris is the Gaol, or jail, which we also took a day to visit, as well as the historic courthouse. The Gaol was an interesting museum, to say the least--to put it kindly, it was clear that they were making due without very much funding, and were doing the best they could--but it was an informative turn through crime and punishment, particularly in the Victorian Era. One of the strange choices made by the museum was to include figures in some of the cells. I use the term "figures" because they were not quite mannequins or models, and instead were humanoid representations cobbled together with whatever materials were available. One was made entirely out of packing tape, and another's face was made by putting ping pong balls in a Halloween mask to make eyes. The worst part was that it was not clear when these figures would appear, so you would turn a corner and all the sudden be confronted with a creature looking at you from the edge of the cell. A positive interpretation of this is that it added to the unsettling nature of the tour, which heightened the feelings of disquiet while learning about inhumane punishment.

The courthouse was better--their mannequins were real models and were so highly realistic I kept thinking I had accidentally walked in on people--and you are able to sit in the various chambers of the court, including the jury box upstairs. This is one of the oldest courthouses in Wales, and again showcased the story of crime and punishment over the centuries.

The home where we stayed was ideally located. We were about 2 minutes from the beach, 5 minutes from the town/nearest pub, and 7 minutes from the Castle. With so few "tourist sites" to visit, we spent most of our mornings reading and drinking tea with dogs on our laps before taking them to the beach or up the forested trail behind the house for a walk. In the afternoon, we visited some of the local pubs, got truly sensational ice cream from the local shop, or simply walked along the water. It was truly relaxing to have so little to do, and allowed us to catch our breath a bit before continuing on our journey.