Wales, Devon and Cornwall: Ten days searching for ancient mansions and colorful landscapes

After visiting Scotland and Ireland, now that we could not go to Wales and Cornwall. We have well-documented and we have found that here there are many places that are interesting castles and ancient residences and sea ports of the postcard.<br />And so we study a very specific itinerary, book and depart.<br />Book well in advance a low-cost flight with Easy Jet for a price but very very low.<br />Book rate prepaid car with Hertz.<br />Book, after detailed consultation with its home-page, 10 different bed and breakfast, which we receive every day, following the logistics of our journey designed desk. Very useful sites: http://www.stayinwales.co.uk and http://www.cornwalls.co.uk/accommodation/Cornwall/bed_and_breakfast<br />

 

Cowbridge

At 5 am, we leave our car in a parking then be transported by shuttle to Terminal 2 of Malpensa.
Parking has great prices but lately the service leaves something 'to be desired: long queues too early to pay for parking and shuttle to the airport does not start before it is complete.
In addition, joints in the airport, we discover that our Easy Jet flight to London Gatwick, has ben 4 hours late. But cabbage that we wake up to do at 4 in the morning?
Needless to say that Easy Jet, as Low-cost airline fa 'veramente schifo. And 'the third time that we use and about 2 times we had problems. Also the seats of their planes are designed for the Smurfs: very close!
In short, the entire route studied for the first day of our trip goes literally to be f. .... e. Among other things, our choice to arrive in London (instead of the nearest Bristol) to gain hours of light to see something more, is virtually useless. In addition to 4 hours of delay, the motorway between London and <strong>CARDIFFstrong> is trafficatissima, with queues and delays and lose much time. The Gatwick Airport is very large and dispersive. Just to reach the rental car, we walk with luggage tantissimo following: scomodissimo! It was much better to get to Bristol, although flights from Malpensa were only in the late afternoon.
Withdraw the new Ford Focus pack with no problem, trying not to make us trim costs by Hertz various insurance extra. We discover that the relief in the event of any type of self harm is very high: about 500 pounds. Risk and not pay the insurance integrativa 150 pounds. We hope nothing happens there!
Given the late hour, we should reach our B &amp; B in <strong>COWBRIDGEstrong>: Llanmihangel Plas. Bed &amp; Breakfast call is reductive! This is a real castle in 1200, with which we reach a kind of treasure map sent by the owners. Not a sign. Not a sign outside the house. Not a name on the door (there was not even the intercom). To understand if we had come to the right place, we should get away and visit us in the kitchen of the owners! Truly a place outside time, which shows all the years he has, but keeps a pair of very fine salt, such as the dining hall where you can have your breakfast and a sitting area where we need to evening tea.
The town of <strong>COWBRIDGEstrong> is cute and colorful, even if it develops in one way (pity that rain, but it rains here often. We must do the habit. The rain will be with us for most of our trip).
Dinner in a great Pub-Restaurant: The Duke of Wellington, trying to &quot;barcamenarci&quot; among the things in the menu. As is well known, the English cuisine is not really the best.

Cardiff

After the classic English breakfast at the manor, paying in cash (nothing here credit cards, but in the other b &amp; b there are no problems) and try to recover all the time lost yesterday.
Visit the Castell Coch, a beautiful castle decorated with circular and Caerphilly Castle (just outside), a large fortress, surrounded by impressive and wide moat.
Then we head to <strong>CARDIFFstrong> where staying at Sandringham Central Hotel, a modest but comfortable hotel central to downtown and the nearby car park fee.
<strong>CARDIFFstrong> is a city really bad. There is nothing to see except the beautiful castle. So ... Tip: visit the castle of <strong>CARDIFFstrong> and will not stop here. Maybe stay in the nearby town of Tenby. We instead, we are obliged to remain. So we visit the castle and then we do not know what else to do. <strong>CARDIFFstrong> is full of shopping centers, even if housed in historic galleries, but we are not interested in the shops.
Convinced Max to dinner at an Italian restaurant, but the pizza is really rinsecchita and it looks like the Pizzas of Bofrost that for emergency use at home! It was better to go by MacDonald (in these areas is the best!).

FISHGUARD

We do breakfast at our hotel in the company of all the cleaners in the city (I think the city of <strong>CARDIFFstrong> has a convention here) and then we head to Swansea, reported by our invaluable guide Mondadori (we do not use other guides). But even the best guides sometimes get it wrong and Swansea is a real crap. I do not even go down from the car and Max take a picture from the sea to the neighborhood window. E 'a city too big and too incasinata. Not for us.
Let's go instead to the nearby Tenby. Here the music changes. The city is really beautiful (shame for bad weather) and we eat our hands because we had to stay here. In the first row to the sea there is a picturesque hotel and in the second row, a number of Guest Houses.
In the narrow streets and flowered there are many craft shops. Also visit the Tudor Merchant's House (an old merchant's house) but did not find it very interesting.
Then we go to St. David's visit to the cathedral after the (more striking externally and internally) and then at <strong>FISHGUARDstrong> where staying at Seaview, yellow building facing the sea and center to center. <strong>FISHGUARDstrong> is a small but colorful. Carino, just past the center, the harbor with small dock.
In the evening, I am so tired dinner in a room with a box of Ritz and tea that never fails in any room with electric kettle and everything you need.

CAERNARFON

After the classic Welsh breakfast (which does not reject anything, so we can postpone the lunch until 14), stop at Aberaeron, a small village on the sea where shoot some photos. Second stage will be the village with stone houses of Dolgellau, already considered a place of mountains even though we are within a few miles and then we head to<strong> CAERNARFONstrong> where staying.
Then, make a mistake. As indicated in the Guide, which devoted extensive space to the place, we visit the village of Portmeirion. There you go! This is a village built by an architect out of the head, with admission fee, which are a mishmash of buildings italianeggiante style. The set is horrible. Money and time lost.
Caernarfon is a very beautiful town entirely surrounded by walls with ancient castle overlooking the sea. Beautiful view from the drawbridge that opens and closes each time a boat passes. Unfortunately we are unable to visit the castle because, in this area, the museums open late (at 11) and close early (at 17).
However we are in time for a boat trip that will allow us to see the city and the castle and from the surrounding landscape.
In a shop near the castle, also buy the traditional &quot;LoveSpoon&quot;, the wooden spoon, a symbol of love, typical of this region.
Then we reach our accommodation for the night: BLACK BOY.
This is an old b &amp; b, located on a picturesque and photographed Pub. The rooms are large, but clearly the whole antiquity of the structure (for better or for worse). I do not like much but it is Max. And then, here in<strong> CAERNARFONstrong>, we have not noticed many other accommodations.
The Pub also serves as a restaurant, and dinner here. On the dinner stretch a pitiful veil. I just ordered a steak ... but surprise surprise ... the bisteccona but there was so much support over peaches in syrup. But Max says that it is my fault because I order always &quot;wrong things&quot;.

SHREWSBURY

The first stop of the day at Beaumaris, where we admire the exterior of the ruins of the castle surrounded by a moat (not worth a visit inside) and then we go to CONWY. The city is very interesting with many things to visit. In addition to the remains of the castle overlooking the sea (suffic. exterior), the old city is full of beautiful buildings and Victorian homes. Visit also very pleased with the smallest HOUSE (the smallest house in Great Britain), overlooking the quayside. We enter upon the Aberconwy House, the home of a wealthy merchant, managed by the National Trust (quality control in the museum) and Plas Mawr (great Elizabethan building the plant very articulate).
Accidentally passed through a place called LLANWRST: immediately notice the beautiful stone bridge and, beyond it, a beautiful cottage all covered with ivy. We approach and find that this is an old Tea House of the fifteenth century., To be precise: TU HWNT i'r goodness. Obviously, I take this opportunity to have lunch and also tasted their wonderful cakes.
The next stop in Welshpool for the visit of Powis Castle, with interior design and beautiful flower gardens, where we are lucky to see a beautiful rainbow.
Staying for the night in<strong> SHREWSBURYstrong>, beautiful and great city with beautiful timbered houses and many shops. The guest house accommodation is beautiful and well kept: Sandford House. In addition to being in the center, has a convenient car park right next to. This is a Guest House, this means more than a B &amp; B but less than a hotel. We say that the Guest Houses are small family-run hotel. There's even a fountain in the garden!
Dinner in a special Italian restaurant, housed in a kind of cellar with vaulted ceilings low. It's called Traitor GATE BRASSERIE. The owner, Mr. Julian, is very friendly and talkative is Foligno. Eat really well tonight!

WELLS

This morning, quickly shoot a picture at Stokesay Castle (which, of course, being early, is still closed) and make a short stop in the town of Ludlow, also with timbered houses, but apart from that, nothing else. The only interesting note, a store chain &quot;Birthday&quot; (all for birthdays), where I buy a nice hat with lots of birthday candles on top. We will use this to blow the candles for all the family birthdays.
Lunch at Monmouth, in a pub near the gateway to the city. We decided then to visit the nearby Cyfarthfa Castle, but a choice will be unhappy because the castle is really not very interesting. Then, we are obliged to a sudden change in plans. We can not reach the town of Abergavenny, where we had booked (and paid in advance) for the Bed &amp; Breakfast (Pentrecourt house) due to a motorway traffic jam. To avoid hours of tail, we decide to head elsewhere, carrying on with the journey the next day and looking for a nice location on the rail Mondadori.
Identify, on the street, the city of<strong> WELLSstrong> (in Somerset). We arrive in the late afternoon but no little difficulty in finding accommodation. Find accommodation a little 'more costly than expected, in a former Guest House located just inside the door, the mail just before the famous Cathedral of<strong> WELLSstrong>, with a bed (a little' small). We visit the cathedral quickly (because, as usual, are closing). The cathedral is much more interesting than the majestic facade, not all that worked the inside, rather anonymous. But the wonder of the city is the Bishop's Palace (palace of the bishops). The palace is decorated in austere but more interesting are the magnificent gardens with the famous well (wells) from which the town takes its name. The building is completely surrounded by a moat beautiful and well-spread some channels that adorn the ornamental garden. Bello, bello!
Dinner, like other times, from Subway, a chain of fast-food sandwich, sandwiches to prepare long before your own eyes, and where you can choose the ingredients to be included.

TOTNES

First stage, in Devon, at Powderham Castle, still inhabited by the original owners, with interior design and great park. There's even a lake.
The next stop in Sidmouth, a Devon seaside resort, but a nice little 'too crowded and tourist. Lunch in a bar / restaurant facing the sea with a high hamburgers up and the beautiful Apple Pie (apple pie) that English is different from ours. I think it's the best thing that the British know how to cook. Apples are not placed on top of the cake, or mixed all'impasto but enclosed within the short pastry, sugared surface. It is served together with the typical local cream (clotted cream, cross between butter and cream) or vanilla ice cream. FanStupefacente Sidmouth is the ford of the river by car. At some point you must cross by car, the river, under the supervision of a designated person who is constantly measuring the level in order to close the point where the water is too high.
In the afternoon we visit the ancient village, outside of time, of Cockington with a number of pretty cottages. Then we head to <strong>TOTNESstrong> where staying.
A <strong>TOTNESstrong> there's just nothing to see, we do not understand why the leadership of the Mondadori devoting so much space. Fortunately we arrived in the evening and so we head directly to bed &amp; Break. (Four Seasons), run by a couple of modern men, very kind. The gentleman with grembiulino is very gentle, one of the few operators of B &amp; B that brings me the suitcase in the room, up the narrow stairs (which are on time in every lodging).
tastic.

FOWEY

This morning we leave Devon to reach Cornwall. I can finally visit places much praised by the writer Rosamunde Pilcher pink.
Visit to Buckfast Abbey, a large complex that houses an abbey uninteresting. But the beautiful water mill adjacent to the former store artefacts.
Given that it rains all the time, we decide to visit castles, so we at least on dry ground. Visit the Cotehele House dated 1500, facing a long and tortuous route to get here by car.
Here begin the narrow streets of Cornwall: narrow streets to a single carriageway but all strictly a two-way. When you meet a car coming from the opposite direction, it is one of the 2 circles as close enlargement of the road and wait there for the other car passes, sometimes taking in back-gear. To all this add the fact that the cars here (and we) have the right-hand drive.
Cotehele House is a home of great charm, both for the original furnishings of the time, it is inevitable for the gardens, each of which has historical. The interiors are a little 'dark, do not ruin this for the old furniture. But even more astonishing, in Cornwall, Lanhydrock is house, an immense aristocratic dwelling, fully furnished and complete with furnishings, where you can visit 49 rooms well! There is also vintage car with driver to transport the guests, with moderate prices, from parking cars at the entrance to the castle. We can take it back to
These castles, as all the homes we visit are well organized: they all have a lovely Tea Room (where to eat fast food and spectacular desserts) and stocked Gift Shop, where you can find articles more refined than the usual souvenir shops. There are also the famous butter biscuits, typical of the area.
Staying for the night in the village of <strong>FOWEYstrong> by sea, a colorful seaside town in style. The b &amp; b, <strong>FOWEYstrong> Marine, is in comfortable position as close to the center and positioned directly opposite the large car park in the country.
Here is a must eat the fish. The restaurants are not lacking.

ST. IVES

Today we visit the famous St. Michael's Mount. It is the poor sister of Mont St. Michel, France. Even here there is a small hill, detached from the mainland, accessible by foot only when there is low tide. At the top of the mountain but there is a castle (in France there is an abbey). St. Michael is far less tourist French sister. Reaching the top is really a faticaccia the trail is rather tortuous and uneven. I make the climb K.O. for the whole day. The view from above, however, is not evil (but Mont. St. Michel in France is better). Here is the only place in our journey where we meet the Italians. For the rest of the stops nothing nothing. Italians are not on vacation here!
Lunch at Penzance-based Cornish Pasties. This is typical Cornish pastry filled with all sorts of things (meat, cheese, vegetables etc.. Etc..). Just choose the right one.

ST.IVES

ael's Mount. Si tratta della gemella povera di Mont St. Michel, in Francia. Anche qui c'&232; un piccolo monte, staccato dalla terra ferma, raggiungibile a piedi solo quando c'&232; bassa marea. Alla sommit&224; del monte per&242; si trova un castello (in Francia invece c'&232; un'abbazia). St. Michael &232; molto meno turistico della sorella francese. Raggiungere la sommit&224; &232; veramente una faticaccia, il sentiero &232; piuttosto tortuoso e sconnesso. La salita mi mette K.O. per l'intera giornata. La veduta da sopra per&242; non &232; male (ma Mont. St. Michel in Francia &232; meglio). Qui &232; l'unico luogo del nostro viaggio in cui incontriamo degli italiani. Per il resto delle tappe niente di niente. Gli Italiani non vengono in vacanza da queste parti!
Pranziamo a Penzance a base di Cornish Pasties. Si tratta di tipiche paste sfoglie della Cornovaglia ripiene di ogni genere di cose (carne, formaggi, verdure ecc. ecc.). Basta scegliere quello giusto.
Penzance non ci piace cos&236; raggiungiamo attraverso stradine strettissime (che paura!) la vicina Mousehole: piccolo villaggio con famoso porticciolo e stretti vicoli.
Nel pomeriggio poi andiamo a LAND'S END, la punta pi&249; estrema della Cornovaglia, con grosse rocce a picco sul mare.
Sono molto interessata alla localit&224; in quanto qui si trova il famoso Land's End Hotel, dove Verdone ha girato il film &quot;Maledetto il giorno che ti ho incontrato&quot; con Margherita Buy. Ovviamente faccio una foto dinanzi all'ingresso. Penso per&242; che a Verdone non piacer&224; pi&249; questo luogo. Ora qui &232; stato collocato un mostruoso Visitor Center che deturpa un po' il paesaggio. Sembra Gardaland!
Per la notte, non avendo trovando posto a<strong> ST. IVESstrong>, dobbiamo accontentarci di un b/b, collocato sopra un pub, nella vicina St. Earth. Il sito internet del b/b Star Inn &232; un po' ingannevole. Descrive St. Earth come fosse un posto da favola, villaggio dell'anno e fesserie simili ed invece qui non c'&232; niente di niente. Non c'&232; nemmeno un negozio e siccome i gestori del pub hanno deciso di chiudere la cucina per quel giorno, non sappiamo neppure dove cenare in quanto non ci sono altri posti. Cos&236; non ci resta che prendere l'auto per raggiungere la vicina<strong> ST. IVESstrong>.&160;
Dopo cena torniamo nel nostro alloggio, posizionato nel cortile del pub. Sembra quasi un vecchio granaio recuperato. La stanza &232; molto grande e pulita. Su questo, niente da dire. Anche la colazione &232; precisa e puntuale.

LYNTON

Early morning visit to<strong> ST. IVESstrong>, but very very nice, although from the book, here set by M. McInerney (scomodi secrets) I expected some 'smaller. Instead it is a small town. I can also find the hotel (Porthminster) mentioned in the book.
Visit also Trerice Manor, beautiful but decidedly smaller than the homes visited in the past. The gardens of which we speak are also completely non-existent, or rather, it is simple gardens.