UK Trip: 7/16 - Caernarfon, Wales (July 16, 2015)

On Thursday morning, we left Conwy and headed west toward Caernarfon with a stop at the Snowdon Mountain Railway to check out the train to the top of Snowdon.  The only time they had available for the day was at 3:30, so we decided to buy tickets for the next morning.  This meant we would spend today touring Caernarfon Castle and the surrounding town.

Before heading into Caernarfon, we took a chance and stopped at the B&B we had booked for the next two nights.  Tal Menai Guest House is just a mile outside of town.  It was around noon, but the owner, Sylvette, was glad to see us early because it freed her up to see her grandchildren in a performance that night.  We put our bags in our room then sat on the front lawn for a lunch of bread and cheese that we had picked up on the way.  Sylvette gave us a map of the town and told us of a free place to park within a short walk to the castle.

View of Menai Strait from our bedroom.

When we got to the castle, there was a tent set up inside and they were doing a sound check using James Taylor music.  Was he going to be playing?  Wouldn't that have been funny after traveling all this way.  It turns out that, in the evening, there was going to be a concert by a local choir.  Choirs are very big in Wales, but this was possibly the biggest, Cor Glanaethwy.  B knew who the choir was.  This 162 person choir, ranging in age from 8 to 68 had come in third in the 2015 Britain's Got Talent competition.  (Only in Britain...a dog won the talent competition).  Although the concert was invitation only, the rehearsal would be taking place while we were touring the castle!

10-sided Eagle Tower.

While we kept an ear out for the choir, we enjoyed roaming all the passages of the castle.  One of the things we didn't do while we were there was visit the Royal Welsh Fusiliers Museum.  I'm not sure why other than I just wasn't in a museum-y kind of mood.

Castle Square from Queen Eleanor's Gate.

I had not realized until we were there that Caernarfon Castle is where, in 1969, the investiture of Charles, Prince of Wales, occurred.  He was presented to the public, who were waiting in Castle Square, from Queen Eleanor's Gate.

Length of the castle with Menai Strait beyond.

Looking across to the mountains of Snowdonia.

Eventually, Cor Glanaethwy took the stage.  First the youngest sang, then a group of teens and young adults, then adults, and eventually all 162.  We did take a few brief recordings, but if you want to hear them, here they are on Britain's Got Talent singing Benedictus, The Prayer, and Hallelujah.   And, if you can't understand the words, it is because they are singing in Welsh.
 

Part of Cor Glanaethwy rehearsing.

We left the castle and crossed the bridge over the River Seiont to take a look back.  The tide was out and all the boats were high and dry.  It was interesting to see the twin-keeled sailboats resting on the mud.

Low tide on the River Seiont.

We had dinner at the recommended Black Boy Inn and then headed back to Tal Menai.