Castles and whiskey

Our first full day in Wales was spent seeing some of the famous castles in the area.  Our first stop was Caerphilly Castle.  This one was built around 1268 by Gilbert de Clare.  It is the largest castle in Wales.  It is surrounded by 2 sets of moats and 2 sets of walls. It is partially in ruins, with a “leaning tower”.  

Our second castle of the day was Castell Coch.  This was built by the 3rd Marquess of Bute.  It is built on the remains of a 13th century castle.  It was used by by the family until fairly recently.  The rooms and building were designed by William Burges.  The rooms are decorated with pieces from the family.  It is in good repair and has been used for the filming of various movies and tv shows.

We then went to the Penderyn Distillery for a tour.  We saw how the whiskey was made and got to taste it too.  There are no photos because we were not allowed to use our cameras.

The final stop of the day was back in Cardiff at Cardiff Castle.  Unfortunately it was pouring rain so we did not get photos of the castle itself (a ruin).  We did see the mansion on the grounds, which was built by the same people who did Castell Coch.  

It was a fun and busy day.