After a glorious time in Chester, our next day brought us another surprise ... we're going to Wales for the evening! We never imagined that we would be staying in all three of the UK's areas, Scotland, Wales and England! What great travel agents we had in these cousins! On our way to Talybont on Usk for our final overnight road stay, Sandra once again found an interesting stop for us in the National Trust guide, Castell Dolforwyn. The road to the castle site was the narrowest we had seen in all of the UK. If we would have had any oncoming traffic, your guess is as good as ours to how we would pass. There are not even slight pull-outs to pull over and no berm, not even a grassy area over 6 inches deep ... I had to take pictures out of the windshield to document this thrill ride handled expertly by Ray!
Now if you think that's a strange spelling of Dolforwyn Castle in the first paragraph, check these out: "Dim gwersylla" (No camping), "Dim Tanau" (No fires), "Dim canfodyddion metalau" (No metal detectors) ... or one of my favorites, "Mae'n beryglus dringo ar y muriau". Do you know what that says? I know we aren't in the United States at all!!! Check out the photo album at the end of this blog to see how we know that this says "It is dangerous to climb on the stonework"!
As this castle was built between 1275 and 1277, you can imagine that it is a castle in ruins. There was a 500 meter trek that was pretty steep to walk up to see it. It was well worth the walk, the ruins and the beautiful countryside views.
Some of the beautiful countryside we took-in on the walk to the castle.
The Dolforwyn Castle
We then finished the drive to Talybont on Usk to the amazing Travellers Rest B&B that Sandra had booked for us. It is secluded and charming. There are two guest rooms for booking that are at the top of the hill behind the dining room and patio.
They are lovely.
Sandra outdid herself on this one!
We strolled the few blocks into the Swyddfa'r village of Talybont on Usk and found a nice place to have lunch.
Leaving, we walked the canal from the village down to the old The Brinore Tramroad and back to the canal entrance to the Traveller. We learned that the UK has over 500 miles of canals! Who knew? Certainly not these visitors from the other side of the pond!
That evening, as the only guest at The Traveller, we had the wonderful chef cooking specifically for us and us alone. Joy, the owner had turned down two other parties that wanted to eat dinner that night saying that they are closed on Monday and Tuesday and cooked only for the guests staying with them. All we can say is that we felt like royalty and the dinners were out of this world! Be sure to view the pictures in this blogs photo album of our great Butternut squash soup with roasted Cashews, Skate Wing fish, pan fried with black butter and caper sauce for Mary Anne, Local Venison Haunch Steak grilled with honey and wholegrain sauce with a hint of Juniper for Larry, Chicken fillets pan fried, finished in cider, honey and crème fraiche with apple for Sandra, side dishes and desserts. If anyone is in this section of Wales and you can get the reservations, don't pass it up!
The next morning after a suburb leisurely breakfast, we loaded up the car for our final leg of this road trip to go to Ray & Sandra's Owls Retreat home in Yeoford. It was so good to see the homestead once again from our 2010 visit. The garden was abundant and fresh vegetables were picked for dinner and flowers for the house.
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