Hillforts & Castles & Forts, oh, my!

Our first full day in Wales was a rigorous one. I was advised to wear trousers, which, for me, is a great imposition. But our first stop was Tre'r Ceiri hillfort, which was a steep climb, and very windy, and I concede that trousers were probably wise.

One of our stops was to view the round Iron Age houses.

Standing by the Iron Age huts/ houses.

Looking down on the circular Iron Age houses.

An entrance to the fort.

 After wandering around the hillfort, our next stop was Caernarfon Castle. My mother and my sister Heather had visited this castle years ago and were very excited that I was going to see it on this trip.

Approaching the castle from the car park.

I loved the brightly painted shops near the castle.

A view of the river (and our coach) from the castle.

The grey slab on the grass is used for crowning the Prince of Wales. It's thought that it may have been an ancient inauguration hill and that when Edward built the castle he purposefully built it around this hill (which was destroyed by the Victorians).

Nothing beats a floating fireplace!

A handy model of the castle and city wall. 

Sitting in a window-seat. I think I like them even more than spiral staircases!

We had a wee wander around Caernarfon & passed this building with Welsh writing on it. 

This place was also very interesting, and had this sign in front of it:

Our next stop of the day was Segontium Roman fort & museum. I'm not particularly thrilled by Roman forts, but it was still an interesting place. Oddly enough the signs in the ruins had all been taken down.  As they've refurbished the museum, perhaps they're working on new signs.

Part of the Roman fort.

I really liked the trees along the outer wall.

Two jolly fellows dressing up as Roman soldiers. I was afraid that I wouldn't know any of the 3rd year students when I was told I'd be going on this trip last year. But a lot of them were at SERF last summer and so I was in familiar & very good company.

This was an extra treat that wasn't on our itinerary. It was a beautiful medieval church which had once been on a pilgrimage route. It had a lot of very early woodwork in it still, which just thrilled my medieval church loving heart!

Misericord!

Actually sitting in the wooden seats. I was SO thrilled!

Medieval sundial. 

Our last stop was Bachwen portal dolmen. A portal dolmen is a prehistoric stone structure where a large slab is balanced neatly on three upright stones. In Ireland they're huge. This one was very modest, but still lovely.

Water under the bridge

I have missed out on four months of events, pictures, news and the like. But I feel that if I try to re-cap it all, I'll forever be behind, and never, ever get caught up. So, I'm just going to start afresh with my trip to Wales, which was from the 29th of March to the 3rd of April. 

This was a trip planned through the archaeology department. Usually you're supposed to go at the end of third year. That would have been last year for me, but I wasn't able to get the time off work. They weren't thrilled by the fact that I had to go this year, and now I understand why - in the middle of writing your dissertation, leaving on a wee trip isn't the best idea. 

But luckily I wasn't the only one from my year that wasn't able to go last year. Several of my classmates had spent a year abroad, and so we were given an extension on our dissertation due-date and were able to enjoy Wales a little more than we would have. 

En route to Wales, we stopped in Chester to view some of its Roman remains. For me, the most thrilling thing was the medieval (and later) half-timbered shops and houses.

The remains of a Roman amphitheatre.

I was more interested in the church across the way.

Part of it was ruined! Ooh!

'The Fear of the Lord is a Fountain of Life"

I liked this sign for the spectacles.

This wee one was different, as the wood wasn't painted black.

Just being together

This is my last in Utah post - then I'll go on to Glaswegian stuff again! Can't believe I'm three months behind still. In my defence, I have had classes and stuff keeping me busy!

I think I've mentioned this in recent posts, but it was so nice to be with everyone again. Just being together was such a sweet experience for me, and I appreciated the time I had to do that before going back to Glasgow.

Katie & I watching one of our favourite BBC films: "Our Mutual Friend". Bliss!

Heather, Morag, Hermione & me.

Hanging out at Jared & April's. Katie was doing everyone's hair. 

Jared & mother talking about deep things, no doubt!

Katie braiding Lexi's hair.

Heather's hair. That is some fancy braiding!

Near the end of my trip we went to see Jennie & her new dog - a lovely Scottish deer hound! 

Katie basking in the sun with Nevis, the new pooch!

Katie's Birthday - part two!

I'm finally getting around to updating my blog. Still months behind! I hope you'll all  be patient with me as I catch up!

I took so many pictures on Katie's birthday, that I knew I'd have to divide them into separate posts, so here's part two. After our jaunt up the canyon we had lunch and we also visited our old friend Glen's antique shop. Glen wasn't there, but his son Greene was. I always think of Greene as a wee tow-headed lad, but he's a large young man with darker hair and facial hair as well. It was incredible! He's very like Glen, too, which is amusing and a bit disconcerting.

Beautiful 18th century doll. 

Skeletons! Squee!

Dylan trying on a Horatio Hornblower type hat!

Katie & her presents. 

My wee mum resting on the couch.

Katie's new jacket.

Natalie (Dylan's then girlfriend/ fiance now wife) made the most DELICIOUS cake ever! The peanut butter frosting was divine. 

A thing of beauty!

Katie requested vanilla cake (rainbow coloured) & peanut butter frosting. I wasn't sure this would be an exciting combination, but I was wrong. Apologies for the millions of pictures of cake. Yes, it WAS that good!