After the greatness of Carnaerfon, and the strength of Beaumaris, I wasn't sure what to expect from
Conwy castle. We had views of it from our cottage in Llandudno and it was literally minutes from us. We kept it for last though. It was different from the other two castles, but absolutely stunning. It was also the best for the kids to visit. They received little detective books and then they had to find clues around the castle. Hilde and Enoch had so much fun running into every nook and cranny looking for clues. Hilde quite forgot all the spiral staircases, and it was really fun. Phinn got really into the knight spirit here, he was quite a character. I saw a lot of other people stop and snap pictures of him, charging with his foam sword drawn.
After spending most of the morning at the castle, Dave took the kids over to a shop for little knights. While he was there, I saw this plaque:
I am really going to miss living here!
7 comments:
Isn't this the one that David Macauley's Castle book/animated movie were made about? Love the pics.
Tona, his design for Aberwyven (which is fictional) draws from elements of all the castles we visited - Conwy is an obvious and strong influence but there are things from Beaumaris, Caenarfon, and Harlech (which we didn't visit), as well as other castles of the time.
In prep for this trip, I got that disc from netflix and put it on the iPad, and the kids watched it in the car on the way down to get a preview and again on the way back to see how the places we'd just been were portrayed.
Another thing I thought you'd appreciate was that on the 'detective book' the kids were filling out about a real instance when there was a rebellion and Conwy Castle was taken over, there was a page at the back of the pamphlet devoted to womens history and that rebellion - it was like "the story as we have it only features men, but think about some ways that women might have been involved - they might have acted as spies or lookouts, smuggled supplies, .... " I thought you'd like that they took the time to consider it and make kids think about it while exploring the history.
What a fun adventure for the kids. Love the sword fights. This time you've spent in England will be a part of your family forever. It's really quite awesome.
Something tells me this isn't the first time you will be living overseas in a pretty cool place!
These pictures are Hilarious. I like the hobbit fight scenes.
I'd certainly wouldn't attack this castle with its scowling knights! I fear you will be quite bored when you return. I don't think they allow swords at the Smithsonian Castle building.
Conwy sounds like another great find. Just to make you feel more connected to these places, i recently looked at the heritage of our ancestor Queen Margaret, the wife of the Scottish Alexander III. She was the sister of Edward I and the daughter of Henry III which then links us back to King John and again to Henry II and I. What amazing adventures for you and the kids.
The picture of the three kids sword fighting is the best!
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