Next and last castle for us in Wales is Castell Coch, still quite close to our accomodation. The road, especially right up to the castle, is narrow and we are a bit worried about cars coming from the other direction. But we arrive safely in the parking lot and have our first glimpse of the castle, it is like a fairy tale castle. And it is like a fairy tale castle because it was built that way similarly to Neuschwanstein in Germany, another castle that we really liked.
The castle was rebuilt at the end of the 19th century by architect William Burges as a country residence for occasional occupation in the summer, based on the specification of John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute. And we really enjoy the end product after using our CADW pass to enter and also receiving an audio guide full of interesting information.
The interior is very detailed and well preserved with each room having a theme or a topic that is interesting to detect and follow. We walk from room to room admiring them and thinking of how much work was invested in finishing them.
One of the recurring topics are the Fables of Aesop with many of them represented on walls and ceilings. And birds and animals, they are everywhere and quite beautiful, wish we would have these artistic walls at home.
We continue exploring the many rooms and to listen to our audioguides, they are quite useful in helping us where to go and in understanding what fable or story we are seeing represented.
The main bedrooms of course are the most beautiful. They are decorated to the gills, it is almost an overflow of detail wherever we look.
There are crows feeding their chicks, there are sinks with painted fish and there are monkeys also for some reason on the ceiling.
Between rooms quite a few times we explore the exterior and it is quite beautiful. It is really a very cozy and beautiful castle.
We even explore the children area a bit and try to recreate the plumbing with little luck. Also interesting is the old cellar where they sell new wine. We are not really interesting but still it is fun. And then it is time to finally enter Cardiff and explore the capital of Wales.
