Wales is dense with history and beauty. On a rainy day a few weeks ago, I visited Caenarfon Castle, built about 1300 AD, with layers of walls to walk on, polygonal towers, and a central green, with a wall for the town.

Caenarfon Castle

Wandering around, I had no desire to live there, nor to live in its purview. How cold and drafty it must have been. And boys then must have loved it, and still do.

The castle is astounding: huge, dense walls of local stones, walls within walls, arrow slots to the outside, defenses within defenses, a puzzle in space, and passage ways that go up the towers, to the top of the walls, and from one corridor to another.

They don’t all connect, and you must return up or down winding staircases, around and around, back through halls to where you started.

I don’t think this castle would be considered safe for Disneyland. Certainly it lacks disabled access.

From the Castle to the Menai Straits at low tide

Caenarfon from the Castle