With a name meaning "fair marsh", Beaumaris Castle on the Island of Anglesey is the great unfinished masterpiece. It was built as one of the 'iron ring' of North Wales castles by the English monarch Edward I, to stamp his authority on the Welsh. But it was never finished as money and supplies ran out before the fortifications reached their full height. This is undoubtedly the ultimate "concentric" castle, built with an almost geometric symmetry. Conceived as an integral whole, a high inner ring of defenses is surrounded by a lower outer circuit of walls, combining an almost unprecedented level of strength and firepower. Before the age of cannon, the attacker would surely have been faced with an impregnable fortress. Yet, ironically, the work of construction was never fully completed, and the castle saw little action apart from the Civil War in the 17th century.
Beaumaris is nonetheless an awesome sight, regarded by many as the finest of all the great Edwardian castles in Wales. Begun in 1295, it was also the last to be constructed. The king's military architect, the brilliant James of St George, brought all his experience and inspiration to bear when building this castle, the biggest and most ambitious venture he ever undertook.
From the outside, Beaumaris appears almost handsome. It does not rear up menacingly like other fortresses buts sits contentedly in a scenic setting overlooking mountains and the sea, partially surrounded by a water filled moat.
The gate next-the-sea entrance protected the tidal dock which allowed supply ships to sail right up to the castle. Beaumaris is endlessly fascinating. There is so much to see here, the 14 separate major obstacles that any attacker would have to overcome, the hundreds of cleverly sited arrow-slits, the deadly use of 'murder holes' to defend entrances.
Another remarkable thing about Beaumaris are the wonderful views afforded across the Menai Straight to the Snowdonia Mountains beyond - breathtaking scenery that can be enjoyed from within or outside the castle. Although Beaumaris lacks the spectacular siting of some of Edward's other north Wales castles, the beauty of the castle and surrounding countryside is undeniable.
I would say that this has been my favorite castle so far. I know we've only seen two (Caernarfon and Dolwyddelan...and Conway if you can count it even though it's been converted into the OP centre) castles, but thus far Beaumaris is my favorite. With it's lush green center and intricate inner walkways and wall walk, it is everything I've always imagined my "ideal" castle to be. 
Finally, what made this place is cool is that in it is where Tecwyn found his inner gangster:
In addition to this sight, we saw the town (or should I say Car Park) of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. Yes...that's right...this town holds the record in the Guiness Book of World records as having the longest name.
This name, as you can see in the image, roughly translates to "The Church of Mary in the hollow of the white hazel near the fierce whirlpool and the Church of the Tysilio by the red cave."
Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Nothing to this town but a mall, the name Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch was coined as a publicity gimmick in the 1860s by concatenating the names of Llanfairpwllgwyngyll ("St Mary's church in the hollow of the white hazel"), they hamlet of Llantysilio Gogogoch ("the church of St Tysilio of the red cave"), and the chwyrn drobwll ("rapid whirlpool") between them.
Originally, the town was called Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll, which means "The Mary church by the pool near the white hazels". The village was renamed at the beginning of the 1850s when the railway was built between Chester and Holyhead .
A local committee was formed to try and encourage trains, travellers and 19th Century tourists to stop at the village in order to help develop the village as a commercial and tourist centre. It is believed the name was conceived by a cobbler, or a tailor, depending upon what story you hear, from Menai Bridge. Little did promotional plans of all time. Today the village is signposted as Llanfairpwllgwyngyll and is known by locals as Llanfairpwll or Llanfair. It is also known as Llanfair PG to differentiate it from other Welsh "Llanfair" villages.
Well, are you wondering how to pronounce Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch? Then just turn on your speakers and give me a click.
Along with these two places, we also stopped to visit:
Puffin Island
A lovely beach (in which we took a two-mile beach walk up to a light house and saw wild ponies,)
((Heart in the sand for my family and friends back home!! :]))
and Penmon Priory (including the Chapel with authentic Celtic crosses, St. Seiriol's Well in which is said to cure eye diseases, and Dovecot).
We also made a stop to climb to the top of the Marquis of Anglesey's Column in Llanfairpwll that looks out over the Menai Strait.
It was very scary for Dani and me. We don't like heights.
And then we got back safely to the ground and did this:
El fin. xx
((My pictures have gotten cut off...if you'd like to see the whole shot just click on them for a larger view.))
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