Cardiff, Wales to Plymouth England October 9, 2026

We left Cardiff in the rain headed to our first stop, Bath, England. Peter Gabriel of the band Genesis, and also the band Tears for Fears are from this area.

The Romans built bathhouses in Bath over mineral springs that were supposed to have healing properties. They still exist today as a museum where you can taste the water.

The entire city of Bath is a Unesco World Heritage site. Most buildings date back to the 1700s. An abbey was built about 500 years ago, and the first king of England was crowned here. It is a breathtaking building!!

The oldest building is Sally Lunn's Eating House, 1680.

Jane Austin lived here for six years and wrote two of her novels during that time. There is a museum dedicated to her.

Typical street

Huge tree in square 

Another church 

Monastery ruin

Pulteney bridge built 1794 with shops on top

This square is the most exclusive in Bath with apartments selling for $5 million.

Our next stop was the small town of Glastonbury, where there is an old monastery ruin. They claim King Arthur and Queen Gweneviere are buried there. Probably not!

This town has an interesting vibe with lots of shops dealing with crystals and supernatural stuff.

Clarks Shoe company was started in England about 200 years ago. 

We drove through Dartmoor National Park and stopped in the little village of Widecombe-in-the-Moor for a bathroom break and to stretch our legs. This little village has a very impressive church.

Our stop for the next two nights is Plymouth. 

Our route for today. 

Wales October 8, 2026

Yesterday we took the ferry from Ireland to Wales, drove through northern Wales, where the Welsh language is still quite common, and then back into England to Liverpool. 

This morning we left Liverpool, driving back and forth between England and Wales for two hours. Eventually, we were in Wales for the rest of the day.

There are 3 million people in Wales and 9 million sheep. We saw a lot of sheep! Tom Jones and Bonnie Tyler are from Wales.

Lots of beautiful scenery. 

We stopped in Builth Wells for lunch. Buffalo Bill Cody brought his show to Wales in 1904, and did a show here. These giant Redwood trees were planted in his honor at that time and are still standing.

We found a local bakery, and I tried a lemon tart. It was good, but very sweet.

More scenery in Brecon Beacons National Park.

Wales had many coal mining communities for hundreds of years. In the 1980s, the government shut down almost all of the mines, as it wasn't profitable anymore. However, they didn't have an exit strategy for all those people losing jobs, so it created a lot of hardship for many. 

We are spending the night in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. 

Cardiff has a castle that is about 900 years old. I have a hard time getting my mind around the age of things here, and what life must have been like. I can say with 100 percent certainty that I don't want to live in a castle. 

Part of the wall surrounding the entire property in the middle of the city 

This building had the coolest dragon statue on top.

Dragon statue on left and city hall clock tower in middle referred to as Baby Big Ben

Aneurin Bevan, a Welsh politician, was the founder of the National Healthcare system in 1948, which is still being used in the UK today. 

In the evening, we went to a pub originally built as a home in 1380 for dinner and entertainment. We had leg of lamb, which was delicious. 

The pub with a thatched roof

Our entertainment was by Amanda Whiting, the top harp player in Wales. The harp is the national instrument of Wales, and she performs worldwide. We were so lucky she chose to play for us. It was beautiful from classics to modern pop music. Her harp cost 35,000 pounds or over $46,000 US dollars. 

Our route through Wales today.

Wales and Liverpool, England October 7, 2026

We took a 3.5 hour ferry trip from Ireland to Wales this morning. To get to the ferry on time, we had to get up at 4:45 am. Ouch! We were able to get a nap on the ferry. 

Semis coming off the ferry

You don't hear much about Wales, so I'm looking forward to our visit. I already learned that Tom Jones is from here.

Our first stop in Wales was Caernarfon to see another 800 year old castle. We stop at the biggest ones, but there are small castle ruins all over Great Britain.  

This castle is special because this is where King Charles was declared Prince of Wales in 1969 on the glass enclosed balcony. 

Glass enclosed balcony 

Our last stop of the day was Liverpool, home of the Beatles. They all grew up here and got their musical start in local venues. We had a tour of the city. 

There are several churches throughout the city.

The former headquarters of the White Star Line, owners of the Titanic

This was a fun looking tour bus.

We stopped at Penny Lane. All the places in the song are on this street, and are places Paul McCarthy would pass on his way to school.

There is a nice statue of The Beatles on the waterfront.  It's amazing how they only were together for 7.5 years, but wrote so many hit songs. Then they all went on to successful individual careers.  Paul is still very active in philanthropic activities in Liverpool. 

They performed at The Cavern Club in Liverpool over 300 times. It's a club underground. Many famous people have performed there including Queen, Rolling Stones, Adele and many others. There is a wall outside with a brick for every artist that has performed there.

Someone was playing on the stage. The place was packed.

Memorabilia in the club

Wall with artist bricks and statue of John Lennon

Street where Cavern Club is located 

Part of the latest Batman movie was filmed here, and he jumped off this building 

Our route for today.