April 13, 2012, Friday -- Got the kids up early in Dublin to catch the 8:00 ferry across the Irish Sea to Hollyhead, Wales (Gall).  This time, the Ferry is a smaller stealthier model and it hauled @$s; we were shocked at how fast it moved.  We stopped over at Conway Castle on our way to Manchester; what a spectacular place and a cool bit of history.  The castle was built in the 1280s for King Edward something.  The castle was impossible to take siege of from the outside because it was so well constructed.  However, a group of 48 rebels took over the castle by sneaking in on a Sunday when all but two guards were at church.  The history goes on, but too much to detail here.  After a little lunch, the Hanlon family left for Manchester to visit Uncle Tom prior to their departure for America scheduled for 11:00AM the following day.  Just prior to our arrival to Uncle Tom's place, his house was broken in to and his TV stolen, while Uncle Tom went into town to pick up some groceries for his invited Hanlon family guests.  With all the police activity, Tom's neighbor, Beth, invited us over for dinner and a quick swim in her indoor pool.  It was good to stay and visit with Uncle Tom during such a unnerving criminal incident.

A photo of the Hanlon family on the Conway castle wall that surrounds the town.  Note the new member of our family on left; a confused by-passer--thanks dude.

Of course other life forms enjoy the nooks and crannies of the stone haven.

The idea of the wooden guard has so far proven ineffective because they do not respond (unlike Pinocchio) and they are easily burned.

 The castle in its functional form must have been awesome, but even in its ruin form, it is quite beautiful.  I'm not sure modern architecture has given us that much more sophistication.  The engineering that went into this castle was quite impressive.

The views are spectacular.

Imagine the disappointment on Cedar's face when we told him we had no room on the plane to bring the armor home.

Thanks Beth for the evening dip.  It was a great way to top off our vacation.