We met Rob at 9:30 after the full Welsh breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, beans and toast, and then drove to Tintern Abbey. The woods on the opposite bank of the Wye River provided a lush green backdrop for the ruined abbey. Unbeknownst to me, this was a place that Abby and long wanted to visit. Dad had been reading Wordsworth’s poetry recently, and was interested in learning more about his connection to the abbey. The floor of Tintern Abbey is covered by grass and small daisies, since the roof, floor and some of the walls had been destroyed by Henry VIII’s Inspectorate. In the Abbott’s quarters, we found an old stone bathtub, where Teryn pretended to wash Kylie. A single white pigeon monitored our progress throughout the grounds.
Our next stop: Chepstow castle, whose construction was begun in 1067 by one of William the Conqueror’s lieutenants, making it the oldest stone-built castle in Britain. It also contains the oldest oak door in Britain, which had hung in the castle gate until the 1960’s, when it was brought indoors for preservation. Chepstow has various layers of construction, started by William, continued by his Norman successors, and finally completed by the Tudors. We noted how castle-building styles progressed over the years. 
Rob drove us to the Caerleon Roman Fortress and Baths. The second Augustan legion of 5,000 to 6,000 men occupied the area beginning in 65 A.D., and managed to take up quite a bit of space. We went first to their baths. They had the usual cold, medium and hot baths. A surprising number of precious and semi-precious stones has been found in the bath’s drain. This was a place for soldiers to relax and unwind after spending the day pacifying Wales. In terra cotta tiles around the edge of the baths, a roman soldier’s footprint and a dog’s paw print had been preserved forever in the tile. You could clearly see the marks from the studs on the soldier’s sandal.
Rob put a replica Centurion’s helmet on Kylie’s head. It was a good fit. Abby found a Roman mess kit that was strikingly similar to the Boy Scout mess kit still used today – a small knife and
spoon were on a ring, and a skillet with a folding handle was in a mesh bag. Some things never change.
Our next stop: Chepstow castle, whose construction was begun in 1067 by one of William the Conqueror’s lieutenants, making it the oldest stone-built castle in Britain. It also contains the oldest oak door in Britain, which had hung in the castle gate until the 1960’s, when it was brought indoors for preservation. Chepstow has various layers of construction, started by William, continued by his Norman successors, and finally completed by the Tudors. We noted how castle-building styles progressed over the years. 
We ate a bar lunch in the garden of the Chepstow Castle Inn, which is famous for its pies. I had a lamb pie, Abby had a chicken pie, and Reta and Dick each had a gluten-free fish pie, baked in a ceramic dish with mashed potatoes on top. The Chepstow Castle Inn will be famous among us for its badminton, which the Shields family played while they waited for lunch to arrive. Susan, Shauna and Reta all went to a small art gallery next door to buy local water colors.
Rob drove us to the Caerleon Roman Fortress and Baths. The second Augustan legion of 5,000 to 6,000 men occupied the area beginning in 65 A.D., and managed to take up quite a bit of space. We went first to their baths. They had the usual cold, medium and hot baths. A surprising number of precious and semi-precious stones has been found in the bath’s drain. This was a place for soldiers to relax and unwind after spending the day pacifying Wales. In terra cotta tiles around the edge of the baths, a roman soldier’s footprint and a dog’s paw print had been preserved forever in the tile. You could clearly see the marks from the studs on the soldier’s sandal.
Rob put a replica Centurion’s helmet on Kylie’s head. It was a good fit. Abby found a Roman mess kit that was strikingly similar to the Boy Scout mess kit still used today – a small knife and
spoon were on a ring, and a skillet with a folding handle was in a mesh bag. Some things never change.A group of young men was playing shirts-and-skins soccer in the 2000-year-old Roman amphitheater. Abby rooted for the skins side. Rob said that King Arthur likely would have addressed Celtic soldiers on this spot, urging them to unite in battle against the invading Saxons. It would have been a perfect spot for people from the surrounding area to listen to inspirational speeches from the greatest leader of the day.
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