Oct 27, 2012 - North Wales

This weekend was a weekend trip to North Wales! First time out of country of England but still, it's the UK. I did not know anyone on this trip as well but I think I ended up having more fun going by myself than I would've if I had gone with a friend. Not that I wouldn't have had fun.. but you'll find out why. I had to wake up super early to catch the 7:30 am coach. There were only 17 people on this trip so it was a smaller coach. A lot of Americans came, an Aussie,a Mexican, another Canadian,a couple people from Belgium, and a girl from...

Jul 18, 2012 - Conwy

Today we headed further up the coast to Conwy. Although small town there was a lot to see. As we entered Conwy two dominant features strike you - Conwy castle and the Conwy Suspension Bridge. After parking we decided to start our exploring by walking the old town walls. The walls were quite narrow and had some interesting slopes but gave some great views over the town to the castle and the estuary. We then walked along the estuary as the sun was starting to shine -it might just be July! The castle dominates the town and was built for...

Apr 20, 2012 - Wales

Today is my last day in Wales so I think it’s fitting that I spent most of it underground. It was raining this morning, which limited my options but I finally decided to drive to the Sygun copper mine in Beddgelert. It’s won some awards as a superb underground audio-visual experience & I chose that over the mine on Great Orme because it gave me the opportunity to see some more of the country around here. It was a beautiful drive through the mountain valleys, enhanced in my opinion by the mist & the rain which was intermittent. When I...

Apr 19, 2012 - Caernarfon & Plas Mawr

A much better day. Patches of cloud but plenty of sunshine & not such a cold wind. Even though there’s been an abundance of castles this week, I couldn’t miss mighty Caernarfon. I’m so glad I went because of all the castles I’ve seen, I think it’s my favourite. Beaumaris is elegant, Harlech has a magnificent setting, Conwy is powerful but Caernarfon has everything. I really like Edward I’s idea of identifying himself with the Romans by copying their architecture from the walls of Byzantium with the squared towers, the carved eagles on the...

Apr 18, 2012 - Anglesey

Not a good sightseeing day at all but I did what I could. I crossed over the Menai Straits on Stephenson’s Britannia bridge then stopped at a lay-by where I could see both bridges. Unfortunately, the Menai Heritage Centre which tells about the construction of the bridges wasn’t open today so I don’t know much except Telford’s Suspension bridge was completed in 1826, the same year as his Conwy bridge & the Britannia bridge opened in 1850. I stopped off in Beaumaris just to look at the town & I had to see the castle which was Edward I’s...

Apr 17, 2012 - Bodnant Garden & Conwy

The weather is a bit of a problem this week so I’m trying to work around it. The forecast today was for clear weather this morning then showers with rain coming in about 4:00pm so I started off with Bodnant Garden & was there soon after they opened at 10:00am. It was beautiful & I loved the variety from the very formal terraces to the wilder meanderings of The Dell. I particularly liked the use of ponds & running water throughout the garden. The rhododendrons, magnolias & azaleas were magnificent – from pure white to deep red with every...

Apr 16, 2012 - Snowdonia

Today’s forecast was the best for this week, so it was the day to tackle Mt Snowdon. Of course, I had no intention of doing it on foot. I felt that when the Victorians had gone to all that trouble to build the Snowdon Mountain Railway, I should at least ride on it. It’s a rack rail system & takes about an hour to climb from Llanberis to the summit at a maximum speed of 5mph. School holidays are over (hurray!) so I thought it would be quiet today but there were people everywhere. The little trains were going every ½ hour & while I was...

Apr 15, 2012 - Llandudno

Today was sunny with lots of blue sky but this morning was spent mostly taking care of the laundry which was a waste of time but it had to be done. While the machine was doing its job, I went for a quick walk along the beach. I found a swans’ nest & Will told me they have 7 eggs & the fence is really to protect the dogs from the swans, not the other way around as you would expect. Apparently they are very aggressive. Once I’d got my domestic chores out of the way, I drove into Conwy which is only about 6 miles but then I changed my mind...

Apr 14, 2012 - Kidwelly to Llanfairfechan

Woke up early so was packed up & ready to go by 8:30. It was a pretty dreary morning & my car said it was 1C at one stage. It did improve throughout the day & was quite pleasant this afternoon if you were protected from the wind. I drove the length of Wales, from south to north today & the change in scenery was dramatic. I started off with very peaceful green rolling hills & then came through steep craggy snow-capped mountains. Now I’m on the coast, in fact my front door is 2 houses from the beach but I haven’t been out exploring yet. The...

Apr 12, 2012 - Carmarthen & beyond

I needed to deposit money for the Isle of Skye cottage so drove into Carmarthen, supposedly the birthplace of Merlin. I also needed to call ahead for Saturday’s arrangements about the key, etc. I should have done it yesterday but my phone was out of battery & when I got home & charged it up, I found out there was no signal here. That’s why the battery ran out so quickly – it was searching for signal all the time. I pulled over just before Carmarthen & got 'Will' & everything’s OK at Conwy. I found the HSBC bank in Carmarthen & a 30 minute...

Apr 11, 2012 - Gower Peninsular

Today was another reasonable day weather-wise so I spent it looking around the Gower peninsular, south of Swansea. I did a long walk from Rhossili at the end of the peninsular out to Worm’s Head but the causeway to the island was closed. It’s only open for a few hours around low tide so I wasn’t going out there anyway. It’s still school holidays so lots of people around & lots of para-gliders off the cliffs. The coastline is quite dramatic & it was a good clear day. I walked back through the Vile which apparently is an ancient Norman way of...

Sep 10, 2011 - Castles and Katia

There's been about a two day lag between where we actually are and where we are writing about (sorry, Marge, ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I should not put). Tomorrow, we won't have internet access (but will be in a really, really cheap motel -- cost trumps everything), so there will be a slight pause in entries. Marilyn’s Musings Two more of Edward’s castles were on the list for today -- Caernarfon and Conwy. The first was where the current Prince of Wales (nonnative division), Prince Charles, was...