After celebrating Mark and Aoifes wedding in Dublin, Shane and I fly to Manchester so we can meet up with the Irving’s and spend a few days in Wales. This is a new country to visit for Shane in fact it’s country number 100. Woo hoo!
It’s about an hour and a half to north Wales with a bit of Friday evening traffic but the countryside is nice as we cross the border.
We’re staying at a really nice house in a tiny little village called Dwygyfylchi – it’s going to be fun trying to pronounce that!!
It’s surrounded by hills and we walk uphill to a quiet pub/restaurant called the Fairy Glen for some dinner and refreshments. They have a nice pub menu and all the dishes are served with giant chips (or a different spud type), peas and salad!! Delish!
On Saturday morning we head to Penrhyn castle for Parkrun. I’m thrilled to be getting to do one in Wales and not only is Shane doing it with me but we’ve roped in Sarah too. I think she’s going to be a big Parkrun convert!
We go into Bangor to get some brekkie and find an interesting place called Open Heavens Cafe… we really should have known by the name that it was a Christian establishment. Probably not surprisingly the waiter was somewhat over friendly while at the same time insisting we do an online review!! This will have to suffice: “The food is good and you get a blessing not only for yourself but for your family and all our friends!”
Back in DWYGYFYLCHI, which Siri and I like to pronounce as follows….
….. we go for a local walk
Our little village is part of the community of Penmaenmawr which has a population of 4,353 and a fair amount of sheep!
The small church and graveyard is very picturesque.
Onwards to the beach… looking across to the Irish Sea
It’s a lovely day, I think you’d call it fresh. The Aussies would call it cold and windy!
Next up we’re back in the car (thanks to James for being our trusted driver) and we go to Conwy which is a bigger town with beautiful medieval walls and a castle. We take a walk along the walls.
This town is full of Edwards but I’m obviously with the best looking one 😉
We decide to share a few chips and honestly I think these might be the best chips I’ve ever had. They are cooked perfectly and are just fantastic. We carry on to the castle which is very impressive.
Onwards to Llandudno where we find a cafe for some Welsh cakes – I don’t think I’ve ever had one before and I love them – they’re essentially squashed scones!
Llandudno (pronounced with a “ch”) is a popular seaside town and a lot of the accommodation has a touch of the Fawlty Towers vibe!!
There’s also a pier with amusements that we battle the wind to check out.
On the way home we stop at ASDA to pick up some food with the intention of cooking dinner tomorrow night. Tonight we plan to hit The Gladstone, which is a pub at the bottom of the hill. Unfortunately when we rock up to the bar at around 6:30pm we’re told they have no more tables for tonight and also they can’t take a reservation for tomorrow… luckily we went to ASDA today… a pint and some crisps and it’s home to cook up some dinner.
Next morning we head for Snowdonia National Park.
We walk around the lake close by the railway….
…. and meet a few locals!!
There’s a sign for a castle that we decide to check out and it’s a really pretty one.
It’s Dolbadarn castle, built in the early 13th century and we climb a small hill to get some good views of it and the surrounding quarry and hills.
At 11am it’s time for us to take the train up the mountain.
The train ride up takes about 45 minutes and the scenery is very nice.
The train is unable to get to the very top due to some work on the railway line so it stops at Clogwyn which is about three quarters way up.
It’s really cold up here!
We spend 30 minutes looking around and enjoying the scenery.
Looking out to the lake.
It is freezing up here….
There are approx seven different routes up the mountain and in hindsight we should have planned to walk back down. We haven’t planned enough time though so we take the train back down.
Looking into the valley on the way down from the other side of the train
After a brief lunch of pasties and sausage rolls at the railway cafe, we head for Anglesey island and to Beaumaris which has, you’ll never guess what, another castle!
This castle is surrounded by a moat and is in the centre of town.
We walk along the coastline looking out to the mainland and the sun has come out so we have definitely warmed up (although the wind would skin ye!).
We even come across some standing stones.
We walk along what is called The West End and see these beautiful houses dating to 1869.
Back in the car, we head further west toward / past Holyhead to South stack lighthouse.
It’s still a bit cold but it’s beautiful along here.
Back “home” and we’re heading to the Fairy Glen where we have a reservation for dinner tonight as we cooked last night and there are very few options around here for food! With the clocks changing last night, it’s still lovely and bright as we walk up the pretty pathway and have a tasty meal at our ‘usual’ table!
Next morning it’s time to leave North Wales and we stop at St Margaret’s church Bodelwyddan before crossing the border back into England.
We notice lots of graves for Canadian soldiers and learn that they were housed at Kinmel camp (close to the church) which was a military camp used by Canadian troops during WW1. There were riots in the camp at one point and 5 people were killed but most of the soldiers buried here actually died of the Spanish flu.
We really enjoyed our short trip to North Wales which had a lot to offer especially if you like to walk. For now we say “hwyl fawr” to Wales.
odohertyelaine 