Sunday 30th June
A month to go and I will be back home ! Wales is beautiful, one of my fellow travellers from Canada was telling her daughter on the phone this morning, she’s right , it’s stunning. It was a grey day but still very lovely
I know that Wales has more castles than anywhere else in the United Kingdom, but still amazing to see some ruins in the middle of a paddock or next to a barn. this is through the bus window, and not the only one we saw on our journey.
the weather was a bit grey, but the countryside was beautiful, whichever way you looked.
Stopped in Hay on Wye, known for its book festivals, also has a castle but we walked to the coffee shop and back
Crossed the river Wye on a one lane toll bridge, Toll was one pound.
Then we were on our way to Pontcysylite Aqueduct, designed by Thomas Telford and completed in 1805. It is 12 feet wide, the longest aqueduct in Great Britain as well as the highest canal aqueduct in the world. 307 metres long and 38 metres high. First was a photo opportunity to see the height of it
Down a little track amongst the greenery and there it is - massive!
We got driven around and dropped off on one side, where on the Ellesmere canal side, pretty with the narrow bots and kayaks
Then we got to walk across, it was quite high! But a great experience and the view from the aqueduct was just beautiful.
Looking back from the other side, as two kayakers made their way across
There were narrow boats that people were living on and selling crafts, food and even clothing out of them, There was the option to go across on a boat. It’s used completely for leisure nowadays but was built to join the canals up to the port at Liverpool, and to take things like coal and slate. Railway soon succeeded it.
Crossed the River Dee and moved up into Snowdonia, had a quick photo stop to look back the way we had come, I ended up taking some photos of a family group who had just scattered their mother’s ashes.
A quick stop at Beth’s-y-Coed so our driver could fill the coach with fuel, I managed to purchase a sweatshirt within that time from a store called Fatface, I know!, Thinking I haven’t brought enough warm clothes with me so it should fulfil that need, hope it fits in the suitcase!
We had a lesson on how to tell the difference in hamlets villages etc. A hamlet is a group of houses, A village has a place of worship, A town has a administrative building/centre, A city has a Cathedral - so you can have a Town with 300,000 people and a city with 1200 people, that‘s kind of cute?
Stopped for afternoon tea at a little cottage in Llanrhychwyn, It was about 500 years old, when they had floods in about 2007 the water was halfway up the door.
It was four o’clock by now and we stuffed ourselves with sandwiches, welsh cakes, and scones with jam and clotted cream, This meant we didn’t need any tea at our destination in Llandudno, at the Empire Hotel. After getting my room and dropping off bags and taking some photos of my lovely room. I went out for a walk, picked up some fruit and some nuts from Sainsburys to have later, I also walked down the Promenade by the bay.
The view out of my little window, if you crick your neck on either side you can see water.
Was a bit cool, but was nice to get some fresh air, There are cabbage trees all down the length of the promenade, it seems they are liked more by the Welsh than the NZers! Lovely big Victorian buildings all along the beach, now mostly hotels. They are only allowed to use pastel colours on the buildings, a decree by the local lord apparently, but it is very tasteful and charming.
The Pier at Llandudno is 700 metres long, the longest in Wales was just starting to light up as I returned to the hotel
Hotel from the outside, my room was on the top row I think five from the left! Later as I was looking out my window the sun came out and shone upon the hills behind the town. Good night!
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