Three Days in Wales

Our touring days slowed down a bit when we went to Wales. We chose not to go to London, because we wanted to slow down our pace. So we took a nice train ride a short distance into Wales, to Conwy. Conwy is a castle town, built by Edward I, with the town walls that you can walk along, and a castle with many walls intact, and four towers that you can climb.  We found a nice B&B a few minutes'  walk outside the town, and settled in for three days. The first day we hung out at the B&B till 2:00 in the afternoon, sitting in the sun. Then we found fish 'n' chips on the quay, and toured the castle and town walls. You can walk the walls all the way around the town, and one of the towers on the wall is even higher than the castle tower. The views of the countryside and the river are stunning.

We ended every day in Conwy at the Albion Ale House. This is where we learned about CAMRA, the campaign for Real Ale. We also learned about cask Ales, and "pulling" from

 the cask. Now, mind you we are not drinking our way across England, but we have ended the day with a pint of real ale every day, tasting the wares of the local brewery.  The bartenders at the Albion were very good about giving us a taste of several ales before we selected a pint.

Our second day in Conwy was very full. We hiked up Conwy mountain, and had a beautiful view of the coastline and the town.  Pictures cannot do it any justice, I am afraid.

Gorse and heather, and hillsides beyond

Fortunately, we met up with some 8 or 9 other hikers, who had a leader. (Our book of hiking trails had confused us a bit when it started mentioning

One of the stiles on our hike

critch-cratches.) The hikers were from Liverpool, and the leader was from the National Ramblers Association, a group dedicated to increasing the numbers of hikers. They led us on some footpaths that we would never have found without them, and had some interesting conversation along the way. It was about a five-mile hike that lasted about 4 hours. The number of public footpaths is amazing, and the hillsides were full of gorse and bracken, which looks like ferns.

That evening we took the bus over to Llandudno, a Victorian-era beach resort town, to hear a Welsh male voices choir called Cor y Penrhyn. They sang mostly in Welsh, and it was the kind of singing that almost makes you cry. I cannot describe it adequately, but you can get a rough idea of them on You Tube.

Flowers everywhere, even at the Chippy!