I arrived late in the day, but there was still enough daylight to explore. After spending hours in the car, it was nice to walk around the city. Plus, it was only short jaunt from the B&B to the old part of town.
The street my B&B was on. Bay windows as far as the eye can see.
Pretty church at the end of the street.
Hole in the Wall Street, because there's a gaping hole in the town wall.
Every town square should have a statue of mini dragon.
One of many views of Caernarfon Castle.
Unfortunately, it was closed for the day by the time I arrived.
Where a moat once was, I presume. Or perhaps it's just always been a ditch?
There are great views of the castle from all around town. After seeing it from pretty much every angle, I walked along the water for a change of pace.
View of the castle from behind.
The town is on the coast of the Menai Strait.
The white sands of Caernarfon beach.
The path along the shore took me to a detour back to town through a park. Along the way, I saw people young and old lawn bowling. Once I reached the castle yet again, I continued to walk around the remainder of the old town. The Welsh flag was flying everywhere, which is probably the coolest flag on the planet.
Yet another view of the castle, in the background at the end of the street.
Nope, not an entrance to a convent or monastery. It's the fancy door of a Solicitor's (Lawyer's) office.
Absolutely lovely!
I've never seen flowers growing on the top of a church before!
Medieval city wall, with a passage way just big enough to drive through.
The following morning, it was time to drive over to Snowdonia National Park. Barely 5 minutes into the trip, and road construction made the scheduled route impassable. After letting the GPS re-route, the new route was much more rural, if that was even possible. At first I was annoyed by the extra drive time and confusion this longer route was adding, especially since I wasn't 100% certain that it was going to work out. But, the new route ended up leading high into the foothills and countryside, with an amazing view of the city and coast below. Plus there were sheep baa-ing everywhere.
Looking down on Caernarfon, the Menai Straight, and beyond to the Isle of Anglesey.
The roads were very primitive, and of course were barely wide enough for one vehicle most of the time.
Be careful to share the road!
After getting through the foothills, I reached the official border of the park in the tiny town of Betws Garmon. There also happened to be a beautiful church and cemetery here, which just screamed "Welsh" to me. I decided to stop here for a little while for some photos, and was very thankful that the detour route led me to this hidden gem of a place.
Neither of those signs apply to sheep though. So watch your step!
Along the drive into the park, I assume one of the mountains that I saw was Mount Snowdon itself. At 3560 feet, it's definitely not tall compared to other mountains in the world. But I still thought the mountain views were gorgeous.
My main destination within the park itself was the conversation village of Beddgelert. The town is along the Colwyn and Glaslyn Rivers, with beautiful stone houses and bridges.
The town itself was very cute, but I was looking forward to a nice hike for some scenic views (and to work off some calories!)
Cutest trail gate ever!
Fueling up before the hike. (I was NOT the one eating the Marmite.)
Great picnic spot!
Not a bad view in the other direction either! Like a real life Thomas Kinkade painting.
The hike itself started by going along the river and then passed through an flat grassy area. This is where the statue honoring Gelert, Prince Llewelyn the Great's dog, was located. "Beddgelert" translated to English means "Gelert's grave." It is the saddest dog story you'll ever hear, so don't click on this link unless you have some Kleenex handy. (http://www.beddgelerttourism.com/gelert/)
Statue in memory of Gelert. His grave site is under the tree in the background.
The trail then passed across train tracks, and the Welsh Highland Railroad steam train happened to pass as I approached.
The trail kept going, so I kept walking, not sure what I was getting myself into. After a few minutes, the trail started to get very rocky and uneven, so I was finally "hiking" instead of just walking. I believe the total hike ended up being around 8 miles, which was much longer than I intended, but it was a memorable experience.
It was late May, but I was freezing!
Look, a cave!
I just couldn't resist going into it!
So pretty!
Look out below! Don't step on my little slug friend.
What's not to love about this place!
Once getting back to Beddgelert, there was a smidgin of time left to fit in some souvenir shopping, which is something I hadn't done yet on this trip (grocery stores and Dartmoor National Park information center excluded.) There was a wonderful wood shop, Beddgelert Woodcraft (http://www.beddgelertwoodcraft.com/), with handmade items at reasonable prices. I bought A LOT of stuff, which I don't regret at all. Also, the Snowdonia National Park information center had a nice little gift shop, where I found a genuine Welsh wooden lovespoon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovespoon.) (Never mind that I bought it for myself.)
My lovespoon, now proudly on display in my kitchen.
The hike warmed me up enough that I didn't mind trying some of the best ice cream in Wales, courtesy of Glaslyn Ices.
Along the drive through the park and back to Caernarfon, I stopped in another coastal town, Conwy. This town also has a medieval castle and walls that were built by King Edward I. (Surprise, surprise.)
Conwy Castle.
Old meets new.
Standing next to the smallest house in Great Britain. Blink, and you might miss it. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallest_House_in_Great_Britain)
I was wearing a knit cap, and these kids were playing on the beach. Hmm?
Lancaster Square and the column honoring Prince Llywelyn the Great.
Sup?
Slate Memorials. Learn some Welsh while you sight-see.
The castle at dusk.
By the time I got back to Caernarfon, it was pretty late. I learned on this trip that restaurants in the UK are not like restaurants in Europe. If you don't find a place to eat by 9pm (or even 8pm in some places), you're outta luck. So, dinner that night was at McDonald's. I was happy that they had some unique things on the menu.
(Side note: I eat at McDonald's in the US probably just once or twice a year, and that's usually because I'm traveling. For some reason though, I started to make a habit of eating at McDonald's at least once while visiting foreign countries, not because I miss "American food" per se, but because I like to check out the differences with the menus. This will be one of the topics of a future blog post, because I have way more pictures of McDonald's than any person should have.)
(Side note: I eat at McDonald's in the US probably just once or twice a year, and that's usually because I'm traveling. For some reason though, I started to make a habit of eating at McDonald's at least once while visiting foreign countries, not because I miss "American food" per se, but because I like to check out the differences with the menus. This will be one of the topics of a future blog post, because I have way more pictures of McDonald's than any person should have.)
"Veggie burger" which was really a falafel "burger." The waffle fries were a special limited time item.
My two days in Wales were a highlight of the trip. I loved it there and can't wait to visit again someday. I think I was Welsh in another life.
Up next: Blackpool
Up next: Blackpool
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