"Croeso i Gymru!"

Scott and I have had Wales on our list of places to go for a long time. We had been told that it's a beautiful place to visit, so in August, on our last holiday weekend of the year until Christmas Day, we jumped in the car and drove about 4 hours to Wales. Realistically, I really didn't think Wales would be much different than England. After all, they are both part of the UK, right? Perhaps my first clue that things are just a bit different  was the name of town where we booked our B&B: Llandudno. Honestly, we still aren't positive on our pronunciation of that one! Luckily our sat nav needed no translation and we arrived in due time, although we noticed that the road signs were a bit "different"!

The town of Llandudno is nestled along a bay of the Irish Sea.
The buildings are Victorian era, and the town is actually the largest seaside resort in Wales. 

Yikes!

Yes, indeed Welsh is still spoken in Wales. In fact, in some parts of Wales an estimated 50% of the population speak Welsh as their first language. We did hear a bit of Welsh being spoken now and again. Lest you get this confused with Gaelic; both Welsh and Gaelic are derived from the Celtic language, but they are definitely not the same language!

Henry Liddell was the Dean of Christ Church in Oxford. The Liddell family, including his daughter, Alice, spent their summers here in Llandudno. When Alice was about 10 years old a family friend, Charles Dodgson, was asked to entertain Alice and her sisters. He told them a fantastic story about a young girl, coincidentally named Alice, who somehow managed to fall into a rabbit hole. Sound familiar? Charles Dodgson went on to write his story, "Alice In Wonderland", under the pen name Lewis Carroll.  LLandudno celebrates their connection to this wonderful story. Statues of all of the famous characters can be found scattered throughout the town.

Scott and "The Mad Hatter".

Wales is a land full of castles and there were several within a few minutes' drive of Llandudno. We didn't make it to all of them, but we did get to Convy Castle and Beaumaris Castle, which is on the Island of Anglesey. First stop: Convy Castle

The town of Convy, with the medieval Convy Castle in the background. This massive structure was built for King Edward I.

This castle was built in just 6 years: 1283 to 1289. It is one of several castles built by Edward I intended to "contain" the Welsh people. 

The drawbridge entrance to Convy Castle

Scott and I enjoyed our visit to the town of Convy, and spent several hours exploring this castle and walking the city walls. 

Anglesey Island, located just off the coast of Wales, is the largest island in the Irish Sea. We set off for Beaumaris, and it's fantastic castle, the last and largest of Edward I's castles.

This castle is positively massive! Edward I had great plans, but he did not have the funds to actually finish what he'd started!

Entrance Gates

I definitely don't think I want to try wading, or swimming, across THAT moat!

We arrived at Beaumaris Castle to find a Medieval Fayre. What fun! 

Ca

A Knighting Ceremony!

"Fire Breathin' Dragon!"

Archery Contest

After two castles, you just know Scott was ready to stretch his legs a bit in the great outdoors, so we headed to the beach: Newborough Beach Park to be exact. 

There are lots of walking paths at Newborough Beach Park. We finally decided on a trail the led off to our right. Of course it was beautiful!

If I had only done my homework, though, I might have suggested a path that went off in a different direction. After we returned to Cumbria we were told that Prince William and Kate's "cottage" is on a path that leads off to the left from that park. I wonder why they didn't put that information on their signs? LOL!

Our last full day in Wales brought a dilemma. There were still a couple of castles to see, but also a beautiful waterfall. And then there's Snowdon, the tallest mountain in Wales. At 1,085 metres (3,560 feet) it's actually just a bit taller than Scaffell Pike. Castles, or mountains and waterfalls.... I'll bet you know what's coming next!

Swallow Falls

From the falls we drove to Snowdon. There is a train that takes people up the mountain almost to the summit (yeah!). We enjoyed the trip up and the scramble over the last few feet to the summit. And, unlike our walk on Scaffell Pike, the trip down was just as easy as the trip up! 

Views at the summit.

On top of Snowdon!

Our weekend came to an end and we turned our car towards Cumbria. We had an amazing spring and summer exploring Great Britain, and there's so much more we'd like to see! What a beautiful country!

Ooops! I almost forgot! "Croeso i Gymru!", the title of this post, translates to: "Welcome to Wales!"