Araf deg mae dal iâr
Trip Start
Feb 19, 2010
1
16
39
Trip End
Apr 05, 2010
Where I stayed
Caernarfon, Wales, United Kingdom
Monday, March 8, 2010
We both felt really rested, we’d struck gold with our current accommodation and had a great dinner the night before, the pillows and bed were fabulous so we just slept like babies and woke up feeling grand. If you ever find yourself in Llangollen stay where we did!!
We headed north on a slight detour (look at us doing all these unplanned things) to go to Llandudno, Wales. Now since being there we know that it is Wale’s largest resort and that its situated between the Great and Little Ormes with a tramway up to the Great Orme which first went into use on the 31st July 1902 (and they played God Save the King on it’s maiden journey!). In 1969 a cable car was installed allowing another way up the Orme – and this way it goes over the ornamental gardens “Happy Valley” where they have Llandudno cut out in the grass. This Cable Car journey is actually the longest in Great Britain. It also has the longest pier in Wales which we trundled down. The view out into the ocean was amazing, and we chose a great day to go, the sun was out the sky was blue, when the freezing wind did not blow even Megan defrosted.
But do you want to know why we went? We went because we’re sad – because in Cape Town South Africa there is also a Llandudno. It is a suburb near to Hout Bay and it too has a beach, and we went because we could then say that Nigel had been to Llandudno in Wales too....but it was so worth the visit. There isn’t a whole lot to do, or a whole lot to see, but we had a really lovely time and had some good ice-cream at Cadwaladers Ice-cream and Nigel got a fair few photos.
From there we headed towards the Isle of Anglesey. And too Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. We could not come to Wales without going to the Welsh village with the longest name in Britain. Even if it is a gobboly gook name that means a ridiculous thing, some say invented simply so they can lay claim to having the longest named village in Britian. Incredibly touristy thing of us to do, but we had to do it.
Once we had ran around taking photos of various signs we picked ourselves up a stuffed welsh dragon...he’s so cute! Then gobbled down some food then headed off to Caernarfon where we would be spending the evening. We arrived earlier than expected so we thought we’d go wander the town and take some photos of the Castle – because it closed at 4pm (but wouldn’t let anyone in after 3:15) and didn’t open again until 11am Tuesday morning when we would be on our way again.
The castle itself is very imposing; it takes up a fair wack of the town and is set at the mouth of the Seiont river and it was in fact designed to be similar to the walls of Constantinople, the imperial castle of Rome. King Edward intended this castle to be a royal residence and seat of government for north Wales. He commenced building it in 1283 as the definitive symbol of his conquest of Wales. The castle's symbolic status was emphasised when Edward made sure that his son, the first English Prince of Wales, was born here in 1284. In 1969, the castle gained worldwide fame as the setting for the investiture of HRH Prince Charles as Prince of Wales. It is also a world heritage site.
We wandered into Caernarfon Square after our walking tour of the outside of the castle, and just wandered around enjoying the quaintness of it all. We took a few pictures of Caernarfon Square Presbyterian Church and the griffin out the front. Then we just slowly wandered back to our rooms until we headed out to dinner at the Black Boy Inn. We went to dinner here on recommendation of our B & B host who said they provided good quality food, as well as one of the most popular places to eat and drink in Caernarfon. And, they did though we did feel like we and the other 5 people dining in the restaurant were a bit of a nuisance to the waiting staff. The quality of the food was really good though so perhaps we can forgive them that? There are roaring open fires, oak beams and people chatting away pleasantly in Welsh. The name makes you cringe coming from the countries we do, as did the “Black Boy Faggots” on the menu, the many hanging sings and interior decorations including the life size Black Boy slave statue in the dining room. This is to depict the historic nature of the town and the fact that the building itself dates back to the 16th century. We wouldn’t get away with anything like it in Australia....we just wouldn’t.
And – as will be always, the best photos will be found on Nigel’s flickr
