Tour of Wales
Ok so this entry is a little later, but better late then never. Just been a bit busy with school stuff, traveling, and other such things.
Day 1: So lots of driving and stopping at random places and I fell in love with the countryside of Wales it's so gorgeous. Stopped to see the 'Ugly House' which wasn't ugly at all, it was built in one day b/c they had an old law that if you could build a house in 24hrs then you'd get the land for free and some of the area around it. Then driving through Snowdonia National Park which is the huge park/mountain range that surrounds this area and stopped at Devil's Kitchen. Hiked up and it's this really cool lake surrounded by the mountains into this bowl shape and they call it that b/c the wind howls down thru there. Stopped again to see Swallow Falls, very pretty. Then went on to Dolwyddelan Castle which was cool b/c it wasn't a Norman castle but instead was an ancient Welsh castle, soooo old. Then on to the mining town of Blaenau Ffestiniog and into the slate mines of Llechwedd Caverns, which is a big thing in Wales b/c the slate mines used to be a huge source of income, some still are...gotta go down into the mines it was very cold and very wet, and it must have sucked to have worked those mines so long ago. Then on to visit the Parliament of Owain Glyndwr, where the last true Welsh prince reined until his death. Then to Aberystwyth, which is a really cool town on the seaside...I really liked the place plus it was sorta a college town like Bangor is. Walked around with the boys taking pictures on the ruins the Aberystwyth Castle and climbing stuff. Then onto a really good supper, and walking the beach finding cool stones and bones. Then later on we reverted back to 10yrs old and played lava with the water and slippery rocks at night...I did not come out a winner in that game, pants ended up very wet. Stayed overnight there in this nice hotel, which I loved b/c we pratically had our own rooms, just had to share w/Courtney and had a great view of the ocean.
Day 2: Went to see the National Library of Wales there, where they have over 5 million books!! It was pretty cool, b/c it was old and you could see different sections of the library were different ages. Then visited Llanbadarn Fawr an old church with really cool slate gravestones and sorta creepy burial plots inside the church. And they had these really ancient Celtic crosses, very cool. Then off to Caernarfon Castle, which is pretty much the greatest of all Norman castles...absoultely huge! I think me and Thom climbed like every tower...which is tempting death itself b/c of the freaking narrow, worn down, spiral staircases. Also have important ceremonies there and such too.
Day 3: Visited the town of Conwy and Conwy Castle, which is really cool b/c the whole town is ringed by the old castle wall so you can walk the wall and go around the town. Tight fit getting in, better have a good bus driver or else you'll get stuck going thru the old archways. Then went to visit the town of Llandudno which is a nice seaside resort type place. Got to go up and see the Great Orme mines, which are incredibily old mines that have Roman copper mines ruins left in them, but they had many things in there that far out date the Romans too. Then we headed on back to Bangor and that was the tour of Wales.
There are so many cool places to go here and I love this country!
Day 1: So lots of driving and stopping at random places and I fell in love with the countryside of Wales it's so gorgeous. Stopped to see the 'Ugly House' which wasn't ugly at all, it was built in one day b/c they had an old law that if you could build a house in 24hrs then you'd get the land for free and some of the area around it. Then driving through Snowdonia National Park which is the huge park/mountain range that surrounds this area and stopped at Devil's Kitchen. Hiked up and it's this really cool lake surrounded by the mountains into this bowl shape and they call it that b/c the wind howls down thru there. Stopped again to see Swallow Falls, very pretty. Then went on to Dolwyddelan Castle which was cool b/c it wasn't a Norman castle but instead was an ancient Welsh castle, soooo old. Then on to the mining town of Blaenau Ffestiniog and into the slate mines of Llechwedd Caverns, which is a big thing in Wales b/c the slate mines used to be a huge source of income, some still are...gotta go down into the mines it was very cold and very wet, and it must have sucked to have worked those mines so long ago. Then on to visit the Parliament of Owain Glyndwr, where the last true Welsh prince reined until his death. Then to Aberystwyth, which is a really cool town on the seaside...I really liked the place plus it was sorta a college town like Bangor is. Walked around with the boys taking pictures on the ruins the Aberystwyth Castle and climbing stuff. Then onto a really good supper, and walking the beach finding cool stones and bones. Then later on we reverted back to 10yrs old and played lava with the water and slippery rocks at night...I did not come out a winner in that game, pants ended up very wet. Stayed overnight there in this nice hotel, which I loved b/c we pratically had our own rooms, just had to share w/Courtney and had a great view of the ocean.
Day 2: Went to see the National Library of Wales there, where they have over 5 million books!! It was pretty cool, b/c it was old and you could see different sections of the library were different ages. Then visited Llanbadarn Fawr an old church with really cool slate gravestones and sorta creepy burial plots inside the church. And they had these really ancient Celtic crosses, very cool. Then off to Caernarfon Castle, which is pretty much the greatest of all Norman castles...absoultely huge! I think me and Thom climbed like every tower...which is tempting death itself b/c of the freaking narrow, worn down, spiral staircases. Also have important ceremonies there and such too.
Day 3: Visited the town of Conwy and Conwy Castle, which is really cool b/c the whole town is ringed by the old castle wall so you can walk the wall and go around the town. Tight fit getting in, better have a good bus driver or else you'll get stuck going thru the old archways. Then went to visit the town of Llandudno which is a nice seaside resort type place. Got to go up and see the Great Orme mines, which are incredibily old mines that have Roman copper mines ruins left in them, but they had many things in there that far out date the Romans too. Then we headed on back to Bangor and that was the tour of Wales.
There are so many cool places to go here and I love this country!