Wales Rider

So a bit happened between Ireland and Wales, but not really enough to warrant it's own entry.

The Thursday before Good Friday we hopped on a train to Rhyll, stopping for about an hour at Chester which just so happens to be near where our (Thomas) ancestors came from (before being deported) arriving about midnight.
Day 1 - Good Friday
It was quite a good Friday, as we went for a drive and visited several towns in reasonable proximity to where we were. We started by visiting place called Llandudno, which had a big Limestone hill called the Big Orm, so we walked along t he beach, along the pier up the hill, and through town. FOR lunch I bought a thing called a Welsh oggie which was a kind of pie/pasty thing with mince and potatoes in it. Quite nice and reasonable value. Anyway, from there we checked out Conway - a walled city, with an awesome castle as well. What made the castle cool was he fact you could climb their turrets. From Conwy we checked out Anglesey Island, and Beaumaris castle. Beaumaris castle is apparently "a perfect example of a concentrically planned castle" basically it has an outer wall, and an inner wall as well.


Day 2 Saturday

We went to and climbed Mt Snowdon, in the Snowdonia National Park. What added to the achievement was the fact we couldn't park in the car park, essentially adding on another couple of kilometres to the walk. It was a bit of a mission, but once I got to the final part - the ridge to the summit I just powered it up there. I managed to keep my shoes dry for the duration of the walk too, until the very end, where we made a short-cut across a paddock- which in true British style was a bog in disguise. Needless to say we were pretty tired once we had finished it.

Day 3 - Easter Sunday

We drove down towards Cardiff, checking out a few things along the way, including a reconsructed Iron age village, and St David's Cathedral. Along the way we passed some of the coastline where a famous Pirate originated from - "Black Bart" - Bart Roberts. Ok, maybe not so famous that everyone knows him, but I'm a Pirate fan (surrounded by castles and Pirates - I was in near euphoria, all I needed was some Ninjas, women, and an unlimited supply of food). We ended up staying the night in a hostel that was once part of the Ministry of Defense.

Day 4 Easter Monday.

Once we got up we headed to Swansea, had a quick look, and then went to Tintern Abbey - which was pretty cool - ruins of an old Cistern Abbey. After that we headed to Cardiff, had a bit of a look, and then caught our train back to London.