Another weekend of traveling, and I think everyone is getting used to living on a small bus. We basically get around through the use of a giant 16 person van, with a driver who is intent upon getting up to our destination as quick as possible. It isn't about our comfort and safety, but all about the road ahead for Roger, our driver. Lots of jerky stops and starts and being woken up by a sudden slamming on the brakes every so often keeps us on our toes. Surprisingly everyone manages to sleep through most of this, but I struggle a little more than most.
Day one: We drove straight across England to Chester. Chester is right on the border. It is impressive little town with tons of shopping. It maintains a lot of its old architecture and past while keeping up with the changing times. It has many of the leading brands stores, and highest fashion, and everything was very expensive. Amusingly, the stores were on two separate levels set in these old 18th century buildings.
We wandered the walls of the city, learning about it's history and close ties all the way back to the Romans, who constructed the wall.
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A little on the Go advertisement.
We then proceeded on to Conwy, which was absolutely stunning. On the drive there, we were met with three or four different rainbows, the last one touching down in Conwy valley. What a great sign for the arrival into such a beautiful town. This was the view outside my window when I woke up the next morning. That's how to start your day right!
We first learned a few things about Wales and it's people through our elderly tour guide, who was all the more effective in his unwavering affection for Wales. He told many anecdotes alluding to the pride and assumed superiority over the rest of Great Britain. He was a funny old man. He then led us to the Castle. Thus far it is the grandest castle that we have visited and was very impressive both in size and it's condition.
Both our first and second nights here were spent on the cities walls. They are in awesome shape towering anywhere between 15-30ft. high. In all the time we were there, the weather was clear with some clouds for the perfect visual effects. At night, the moon was full and looked beautiful over the town and castle, and reflected perfectly in the water. We spent many hours sitting at this vantage point talking, laughing and on our second night, many of us had a good Cuban Cigar. A rare occurrence but a nice treat. Notice the moon reflecting in the water. Absolutely gorgeous nights.
On the wall the first night, the Knights of Nottinham invading Conwy!
This is a view on the wall with the castle in the distance. It is the most complete set of town walls in all the UK, while Chester where we came from has the most extensive set of Roman town walls in all the UK. To big sites in one trip!
Again, some beautiful clouds in the sky. Cemetary at Llandudno.
THat same first day in Conwy, we took a short bus ride over to Llandudno, the place you see here in the distance. That huge mound on the left had some seriously massive winds that could easily shove you back. It was a fight to walk against it.
Mary and Emily, always excited for travel. They would probably kill me for putting up this picture. So Be it!
Our final day in Conwy consisted of hiking up onto Conwy mountain and having a picnic part way up with various Welsh Cheeses and ham sandwiches. Besides that, it was mostly a day to wander on the mountain and soak in the sites all around. Before we left, I slipped back into town and bought some books in a second-hand book store. There were some good classics I couldn't resist.
THat is the mountain we are hiking up to. Very overwhelming and much bigger than it looks here.
Aaron and I sitting on one of the higher peaks of these hills. What an amazing day! I couldn't hope for any more breathtaking sites than these.
1 comment:
no killings for the pic- no violence
we love you too much brandon :)
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