We woke up sooo early to make our 7 am sailing time. I knew we were taking a ferry across the Irish Sea, but when they said ferry, they really meant cruise ship. Now, I have never been on a cruise, but this seriously was not just a ferry.
The thing had three floors of things to do and you could go out on top of the boat and catch the view (if you didn't mind being blown away- it was windy out there!)
After we got off the boat in Wales, we got on a coach bus that would take us to London. We would be making many stops along the way across the BEAUTIFUL countryside. This is what we saw out the window on our way to our first stop.
One look at this and I was sold. I wanted to move into that little white house on the right and disappear for a month. I had to stop taking pictures so I could sit back and enjoy the view. All the little white dots are sheep. Our guide said this was what most of the English countryside looks like and that made me happy, because this is exactly what I've always imagined while reading Pride and Prejudice.
Our first stop (and potty break) was at Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. That was not a typo. It is the smallest little town with the longest name in the world. It's Welsh and I have come to know that words in Welsh have lots of consonants which makes it very hard for this American girl to try to pronounce anything! In English, it means: the church of Mary in the hollow of the white hazel near the fierce whirlpool and the church of Tysilio by the red cave. It was a cute little town with a great shop, good food and a fun stamp for your passport!
We drove for another couple of hours while I stared out the window with my mouth open. (There may have been some sleeping with my mouth open, but you will not see those picture here!) My students thought it was really funny to take pictures of me sleeping while I was definitely NOT looking like a sweet sleeping angel. I was very nice and never took any wide open, gaping mouth, sleeping photos of anyone....just for the record!
Our guide decided we should stop at an old slate quarry that she knew about. We were all so glad she did, well maybe just my group-the artsy ones. We were always ready for a great photo op.
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After we left the slate quarry we were on the road again through Snowdonia National Park, which has got to be one of the most breathtaking places. We found ourselves winding through the mountains gasping at these vistas.
I absolutely fell in love with it up here. We stopped and got to get out and Pete and I immediately walked the opposite direction from our group to experience this view! I just had to lay down to take it all in. I LOVE mountains with no trees. Some of you know how much I dislike trees. They are messy and they block my view. I like nothing more than wide open space. Here is the view as I was laying down.
Pete and I decided to climb up the side of one of the mountains to get some good pictures. We perched on a rock pretty high up. I know this doesn't look very high, but trust me- it was!
Those darn power lines. I was blind to them when taking the pictures.
Our next stop was a seaside city by the name of Llandudno. We all fell in love with this little town. Our guide told us that Llandudno was the UK's less warm and smaller version of the French Riviera. It is a Victorian era holiday destination that hasn't really changed much over the years. We stayed in a really old hotel, which definitely was the least updated of anywhere we stayed. No air conditioning, but lots of character. We kept getting lost in the windy hallways. It also had a great chef, so the food was really good! There was so much to see that we didn't stay in the hotel too much- we were only going to be there that one afternoon. Right after getting our stuff dropped off in our rooms we headed out to the shore. Most of the beach is pebbly, but there was a sandy beach area too.
The main drag is called the promenade. It runs along the coastline and has wide sidewalks with palm trees. All the hotels along the promenade are varying shades of white, cream and beige. The town is more than the promenade, but we didn't really explore the city. Everything closes early, which is common in Europe. Everyone just wants to get off work so they can relax. After we explored the beach we walked down to the long boardwalk. Peak tourist time for Llandudno is July, so a lot of the carnival rides and games were still closed. We really didn't mind, because without all the vacationers, we really had the place to ourselves.
Old wrought iron from the boardwalk.
Here's what it looked like a hundred and fifty years ago or so. I know this looks pretty similar to old pictures of Coney Island that you have seen before, but I just cannot imaging taking my children to the beach and schlepping all the stuff in my dress, corset, boots and hat!
Then and now.
Along the boardwalk we got a great view of the Great Orme of Llandudno, which is a big hunk of limestone that juts out. We even found our way down to a little secluded beach area where there were caves and all kinds of colorful rocks.
The girls in front of the cave. I did not go in. I did not want to meet a bat... or something worse!
Looking up we saw the remains of some kind of medieval structure. I learned after we got home that the rest fell into the ocean and this is all that is left.
Up on top of the Great Orme is a beautiful garden area with walking paths and a spectacular view. My three female students all want to come to Llandudno on their honeymoons and my male student thought it was "really cool" as well. Funny enough, I came across on some British guy's blog that had a photo of Llandudno with a caption under it that says, "it's not quite Florida, but it'll do." Crazy, huh!?!? I guess everyone gets tired of the vacation spots near them. I love Florida too, but Llandudno is so much cooler than Daytona, Destin, Miami Beach and Key West combined! Well friends, can you believe this entire post was all in one day!?! I'm exhausted just remembering it!
