North Wales

NORTH WALES
We arrived at Manchester airport just before noon, jumped into the rental car and headed toward north Wales. We drove along a typical motorway for a while and then dropped off the north coast highway and descended into the narrow valleys of the Wales mountains. Picture a lot of green cauliflower (just do it, don’t argue) placed onto a plate with a few other pieces of cauliflower on top. Those are the round hills draped in different colors of green. We are driving down the valleys in between the heads (mountains), next to tumbling shallow streams and periodic small waterfalls. Once in a while we drive over an old roman type bridge…steep peak in the middle, single lane, with no way to see if another car is coming at you. Pretty soon we pass through Betws-y-coed and head up the hill to a mountain pass and then drop down a narrow winding road till we come to a placid lake in a simple valley, slightly rippled by wind. The gatehouse lodge we are renting is 0.3 mile along the lake. Cousin Suzy and her husband Nick are ready to go and we are off on a hike around the lake before dinner; appetites are stimulated. The next two days we spent hiking castle walls, visiting Gelert’s grave (see Wikipedia!), and riding steam trains through the valleys. First we went to Bodnant Gardens, a private estate where every kind of flora (and some fauna) awaited our camera. I can’t wait to try to grow the brilliant blue poppies and some other interesting things. Lots of gorgeous Rhododendrun here; they are considered weeds by the locals and they try to pull them out whenever possible. They fill the gentle mountainsides with cascading waterfalls of purple and pink blooms. Then we moved onto castles. Edward I, King of England, had some trouble controlling the Welsh and he tried to solve the problem by building a number of castles encircling the North Wales area, each one with water access and many with a walled town surrounding them. The “Iron Ring” of castles were each a days march from the next. The castles each protected a walled town which was settled by English citizens, providing the King of England with troops. The first we visited, Conwy Castle, was built in 1283 and is Fairly well preserved. Located at the mouth of a river, it was well situated for protection of the town its walls encircled. The short narrow streets are lined with very old well preserved building and the town enjoyed some prosperity in the past from trading, and now from tourism.
Next we drove by Beaumaris castle; it is quite beautiful and controls one end of the Menai straights between Anglesey (an island) and mainland Wales. It is only one level tall, but was surrounded by a moat which added to its protection and its picturesque quality for tourists. The town is a lovely English conclave with timbered buildings and a lovely marsh area and open straits beyond, now with sailboats.
The next day brought us to Caernarfon castle, where the title “Prince of Wales” is bestowed on the heir to the English throne. Edward I, after conquering Wales in the 1270s, promised his son, who would become King after him, would be welsh to the bone, born there and speaking only welsh. Prince Charles was invested with the title at this site. This castle stands at the other end of the Menai straits and is the strongest in the Iron Links. The structure itself is honeycombed with tunnels, stairways, murder holes and tall towers overlook everything. Edward I tried to tie it to the Arthurian legend to make it invincible with round table celebrations. Ultimately he succeeded, but the Welsh dragon still flies over its ramparts.
Finally, we rode a steam train through the hills from Caernarfon to Beddgelert, passing sheep, hill and dale (yes, those words mean something), sheep, slate and copper mines, sheep and more sheep. By the way, there are lots of sheep here; they have really long tails and look like weird dogs when they run away from you. They have more brains, though, than silly cows and get off the road as soon as possible. Off to the house for dinner, wine, wine and more wine. This IS vacation!