My holiday in North Wales

But let's begin at the beginning as Maria in The Sound of Music would say. We set off from home on a Monday morning by taxi, for three miles to meet the coach. First we travelled to Bristol where people departed to various other coaches to go off to different destinations. We took the coach to Llandudno in North Wales. You pronounce Llandudno like this Thlandidno, of course it's Welsh. It's by the sea. You get a little glimpse of it on the introductory photo Where I am standing on the pier. Piers are long structures built out into the sea. People like to walk along them and fish from them. We arrived quite early and were given tea and sandwiches as there had been some mix -up about lunch. Then we went to our rooms. It was mostly comfortable but a bit lacking in comfort in the bath room. Here the toilet was so close to the wash basin that one had to squeeze between the two to sit down. Fortunately I am agile. I expect if I had complained to the coach driver I would have been given a better room, but I don't like complaining, so I managed. The cost for five days and four nights is about 200 GBP so I really think one cannot expect The Ritz.

On the first full day in Wales we went on the trip to Snowdonia. The tops of the mountains were, as often, covered in cloud. It was a sombre, moody landscape. We saw rock climbers when we stopped to view the scene. This is a land full of romance and of heroes fighting the English. There is a legend of Prince Llewyelyn the Great leaving his baby in the care of his faithful hound Gelert. When he returned he found the hound covered in blood. He killed it assuming it had harmed the baby and then he found a dead wolf slain by Gelert. Next he discovered the baby safe and well. He was distraught that he had not believed in Gelert. These are the kind of stories that grow from this moody and mystical place,

On our trip to Snowdon we also called in at Betws- y- Coed. This is the principal village of Snowdonia National Park. Here there are shops with Welsh Tweed clothes and memorabilia and trinkets. About a mile up the road are The Swallow Falls, where the river rushes into a chasm. These falls are beautiful but not world class in height. This was a cloudy, murky day, but moody and mystical. We also had a walk by the river.

The next day we decided to skip the scheduled trip to Chester, back into England and instead stay in North Wales, look around the town and do some shopping and then take the local bus out to Bodnant gardens. It was a very good decision. It took just about half an hour to get there and the bus stopped right outside the gardens. What a lovely place. It was Autumn so there were some spectacular colours to see.

It was a most enjoyable walk in beautiful surroundings.

Here in North Wales
Autumn comes
With red and gold
Upon the bough.
Spreading grass
Invites us to gaze beyond
Up past the green and yellow,
To the evergreen blue.

Leaves are falling
Some boughs are bare,
Crimson highlights everywhere.
The year is dying
But in a blaze of glory.
Telling once more
The ancient story,
The story of death and life returning.

Hear the water falling
In a constant stream.
So relaxing in its constancy
Pouring under the bridge.
Plunging downward
Into the dell,
Pure and lovely
We are under its spell.

Lily pond at Bodnant
Reflecting all the joys,
The bending boughs,
The splendid house
All mirrored in your face.

Lily pond you just lie quiet
To produce your magic.
No fuss, no alarm,
Quiet and calm,
You give back glory to glory.

On the third day we rejoined our friends on the coach and went to see Conway Castle. From the castle we could see the bridges for road on the left and ,covered in for rail on the right. The castles in Wales are English structures meant to help subdue the Welsh in past centuries, now they are a source of income as tourist sites.

Strong bastion
Of an invader's might
In the land of the mountain
The land of the Red Kite.
Forever proud your people be
They stand upright
Survivors of war
They never flee.

The crumbling walls
Tell of times that have been.
Now the pen is mightier than the sword,
Poverty is the weapon.

The Welsh in the south of the country are fairly well resigned to the English but there is still a lot of animosity among the North Wales population, where poverty is more prevalent. The Welsh now have their own assembly, I'm not a very politically aware person but I believe their assembly does not have as much power as the Scottish one. No doubt many of their grievances are justified.

And so the holiday comes to an end and on the Friday we travel back from North Wales to Devon, also a beautiful place. The change of scenery has done us a power of good and we return refreshed, to our normal everyday life. Hopefully you too have enjoyed the trip.