BEAUMARIS CASTLE, ANGLESEY, WALES

Just about an hour bus ride from Conwy are about 10 castles.   We only went to Conwy and Beaumaris.   Beaumaris has a moat around it, so the setting is lovely.  The castle itself was never finished because King Edward I and his men conquered Wales and never had a use for it.   It has been left unfinished and has fallen into ruin over the centuries.   The layout is symmetrical and a large grassy court yard in the middle, with inner and outer walls for defense.   It was just a large shell of walls.   Conwy with all of it's rooms and towers were much more exciting.   The stairs are treacherous in both of them!  I have developed climbing muscles as well as the walking muscles I developed at home.   They have come to good use and so far the knees are holding up well.

CONWY CASTLE RUINS

CONWY, WALES

Conwy (pronounced Conway) is a coastal town that was once surrounded by the high walls of the castle.   The city is a village really, small and quaint.   It now consists of the village inside the walls and the village outside the walls.   The entire village is dominated by the castle on the hill with only about 4 streets.  We took a walk around the top of the wall as far as we could go, approximately half to 3/4 the way around the village.   Lots of stairs and hills.

 This is the smallest house in the UK.   It is a few meters deep and about the same wide.   The lady said that a fisherman used to live there and before him a couple.   They had a pull down bed that was stored in the ceiling when unused..........talk about compact.   I wonder where the bathroom was?

 The city and castle are located on the north Wales shore and mussels are the main featured shellfish.   Lots of boats, sailboats, etc. were scattered throughout the harbor.  It is a most beautiful setting and everyone says that we had the luck of the weather with us..........from that I gather that it is rainy and rather gloomy most of the year.

This is the Gwyfryn BandB where we are staying.   Lovely home, but the decor is soooooo cluttered that there isn't enough room to put your things.   It is very clean and the young couple that own it are very nice.

TRAVEL TO RUNCORN AND CONWY, WALES

We caught the tube from Victoria Station, in the south of London to Euston Station in the north of London (£4 each) in order to catch the train to Conwy, Wales.     The trip was on a Virgin Train/Megabus fare (£3 each) fast train that got to  Runcorn in 2 hours.

We caught another train to Conwy, via Liverpool, then transfer to Chester, then another transfer to Conwy.  We also bought our train ticket to Thirsk for Thursday and will have to go out on the platform and flag the train down in order to get on.   They don't stop if you don't flag them.  Can't be late that day.   It was a very long stressful day of trying to make connections, but it actually worked out well given that we didn't have hour layovers or missed trains.

The picture of the tracks was taken from the train platform in Conwy.   It was our first glimpse of the castle walls that we would explore the next day.

We made it to The Gynfryn BandB on York St. just up from the Lancaster Square (main square in town) and inside the massive castle walls.     Italian food at Alfredo's next to our BandB was on the menu tonight.    There is an Indian restaurant across the street to sample the night before we leave.

PARADISE, INDIAN STYLE

We arrived, checked into our hotel and since we had little lunch (consisting of nut and protein bars) we made our way to Paradise Indian restaurant for an absolutely wonderful dinner at 9 PM.   I am sure the food tasted good because of the taste but also because we were hungry!

The hotel reception told us that there are more Indian restaurants in London than any other type.   In fact he said that every 8-9 blocks you will find one.   Suits me just fine............Indian cuisine is my new favorite!

AVEBURY & MEGABUS

AVEBURY

 The stones of Avebury were set in circular patterns by people more primitive than Stonehenge.  They are literally in fields with the sheep and crops.  Paths join some of them in the main part of town, but you can see them out away from town just standing in the fields.  The stones are massive, but quite intriguing.

Between some of the stones are markers showing from archeological excavation where stones once stood.

Avebury is a quaint little village with many buildings having thatched roofs.   To help preserve the thatch, a type of chicken wire is placed over the top to keep the elements as well as the birds from destroying the roofs. 

Across the field from our BandB is the famous Silsbury Mound.   It was built by primitive people and even tho there has been archeological excavation, the purpose of it remains a mystery.  

The afternoon was spent waiting for the bus, misreading the schedule, and waiting some more for the bus to Swindon.   Once we got there, we thought the bus we were taking would leave from the main bus station.   WRONG……….the cheap bus, called MEGABUS, was leaving from a bus stop across town.   This prompted another taxi ride to make it in time, but we did and all was well except for some anxious moments.  The ride to London was about 2+ hours.  

TRIP TO BATH

Once on the train we thought all was well, except the train was diverted to Salisbury where we had to change to another train to Bath.   Ruth went to the bathroom, AND we missed the train.   We had to wait one hour for another train.  The sad thing was it cut into our time in Bath, but the good thing is that in Europe the trains run frequently, so all wasn’t lost. 

We finally arrived in Bath and went to see the city and old Roman Bath ruins.   I took the tour (£12), but Ruth opted not because of the cost.  She roamed around and scouted out a place to eat at a Moraccan restaurant.   That turned out to be a very smart move because the soup and bread was delicious.   I asked the owner for the recipe and he gave me the ingredients and method for making it.   It is the traditional meal to celebrate the end of Ramadan.   He was very engaging and seemed to be pleased to share this meal and its history.   I hope to treat the DFW ladies to Harira for dinner one night after I get home. 

 This was a model of the complex of baths and rooms that have been excavated.   They are still in the process of looking for and finding more ruins.   The displays of artifacts are numerous but the one below was my favorite.

Bath is a beautiful city and I wish we could have spent more time there, but we had to catch the train to Trowbridge in order to get to Avebury before dark.   We sat across from a delightful English couple who were most helpful in getting us to the bus stop for Avebury.   The train was a few minutes late, so we waited another hour for the next bus.  We arrived in Avebury at dark.   We asked directions to Mrs. Dixon’s BandB and was told it was a 15-20 walk………In the dark and not knowing where we were going.   A nice man offered a ride… so thankfully we arrived safely. 

On this trip to Bath/Avebury I suggested we pack an overnight bag with bare necessities, so we were light on our feet.   After all the luggage problems it was a godsend.


This was like our bus to Avebury.   We had top deck front row seats.   The narrow roads are quite precarious.  From our view I imagined all sorts of near misses.   The round-abouts seem so small that you wouldn't think that a bus this size could go around them.    

OFF TO BATH

We were to go to Bath this day and I misread the departure point.   We went to the Victoria Coach Station only to discover we needed to be at Waterloo in less than 40 min.   The return trip was to Victoria Coach Station. We had to take a taxi in order to get there in time.   Once there we discovered that the train was ½ hr. late in departing.  Whew, we could once again breathe.   Ruth’s response was,   “gee, we would have had time to take the tube.”   The taxi ride cost £11 and the tube cost £4 each........a savings of £3.   The taxi ride was worth not having the hassle of bags, stairs, escalators, etc. AND we had a little time to calm  down.  

LONDON

We walked down to Buckingham Palace and Trafalger Square.   We toured the National Portrait Gallery (I am afraid that all the portraits all looked alike by the end of the tour……men and women).   Ruth and I split up after lunch at the gallery and I was able to cover more ground on my own.  I went to the British Museum and was fascinated by the Egyptian exhibit the most.   There were many other exhibits that were extremely well done.  One could spend an entire day there and not see all of it.   My 2 hours barely covered the basics.   From there I went to Covent Gardens, Westminister Abby, where I sat in on the last half of evensong, and then back to our hotel to meet up with Ruth.   

With no real food, I still hadn’t purchased a suitcase that had been my top priority for the day, but didn’t want to drag one all over the city.   I ended up purchasing one in Victoria Station that I probably spent a premium price for,  but it was done.  Then we went by bus to Picadilly Circus……..Ruth wanted to go to the National Gallery.  With no dinner and time slipping away, I left her and went back to the hotel to begin my repacking.

LONDON TOWN and GREENWICH

Our first day of being tourists, we took the Hop On/Hop Off bus.   A welcomed relief after the tiring day before.  We sat on the bus and listened to narration of the important areas of London.   It included a River Thames cruise, which we took to Greenwich and the Prime Meridian.  This separates the eastern and western hemispheres of the earth.  We picked up the bus tour where we left off and continued to our place of origin at Victoria Station, which was near our hotel. 

WINDSOR CASTLE

After arriving at LHR we made our way to Windsor Castle where we met Amanda’s friend, Melissa and son George, with bags in hand.   It wasn’t far from the airport so we decided to do it on the way into London rather than do a backtrack.   We drug suitcases with us (ugh) over hill and dale.  My bag seemed extremely heavy, but I thought I had just over packed (even tho I thought I was going with only essentials).  The lady at the check baggage counter mentioned that the wheels were not functioning properly.   When we got to the hotel, after much lugging and sore hands, I checked them and the wheel tread was worn and partially separating.    That meant purchasing a new bag as there was no way I could use the that one for 4 weeks. 

EAR BUDS GALORE

Ruth and I met at PDX at about 6:30 AM on 9/20/2011.   We left on time, but on the way to Houston I realized that I had left the battery to my noise blocking earphones plugged in at home.   Oh, well the earphones themselves served the purpose without the battery.   In the airport at Houston I noticed a BEST BUY kiosk selling electronics and accessories, so I bought a set of ear buds.  We got on the plane and the first thing they did was hand out ear buds………..free!   Now I have 2 sets of ear buds and my non-functioning earphones.  Once we got to our London hotel and we were unpacking, I discovered I had packed my Bose ear buds (thinking I had decided to just take the earphones).   Now I have 3 sets of them.    The first day in London we took the Hop On/Hop Off bus so that we could sit and orient ourselves.   They handed us a set of ear buds, so now I have 4 sets.   I guess you can never had too many!

GET READY

Ruth and I have been meeting periodically this spring and summer to plan our trip to Europe.  Our flight plans have been made (both of us are using frequent flyer miles with United Airlines).   We will fly to London/Heathrow on September 20, 2011 and fly home from Barcelona on October 18, 2011.   In between those two dates we will visit Windsor, London, Bath (England), Conwy (Wales), Edinburgh (Scotland) and Newcastle (England).   We will fly from Newcastle to Paris,  make our way to Switzerland, then to the south of France (Provence), and end in Barcelona.    Decisions being made currently on transportation, sightseeing, activities, and lodging.   The most exciting of the lodging arrangements is the B&B at the base of the Eiffel Tower at the home of Florence.