Conway 1 - a look back on the holiday and a Snowdonia hotpot

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This blog should have had some lovely photographs of Bodnant Gardens, the victorian house, the Pin Mill,the lily ponds and the summer flowering long beds however ............the battery on the camera was flat and guess who forgot to take the mobile phone to take photos. We only realised when we got there and both of us said "Well get the camera out then" How many times do you get somewhere and realise you have forgotten something.

We are missing the motorhome life desperately. It has been difficult to settle in at home to the much larger living space, the bigger bed and going back to normality and work. We spent the first week cleaning Suzy out. How many stones can you bring in to a motorhome on your shoes?. We had tried to keep her tidy using dustpan and brush and even purchased a small battery vacuum cleaner. Of course it took too long to charge up and discharged its power within minutes rendering it almost useless for the task. The stones had to remain until we got home. We emptied the fridge and cleaned it, emptied the dirty washing and spent days trying to get it washed and dried, we cleaned the toilet. We have to find a better system of washing clothes next trip. Staying in one place for more than a few days might help. Its hard washing by hand and hoping for hot weather to quickly dry clothes that have not been through the wringer. The fresh water and grey water tanks were sterilised and cleaned and refilled in readiness for our next trip. We dusted. The alarm started going off like a banshee. In the middle of the night, in the middle of the day, it howled. It had to go back to be de-sensitised which hopefully will cure it and prevent our neighbours falling out with us. It was something to do with the microwave signals which were being triggered off by something or other . Suzy still needs a wash but that has had to wait due to the awful weather we have had since our return. Flaming June describes the month well. It used to mean hot and sunny now the month is just flaming horrible.

However back to Bodnant a wonderful National Trust estate near to Llanrwst owned by the Aberconway family. The car parks were heaving and we were resigned to the additional car parking which was a bit of a shock as it was early in the week. We had not expected so many people there. There were two busloads, the first full of Japanese and the second full of Dutch tourists. I guess gardening transcends the languages as we heard the words Magnolia and Camellias being uttered by the tourists.

We entered via the underpass planted with pretty pink cistus. This reminded me of Monets Garden which is accessed via a soutteraine. The first sight that beholds is the house which must have started as a hunting lodge and like Topsy grew. Pure gothic fantasy it had mullioned oriel windows, pretty black and white mock Tudor woodwork, large heavy wooden victorian doors and it reminded me of Rothbury and Cragside the home of Armstrong the industrialist. The lawns were immaculate and neatly trimmed, the long border full of promise, roses creeping along the high brick walls - too many to remember the names of. The clematis drifting in and out of the flowerbeds and up the walls. Bright vibrant red poppies drawing the eye to the garden. The Bearded Iris had gone over as had the rhodedendrums which a few weeks ago must have looked wonderful. A reminder here that the garden would be lovely in Spring and Autumn. We saw the tallest redwood in Britain and a magnificent specimen it was too. Despite the large numbers of visitors it was easy to find a quiet spot down the dell which ran alongside the river, full of hydrangeas, welsh poppies and the lovely candelabra primulas in pinks, pale oranges and buff colours. Himalyan poppies were planted up at the old mill in the bottom of the dell. Pretty Japanese style bridges criss crossed the river. On the terrace below the house was another wonderful long border with the spires of Foxtail Lilies just started to show some colour and yellow and orange day lilies opening up in the sun. A main feature of the terrace as well as the long border was the lily pond full of pink and white water lilies. The lower terrace featured a lovely stone wall with alcoves and planted with perennials. The Pin Mill a lovely Italinate building set the scene as a backdrop for yet another lily pond.

We ate dinner in the Pavilion restaurant a pretty white wooden painted chalet with neat green and white tablecloths. Snowdonia hotpot was ordered - a stew of carrots, mutton , potatoes and peas with a herby cheesy scone on top. i called it a cheese and herby cobbler and was told by himself that I should moderate my language. . A lovely end to a lovely day.

This blog will complete our first European trip in Suzy and is full of hard facts or at least the facts I can remember. The intention was to keep all receipts and to write down all costs in a little book so that we could work out exactly how much we had spent on the trip. However best intentions and all that.............I saved most receipts and I wrote down some figures but not everything is here.

Our train from Folkestone to Calais cost £34 surcharge was we came back early. The return trip should have been free using Tesco vouchers.

We travelled 3354 miles.

We spent 30 days travelling. Of those 30 days we had 3 days of thunderstorms and 1 day of heavy rain without the thunder and lightening. Around 6 days were dull and indifferent and the rest hot.

Temperatures ranged from the low to mid 20's right up to the high 30's in Italy,Slovenia and Croatia.

Petrol was purchased mostly from motorway service stations with the exception of 2 fills. It cost 1 .53.9 euros in Belgium, 1.35 euros in France, 1.35 euros in Holland, 1.55 euros in Germany and Italy , 9.99 kunas in Croatia.

We averaged 25.4 mpg.

Best campsite - Camping Bor in Krk

Worse campsite - Bella Italia as it was too cramped and busy

Biggest surprise - Croatia

Biggest disappointment -not seeing more of and spending more time in Croatia

We visited 5 castles, 1 monastery, 3 museums, many churches and 1 art exhibition.

We used public transport - Italian train from Peschiera to Verona, Italian Bus from Sistiana to Trieste, trams all around Mulhouse and boat from Fusina to Venice.

Food was generally expensive in all countries with the exception of Croatia.

Camping cost £425, we mostly used ACSI sites which cost between 12 - 16 euros. The dearest campsite was Horw in Switzerland which was 33 swiss francs.

Tolls varied between 40 kuna to go over to Krk to a few euros right up to 11 euros.

Parking varied between free on aires to 7 50euros and all different prices in between.

Next time I will keep all receipts and write everything down and perhaps will be able to work out facts and figures more comprehensively.

The pictures are the best of the rest. .

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Photos

Verona
Chimneys

Lake Garda
Sion on tour