September Holiday - Wales and England

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Camille Needs to Warm Up After a Wet Hike

Our Little Mountain Climber

Camille Adding to the Cairn

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I’ve officially had my first “holiday” and what a great one it was. There was no school on Friday or Monday. I have no idea why we were off; I never got around to asking. Elizabeth picked me up on Thursday after school and we headed south to Wales. It didn’t take long at all. We were at our B and B by 7:00 that night. We stayed in the town of Llandudno. As soon as I saw the scene, I knew we would have fun. The beach was a large crescent with two large rocks at each end. There was a wide promenade to walk from one end to the other and a long pier to walk out as well. The buildings were all beautiful with plenty of wonderful pubs and restaurants to choose from. Our hosts, Julie and Steve, at the Burliegh Guest were fantastic. They took care of us from the minute we arrived. They truly were fantastic hosts! They recommended a Chinese restaurant, not usually my favorite, but we gave it a try and had a great meal.

Friday morning came and we headed up the Great Orm at the western edge of the beach. The rains were intense, but the walk was exquisite. For obvious reasons, there was no one up there but the sheep and us. We had a great view over the town and on the walk down the clouds began to lift. Camille got quite chilled and had the shivers as well. We decided it was time for her first cup of tea. As you can see in the video she responded well to the treatment. By noon the clouds had cleared and the temperatures rose. We spent the day walking the beach, admiring the architecture, soaking up the sun, and enjoying a few frosty ones as well. I didn’t want to be inside until the sun had gone down. Camille and I had a nice stroll out the pier that I will remember for a long time to come. It was one of those times that being a dad is the best thing in the world! After our walk we went back to the room, grabbed Elizabeth and went to the bar for some pub grub.

Saturday we awoke again to sunny blue skies and headed for Snowdonia National Park with bagging Snowden in our minds. Unfortunately the mountain was socked in and the rain was falling. Had it been us, we would have went for it, but based on Camille’s performance one day earlier, we decided against. We enjoyed a very scenic drive through the park and headed on to Caernarfon. This town is home to Wales’s crown jewel of castles, Caernarfon Castle. This castle is the location of Prince Charles’s coronation. It was the most stunning castle we’ve seen yet. Pictures do not do it justice. It is a must-see for anyone whoever visits Wales. In some ways, I’m glad we chose not to hike Snowden, as I would have missed the opportunity to see this place. From here we drove on to Bangor to see the location of what would have been exchange opportunity number two. There was not much to see or do and we carried on back to Llandudno along the coast enjoying the incredible vistas along the way. Before heading back into town we figured we should climb the orm at the eastern end of town. It was pretty clear and you could see the water on both sides of Lladudno. This is where we shot the video of Camille huffing up the mountain and placing her rock on the cairn and triumphantly shouting, “I’m at the top of the mountain.” We got back to town, walked around taking in more sunshine and tasty beverages. At one of the establishments we had a lively conversation about our idiot-in-chief, Mr. Bush. It seems that you can’t find a Welsh-man who likes him either. The bartender often visits Cuba and further convinced me that I must go there some day. I think he enjoyed our company as he brought out his secret stash of twelve-year old rum from Havana that he kept in the back. He poured us some “on the house”; very tasty. After all this we said our goodbyes and then went out for some Bangladesh food.

Sunday we headed over to Chester, England to visit Elizabeth’s former exchange school. On the way there we stopped at the UK’s biggest zoo located just outside Chester. Camille absolutely loved it. All the animals that she hears about so often in her books fascinated her. The zoo was very nice as well and had every animal that you could want to see. At the end of the day though when asked what her favorite animal was, she replied “the peacock!” I could have saved myself $50 and brought her to Mount Pisgah when I got home.

After the zoo we headed into Chester to peruse memory lane with Elizabeth. We went to her favorite watering holes, walked the stone Roman wall that encircles the city, went to her favorite watering holes, went out for some French cuisine, went to her favorite watering hole, played some pool, and went to one of her favorite watering holes. It was a very cultural experience.

Sunday morning we woke up and visited the campus of Chester University. It was the first day of classes and campus was quite lively and everyone was in good spirits as they embarked on that wonderful experience, college life. Elizabeth’s favorite watering holes had me feeling not so cheery and the lack of coffee exasperated my mood even further. After a short tour we were on the road back to Glasgow. Unfortunately, so were what seemed like the rest of the population of the UK. We traveled mere miles in two hours and my caffeine headache was beginning to rage. Finally around twelve noon, the planets aligned and my 20 oz. americano was kicking in. I often wonder, what would life be like without the three elements, beer, caffeine and water?

We are home again and I am excited to announce I have my first tee-time set up for next Sunday. Enjoy the pictures and the videos. Peace.

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Photos

A Very Wet Hike
We started the day on Friday with a very wet hike! The sunny pictures that follow are only hours later.

Comments

[Julia]

Wow! Wales looked absolutely beautiful! And seeing pictures of England...made me miss it so much! I love reading these (Tim your humor is hilarious!) and being able to see Camille...what a trooper she is! We miss you guys....keep these updates coming!