Conway - 2 - a fairy tale town, a countdown to a holiday, a worm and the shortest day

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Where does time go to? One minute its the night before Christmas and then before you can blink your eyes Christmas has gone and its Boxing Day. The turkey and trimmings all eaten, the decorations feel as if they have been up for years and the presents and cards opened. Only 364 days to the next Christmas and it will soon be here.

The weather has been distinctly unseasonal, rain,rain and more rain followed by frost and then a return to more torrential rain. We have spent the holiday reading blogs about sunnier climes and feeling envious of those who are free to take their motorhomes abroad for the festive season. The nearest we have got to Christmas abroad is reading about it and thinking what we would do to celebrated the holidays if we were in Europe. The thought of holing up in a French aire appeals,being able to buy fresh bread and croissants, delicious cakes, visiting German markets and perhaps going to church. Neither of us are particularly religious but wouldnt it be nice to attend a Roman CAtholic Christmas service. We wouldnt understand a word being said but carols are the same the Christian world around so we could take part and sing and hum along. Suzy could be decorated with fairy lights and a christmas tree and the turkey could be cooked in the small gas oven. What a lovely thought.

But we are home and our little town looks lovely decorated tastefully with Christmas trees placed at the outskirts on all the approach roads to the town twinkling with blue tiny lights. The street lamps are decorated with silver and white prettily glowing snowflakes. And our town square resplendent with decorated trees. It is such a lovely place to live.

We received our Caravan Club rally diary and spent a few hours debating joining a rally. There are a no rallies in January but we were assured of a warm welcome at the first Winter outing at the Royal Vale Club site close to Knutsford in Cheshire or we can join Rally number 2 a navigation weekend near to Holywell. In March there is a Skittles Rally at the Bickerton Poacher a pub we visited in the Autumn. The fees seem quite reasonable around a rally fee of £22.20 and site fees of £7.50 and expenses of £3.50 for the weekend for the Lots of Do Rally near to Frodsham. What does worry me is the distance these rallies are away from any other visitor attractions. The Caravan Club sites are generally geared to caravaners who can use their cars to get from A to B rather than motorhomers who do not have the luxury of a car with them.

We have received both our National Trust and CAdw membership cards. This year we have received a reduction on our Cadw card as both of us have joined the ranks of being seniors . So there is justice about being older. Hopefully in a couple of weeks we will be able to start using both cards for trips out.

What else have we got for Christmas? A new Dorling Kindersley German travel book. We usually use Rough Guides but I have to admit the quality of the paper, the pictures and the descriptions are all far better than in the Rough Guides. We spent Christmas Day thinking that we need to visit more of Germany rather than just travelling through it or past it. The north particular appeals and in particular the closeness to both Sweden and Poland, countries neither of us have visited before. Also appealing is the old East Germany. A thought for Spring 2014. The problemwe have is that we keep finding places to go to and have not enough time to see them all.

We have purchased a single hob plate which works on electricity. I would have liked a BBQ to cook meals outside Suzy however I didnt fancy cleaning it after use nor having to carry separate gas bottles so the electric hob won hands down. I look forward to trying it out in April. Only about 118 days to go and counting. The shortest day has passed by so that means the lighter nights will start gradually to show themselves and that always makes me feel better.

We spent today driving the few miles up the road to the lovely Victorian town of Llandudno. We approached along the pretty seafront which looks all pristine and newly painted and comprises mainly of hotels all with sea views. . There is ample car parking alongside the road but it is clear motorhomers are not welcome to stay. It is possible to park up during the day but the signs clearly state no overnighting. This is such a shame as there are good walks along the seafront and it could be such a lovely place to stay a few days. . Sometimes Llandudno is called the Queen of the Welsh Resorts and has been named so since the Victorian era. It is rather a genteel sort of place. There is a Victorian pier built in 1878 and a long sandy beach where in the summer Punch and Judy shows still continue to this day. The headland behind the town is called the Great Orme and is populated by white mountain goats. A tramway runs to the summit between the months of March and October. Behind the town today we could see snow on the Snowdonia ranges.

We drove through the town and headed for the Marine Drive which was constructed in 1878 to form a carriage road around and to the top of the Orme. The drive is 4 miles and is one way which is a Godsend as it affords the opportunity to stop and take photos of the ever changing vista. The Orme to the front of us and the sea to the side. Today it was grey and rather choppy. The wind turbines out to sea spinning in the wind. The road leads ever upwards past the large graveyard and church of St Tudno and the entrances to the Bronze Age copper mines. Today nothing was open. On the top there are far reaching views to sea and a hotel complex, the terminus of the tramway and the cable car station.

It was a lovely day out finished off with a Kentucky Fried Chicken Must remember a bucket of 12 pieces and 4 sides of fries are too much for three of us!!!!

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Photos

Llandudno
On the marine Drive

Llandudno
The end of the road

LLandudno
On the Orme