Day Five (Across the Irish Sea to Wales)

Somewhere in Snowdonia National Park

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Wales looks like a fascinating place to me. I would never try to drive here without a GPS. I swear half the towns start with the same "Lla...". We were staying in Llangollen, but we passed signs for Llanuwchilin, Llangynog, Llanderfel, Llanwddyn and Llanymayyddwy. The countryside, especially around Snowdonia, is a lush green like Irelands, but with more trees and less rocks.

On second thought, maybe it isn't so different from Ireland

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Just like Ireland, this part of Wales was chock full of sheep and rocks.

After a short rest stop...

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we continued deeper into Snowdonia. The farther we went into the mountains the lusher things became. It almost looked cool outside our air-conditioned bus. What looked most inviting to me were all the miles of stone walls dividing countless pastures often being bisected by roaring streams tumbling down from the nearby mountains.

Dinas Bran Castle

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Looming over the town of Llangollen where we were to spend the night, was the ruins of this 12th Century castle. It was originally built by the princes of Powys. Legends claim it was a resting place for the Holy Grail at one point. As soon as we pulled into town, James convinced most of us to try an assault on the summit after dinner.

Arriving in Llangollen

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Just after 6 pm we reached our hotel in Llangollen. The Hand was a very quaint, cozy place totally devoid of air conditioning. Like most European hotels my room was just big enough for the single bed and a desk with little room for my suitcase. With the temperature feeling like it was over 100 degrees in the room, I hurried back down to the pub on the ground floor. This was the view looking out the huge open windows.

Beautiful downtown Llangollen

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After our dinner at the hotel most of us in the group headed out toward the mountain fortress, Dinas Bran Castle. On our way we passed along this colorful street.

Just around the corner

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Despite the high temps it was a perfect evening. Even at 8:30 at night the sun was still shining bright and the colors of the town seemed alive.

After crossing Llangollen Bridge

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This was the view back across the fast-moving river that flows through the middle of the town. Because the river spills out of the nearby mountains and is just too fast-moving to be navigable (except by 21st Century canoe daredevils), a canal was constructed parallel to the river. Incidently, Thomas Telford was responsible for much of the construction along this 46 mile canal system.

Wimpy Doug

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I started up the steep incline toward the castle along with the rest of the group, but before the ascent got too steep I started to feel a twinge in my right knee. I was afraid of ending up as an invalid the rest of the trip so I wussed-out. Gail continued climbing with the rest while I headed back downhill to take a walk along the even banks of the canal. In the distance you can see the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct which was built by Thomas Telford.

She made it

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Gail snapped this shot of the remains of a gate at Dinas Bran Castle. From the valley below the castle looks even more ancient I thought it pre-dated the Romans until I read more about it on the internet.

And not a one using an oxygen tank

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Up at the summit the guys of course had to assemble for a photo opportunity. They don't look in all that bad a shape considering their ordeal.

Meanwhile, down along the canal

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While the others were scaling Mt. llangollen, I headed-out along the Shropshire Canal. It was very quiet this evening but it looked like this might get very crowded with tourists on weekends and holidays. In the vicinity were plenty of spots for outdoor cafes and pubs. Many of the canal boats I passed advertised the fact that they were available for rental. That sounded like a dream vacation someday - to cruise at our own leisure through these quaint little Welsh villages sipping a couple of beers along the way.

Canal boat parking lot

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A short way down the towpath I came across this little cove where canal boats were allowed to tie-up for the night. Quite a few folks were sitting on their decks sipping some bubbly, enjoying the summer night air. As the sun finally began to go down just after 10:00pm, the temperatures fell to more bearable levels.

In the Hand pub

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After my walk along the canal which I followed to just outside the town limits, I returned to the hotel to wait for Gail. When she returned I took her back for an abbreviated walk along the now dark canal towpath. Still not wanting to call it a night yet, we headed down to the hotel bar. We enjoyed a couple beers while watching the gentlemen feeding his dog small dishes of beer and salted peanuts. It was after 11:00 before we headed up to bed.