30 March   Thursday  Snowdonia    Betws-y-Coed   Caernarfon Castle  Llandudno

I am ready and downstairs by 7:20 AM.  It’s not raining, but it is overcast.  No one is in the lobby yet and the banquet room doors are locked.  I wait at a small table in the bay window in the front of the lobby.  I check out the ocean and a simply map of the area to pass the time.  At 7:30 Cindy (soprano) shows up and others follow.  The banquet hall is opened and we can go in.  The space is huge with dozens of tables and hundreds of chairs.  The pale tone on tone walled space rises up a good twenty feet to a ceiling of paneled squares with flowers in the center of each one—with one enormous chandelier in the center panel.  The spread of food is good and we drink coffee and juice, talk and enjoy.  We are off on time and Grant seems rested. As we drive up and out of Aberystwyth, I see the cliffs to the north of the harbor, the funicular and Oculus on top—I’m sure the view is incredible.   

After the fiasco with the coach and the rain, we are on the road, heading north over the green, hilly farm land on A487 and make good time, up the mid-coast of Wales. Sheep and lambs are everywhere. The weather is misty and rainy, as we head towards Snowdonia. Once you enter the National Park, crossing River Dyfi, you are in the mountains—they rise up into the mist. We ascend into the clouds but still see deep valleys and sheep grazing. I am sure in a dry winter (?) or the summer it is a sight to see. Sue Wardle, our guide, announces a change of plans.  We are heading to Snowdonia Eryri National Park,

stopping on the north side in Betws-y-Coed, before turning south-westward, past Snowdon (tallest peak in Wales) to Caernarfon Castle and Anglesey. The itinerary was to go on to Lllandudno via Conwy Castle and then visit Caernarfon and Anglesey tomorrow.  Jason interrupts and tells us we will be singing in the castle—three pieces.  Sue comes back on the PA and announces we will be going to Llanfairpwllgwyngyll (longest town name in the world), Llanfair for short, on Anglesey. We are in Northern Wales!--so near to Minera and Wrexhman I can feel it. 

We turn onto A70. It takes us about an hour and a quarter, 50 miles, to get

across the park to Betws-y-Coed on the north side.  The picturesque small town is on the River Conwy and is a recreational hub for hiking, rafting, extreme sports, etc.  The old train station has been turned into tourist shops (high and low end), cafes, etc--even a FatFace.  There is Conwy Valley Railway Shop and Museum, the Miniature Railway (complete with a tiny steam engine) with a small 10 minute train ride around an old siding.  I get coffee and a slice of Bara Birth at Food to Go Bwnd i Fynd-- Perfect in the chilly damp.

While taking our ‘tourist break’ in Betws-y-Coed, Sue pulls me aside and tells me what she and Grant, our driver, have devised for the best way to drop me off at a railway station—not Llandudno Junction, as I thought, but Chester (which I had hoped for since I started devising my ‘escape plan’ last fall). Chester is a 20 minute train ride away from Wrexham.  The two planned this as the best way for me to avoid Manchester Airport for the night (and Railway strike on Saturday 1 April). Graciously they were tailoring the tour to accommodate me. That was a blessing. I thanked her profusely and said I didn’t want to be such a bother. She smiles, kindly.

It takes 20 minutes, 10 miles, to get to Snowdon Yr Wyddfa on A498—continually climbing.  There are slate heaps everywhere, higher than the coach.  The tallest mountain in Wales is lost in the clouds. At Beddgelert the highway turn into A4085.  In a deep valley we drive past Llyn Cwellyn—a large reservoir.  It is uneventful until we drive into Caernarfon and see Caernarfon Castle Castell Caernarfon--a massive waterfront fortress.  It is the largest and well-kept castle we have visited.

We walk south up through the north city wall and up a pedestrian street Stryd Pendwar a Chwech, past The Black Boy Inn (horrible) ?!  Crossing High Street we are on Palace Street and we cross Castle

	Public Vaults	The Old Courthouse Lounge, old Cymen

Ditch and take a very modern foot bridge up to the formidable King’s Gate.  The entry is a box of glass inside the gate.  This medieval fortress is a motte-and-bailey castle from the late 11th century until 1283 when King Edward I of England constructed this English castle, town walls and a quay. The £25,000 project took 47 years --1330.  It was designed to withstand sieges--long wars with the Welsh.  The towers, eagle statues and multi-colored masonry was a definite reminder of imperial Roman, the Roman fort of Segontium is nearby, but echo the Welsh myth of Macsen Wledig--a dream of a great fort at the mouth of a river – ‘the fairest that man ever saw’.  It has stood for 700 years.  The Edwardian town and castle are the administrative center of North Wales—Cymen.

While the castle was under construction, town walls were built around Caernarfon. The work cost between £20,000 to £25,000 from the start until. Although the castle now looks complete from the outside, the interior buildings are dilapidated or were never finished. Caernarfon became Welsh for a year. During the battle with Owain Glyndŵr's Rising (1400–1415), the castle was constantly attacked.  In 1485 the Tudor dynasty took power, Welsh and English hostilities cooled and castles became unimportant.  Caernarfon Castle fell into disrepair. Despite its dilapidated condition, the last time the castle was used in war was during the English Civil War when Parliamentarians attacked the castle held by Royalists three times.  The castle was further neglected into the 19th century, but the state started repairs.  It remains a symbol of the English rule over Wales.  It is a World Heritage Site. The castle was used for the investiture of the Prince of Wales in 1911 and again in 1969--Charles with the ears says Sue.  She hints that there may not be another investiture, William, if the Welsh gain independence.  William is liked and will be a good King--but who knows.

The group is going to sing, so we spread out and look for a place.  Still drizzling, Jason decides on a room with man-sized chess pieces, red and white, to sing—one song “Now Is The Hour”.  After that I climb the three flights of spiral steps that led to the museum—catching the Royal Goat exhibit.  I walk the grounds, but end up with Donna and Tonnie.  We try to cover as much of the castle as we can, but end up exhausted, opting for the town, Craftcentre Cymru a Welsh Gift Shop (I get a sweater) and lunch at Palace Vaults pub—only fair panino.

Back on the coach, Grant takes us out of the city and up A487 along the Plas Menai—the waterway   between mainland Wales and the island of Anglesey.  He drives the North Wales Expressway across Pont Britannia Bridge onto the island.  We turn off onto A5 and head west into  Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch (The Chapel of St Mary in the hollow of white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of St. Tysilio near the red cave)—Rick Steves. We stop at the train station and take the obligatory picture under the town’s name sign (MaryRuth and Grant) and go into

 a huge tourist store--James Pringle Weavers (Thrift Store?).  There is a great presentation of plants and flowers to buy in the vestibule, but not practical of a tour.  Inside I am overwhelmed by all the merch. and I opt for a refrigerator magnet.  I see a Jones Tours coach out next to our coach. 

We are on our way, crossing the Pas Menai again and heads up the shore on N Wales Expy towards the River Conwy—much bigger than we saw it in Betws-y-Coed.  We cross under the river through the Conwy Tunnel and emerge in Llandudno Junction—taking the route I had planned if I had been left off at the train station here.  Grant takes the Royal Welsh Parkway up to Llandudno.