Month: July 2017

It was our last day touring before we drive back to London tomorrow.  The day turned nice and we enjoyed seeing Conwy Castle. We had the opportunity to walk on the walls and go up the towers of the Castle. The views from the top of the towers were stunning.

After seeing the castle, we walked in Conwy and did a little shopping.  We also took a river cruise and had great views of the castle from the river.

The last thing we did was to see Plas Mawr, an Elizabethan town house in Conwy. It is exceptionally well done, but it was difficult to get good pictures of the exterior. I took a few views from the top of the house of the castle.

We finished the day with a great dinner at the Castle Hotel.  I had terrific Welsh lamb and Linda had local seafood.

We will be on the road to the London area tomorrow and turning in our car.

Had a rainy day today and while we drove through Snowdonia National Park, the clouds were too low to see much of the mountains. We did pass by a steam railway and of course we had to make a short stop.  It was very interesting but the ride was too long for us to stop long.

Caernarfon (pronounced car-nar-von) Castle and the town were interesting.  There was a museum for the Royal Welch Fusiliers inside the castle and it was very interesting. This unit was only somewhat involved in the Revolutionary War and was the last unit to hold out at Yorktown when the British surrendered.

Linda had Welsh Rarebit for lunch and it was wonderful (unfortunately it is made with ale so I can’t have it)

We are able to walk into Conwy and had a nice dinner at an Indian restaurant.  I have had Vindaloo before but it wasn’t as hot as it was today.  Looking forward to walking around Conwy tomorrow and seeing the castle, an Elizabethan townhouse, and the rest of the walled town.  This is our last day of touring in Wales before we drive back to London on Sunday.

We had alternating rain and sun, but fortunately the rain happened mostly when we were in the car.

Powis Castle didn’t open until 11:00, so we went to Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. It is a world heritage site for engineering.  Amazing to see what was done in the 19th century.  The views from the aqueduct were wonderful. You can walk across the aqueduct.

Then we went to Powis Castle.  The place is spelled Powys, but the Castle is Powis. The gardens were great and we got some ideas for our garden, The rooms in the castle are quite nice, but you can’t take photos inside.

We had a little time so we went to Montgomery Castle.  This is a ruin of a border castle held by the English in the long running dispute between the English and Welsh kings.  I know it sound like a broken record by the views were cool.  I think Linda’s comment about castles sums it up “why are all the castles built high on hills?” Tomorrow we are off to north Wales to see Snowdonia and Caernarfon Castle before ending in Conwy.

Started out this morning to go to Cilgerran Castle.  The weather was rainy but it stopped when we got there.  The actual castle was a little difficult to find as someone had stolen a sign. Another castle ruin, but tomorrow we will go to Powys Castle.

Some of you might know that there were lots of narrow gauge railroads in Wales (mostly 2 foot gauge).  We picked the Vale of Rheidol train because the route is very scenic and the equipment is the same that was used on that line. Had lunch before the train ride at the Two Hoots Cafe where they had gluten free options.  Had Hot Chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows (strawberry marshmallows!)

Had a lot of fun riding the train. We rode in both a closed and open car.

We then drove to Bettws for our next lodging, the Talbot Hotel.  It is a small inn in a village and the building is from the 1600’s.  We had dinner and then walked around the village.  The bell ringers (big bells in the church tower) were practicing, so we had bells as we were walking. The bell ringers apparently always go to the Talbot for a pint after practice and we were having dessert and coffee when they arrived. Had a nice time talking with them.

Had a beautiful weather day today and we went to St. David’s. We toured the Bishop’s Palace ruin and the Cathedral.

Had lunch at a small cafe in St. David’s and did some shopping in the shops.  It is a cute town and while touristy, not as crowded as some other tourist towns.

After lunch and shopping we drove to St. Justinians to walk a little way on the Coast path, the view were amazing. We also took a boat ride around Ramsey Island.  We saw some Atlantic Seals sunning themselves on the beach and saw the coast from the water.

Tomorrow we drive to the central Wales area and more adventures.

On the road this morning to a historic site that included ruined tin works and a waterfall.  Unfortunately, we got there an hour and a half before it opened.  We took a local walk along the old canals and took a few pictures.

We then went to Careg Cennen Castle.  More driving on Welsh “superhighways”, the the views from the castle were well worth the drive. It was a short but steep walk up to the castle.

Then drove to Tenby, but could not stop as the place was packed and we could not find a parking spot. Tried to drive to see some coast, but the road we took never got us near the sea. We drove to our B&B, East Hook Farm, which is in a 1760’s farm house.  It was down a narrow farm lane, but the hospitality is definitely worth it, they even have gluten-free cereals and bread!

We had dinner in Broad Haven and got to see the sea (Atlantic Ocean).  The roads were narrow, so we didn’t wait to see the sun go down.

Linda had to take a picture of one of the little daisy plants that are everywhere.

Off tomorrow to explore St. David’s and more of the Pembrokeshire coast.

Here is a photo of our B&B.  The day was alternating clouds, sun and downpours.

We started the day at the Brecon Beacons Visitor Center.  The views were nice, but there were a lot of clouds.  On the drive back to the main road, we hit a pothole and got a flat tire.  We had to wait an hour for the AA (we took a few pictures of a lovely stream) and then we followed him to the tire store in Abergavenny.

We had a lunch while they changed the tire and because we had gone to the east, we decided to go to Llanthony Priory. The road was very narrow and it was raining very hard, but the views and the ruins at the end of the drive were worth it.

This is a view of one of the Welsh “superhighways” from our car!

Now that we are back at the B&B, the sun is out and this is a view from our room.

I also learned that “LL” is not pronounced like an “L” in English.  It is more like “CHL”. I grew up in Llanarch outside Philadelphia and now know it is pronounced Chlanarch! You are never too old to learn.

Tomorrow we are off to Pembrokeshire via a falls and castle ruins.  More pictures and commentary tomorrow.

Had two relaxing days at sea before arriving at Southampton.  One thing we say at sea was the Great Belt East bridge that links two Danish islands.

The next day we sailed into Southampton and after a short Customs delay (what a surprise!) we got a taxi to the rental agency.  Our rental car is a Mercedes!

We hopped into the car and immediately sat in summer traffic (ugh!), we really were spoiled when we were here in May (no traffic).  Had a brief visit to Cardiff Castle and then drove to our B&B, which is very nice. We had dinner in a pub restaurant and it was very good.

Woke up to rain, but it is supposed to clear off in a little while.  Wales is beautiful and more pictures will follow.

Docked this morning at Gdynia, the port for Gdansk. We took a tour that took us into Gdansk and also to Sopot, the beach area for Gdansk. Here are the Gdansk photos.

Here are photos from the beach (Sopot)

We will soon be leaving for 2 days at sea before we end the cruise at Southampton.  We then get our rental car and begin our Welsh tour. More posts then.

 

 

 

We had a great day in Helsinki.  Out first stop was at the Sibelius Monument.

Then we got back on the Hop on bus and went to Market Square. There we took a harbor cruise and missed most of the rain.

We are on our way to Poland and are having a day at sea celebrating Linda’s birthday.