Day trip to Conwy

We decided to take a day trip to Conwy, Wales today. Not only is it another history rich Welsh city with another of Edward I's marvelous castles smack dab in the middle of town, but it would also give us a chance to check that buses actually adhere to the posted schedule at our lonely little bus stop. We will need to catch a bus into Bangor and then ride a train a half hour into Conwy. In two day's time we will need to catch the same bus into Bangor with all of our suitcases when we head to York so this was a great opportunity for a dry run.

Low and behold the bus arrived right on time and there was actually quite a little crowd waiting for it, who knew? Now the thing about our little bus ride from Bangor to Beaumaris is that it takes a lot of faith.

Now this isn't your normal city bus trip, no this bus heads deep into the Welsh countryside and stops at places you'd never guess were stops. Rusted farm gates, a muddy pathway, a small farm with a barking dog. You've just got to believe it's heading in the right direction and sit back and enjoy the ride.

A Welsh Bus stop

After a twenty minute bus ride we arrived safely back in Bangor and walked across the street to the train depot and caught our train into Conwy. It's only a half hour trip and barely gives you enough time to settle in before you disembark.

Obviously I'm in need of another cup of coffee...

Conwy is a beautiful medieval city; not only does it have the afore mentioned castle, but it still retains an almost complete original defensive wall surrounding the the old town, along with a number of ancient buildings and a maze of cobbled streets and warrens.

We were starving and in desperate need of a second cup of coffee so we went in search for a bakery and coffee shop that Jerani had locked in on our google maps app. After a few wrong turns we finally found the bakery and purchased a couple of really delicious looking cheese and bacon wraps and sugared jelly donuts. We couldn't help ourselves, we HAD to have one of each!

With our breakfast treats in hand we looked for a nice place to eat them and ended up in a tiny graveyard. Yeah we know, but it was close by and it was a pretty quiet place to sit and enjoy what turned out to be WONDERFUL bakery goods! The Bacon and Cheese wraps were crunchy and savory, smokey and delicious in every way. The sugar doughnuts were fantastic, not too sweet, and crisp to the bite. YUM YUM!!!

After our impromptu cemetery breakfast we stopped at a little coffee shop and sat down with a couple of Americano's. Now that we were properly fed and coursing with caffeine we headed over to the Castle. It was sunny with bright blue skies but still early morning so we figured we'd have the castle mostly to ourselves which turned out to be true.

After paying a nominal fee to get inside we walked up a long pathway leading up to the castle's gatehouse. Unlike Beaumaris castle, Conw'y castle was finished and even today is an imposing sight. One of the only times this castle was taken was when a group of Welsh men disguised as carpenters gained entry into the castle and once inside opened the gates for the remaining Welsh troops. 

We walked through the gates and there wasn't another person inside the castle. Not only that but we were lucky enough to visit the castle on about the nicest spring day possible.

The size and intricacy of this castle are awe inspiring. When the English were done with this they must have been pretty darn smug. 

 The height of this fortification is also magnified by the fact that it sits upon a huge rock. The thought of attacking something like this must have been rather daunting and you can see what the effect of these castles must have been on the Welsh almost 800 years ago.

We climbed several spiral staircases and popped out at the highest point of the castle. The vantage point from this watch tower was fantastic. You could see deep into the Welsh Countryside, over the entire village of Conwy and the defensive wall and all along the river and out to sea. Wow!

We wandered up and down stone passageways and climbed up towers and battlements, and after spying a couple of buses filled with school aged children pulling up in the parking lot far below we figured it was time to wrap up our visit.

David is always behind taking picture after picture. Such a tourist!

The view back to the castle from the surrounding city wall.

 We left the castle and walked around the village popping in and out of shops looking for souvenirs and things. We found one antique store that had some cool things but nothing we could afford! 

After looking around for awhile we went to a pub that served great ale but no food except scotch eggs. So since we needed protein we decided to try a couple. 

They serve them with really spicy mustard

Out first scotch eggs. They're served cold fyi. That was a shock. Crunchy coating and cold cooked chorizo and soft interior egg. I can see the value as a travel lunch but maybe not so much a sit down lunch. It was just ok. Not going to have another one. Weird to eat a cold runny egg you know?

After we got home we happened to be looking out over our neighbor's fence when the girls brought their carriage in through the gate. David was johnny on the spot with this photo. They went by fast!