"The Smithy" The isle of Anglesey, Northern Wales

Traveling by train we had been forewarned that it was much easier to head south to north in the United Kingdom by rail than east to west, and we found this to be somewhat the case.

Once you leave the main north/south routes you tend to have to transfer trains at the drop of a hat, spending fifteen minutes on this platform so that you can catch a train to take you two stops down only to disembark and catch another train for three more stops, etc. etc. Not a lot of direct routes.

In my minds eye I look quite a bit younger than this. I need to have the camera checked when we get home!

You kind of zigzag your way through the less populated countryside. It's not super tough or anything, although lugging all of your luggage on and off trains isn't fantastic; but mainly you need to keep your wits about you and pay attention to where you are at any given time as the train intercom does not always announce what station you are arriving at or when the next stop is coming up.

We finally arrived at our last train stop in Bangor, Wales about four hours after leaving London.

After checking our google maps we located a grocery that was near to the train depot and headed down a rather steep hill (google maps isn't great about giving you the topography of where you are heading, so even though it might be just a one quarter mile walk there may be an elevation change of some 1000 feet which really sucks...). 

We made our way down the rough cobbled street to the market dragging our wheeled bags behind us and carrying the nice, but by now quite heavy, computer backpack. Once inside the grocer's we threw all of our luggage into a shopping cart to keep an eye on it and stocked up on all of the items that it would be tough to find at the little stores near our final destination, the Smithy, just outside the small village of Beaumaris. Once our shopping was completed we loaded it all into our nifty "Chico" travel grocery sack and another double lined plastic grocery bag. Now we had to retrace our steps with the added weight and discomfort of the extra shopping bags back up the hill to the bus stop where we would catch an Arriva Bus. After about fifteen minutes the baby blue bus arrived and we piled on like a couple of refuges fleeing a catastrophe and lugging all of our worldly possessions with us. We put on quite a little show for the locals who sat and stared in wonder as the two overburdened American tourists tried to make hide nor hair of the drivers thick Welsh accent all the while trying to corral their luggage and grocery bags. After finally deciphering  each other we paid the three pounds apiece to the driver and headed towards our new home away from home.

This is where we were dropped off by the bus. Our rental was only a five minute walk away, so it wasn't as concerning as it may look. Loaded for bear!

We arrived at "The Smithy" and it was really cool. It's about a half mile as the crow flies (about seventy miles if you choose to walk, don't ask us how that's possible but it is) from the small town of Beaumaris, and is a part of a 11th century village of Llanfaes made up of a number of little

stone cottages surrounding an ancient church. The site has been a major horse and carriage stop for hundreds of years and the Smithy was a vital part of keeping traveler's horses and wheels in good working order.

The front of the Smithy

The Smithy was very nice inside with the owners doing a great job of keeping the building's historic past intact while at the same time offering modern amenities to vacationers. It was beautiful.

It's always amazing when you actually arrive someplace so far from home and you have successfully circumnavigated all of the travel details and then the key is where the owner said it was and you finally get the chance to relax and take a load off.

We poured ourselves a couple of Welsh Ales and after dropping our luggage off in the bedroom we put the groceries away and then had a look around.

It was a nice spring afternoon and the daffodils were in full bloom. There was a gorgeous conservatory in the back with great views of the church so we sat and finished our beers and unwound from our journey. We were officially in Wales!
After our beers we unpacked and then David wanted to walk into town to get dinner. I wasn't as thrilled with the idea having seen how far it was from the bus ride in, but it was either that or cook dinner. Horrors! On our way out the driveway we spotted a man getting his dog into the car and saw some sort of trail across the golf course. We asked him if we could walk it and would it go towards town and to our delight he said yes!  So off we went across the very wet and mushy golf course glad about the fact that it was a short cut and also glad we had good boots on. Don't bring your fancy shoes to Wales!! We took in some views on our way. Enjoy!

There are a LOT of sheep in Wales and a lot of new baby lambs.

No filters or photoshop folks. Best picture so far!!

After quite a little trek into town and getting hungrier by the minute we wandered around Beaumaris looking for the best available pub or restaurant. Nothing looked too appetizing and David was starting to wiggle after those ales... so I looked on Trip Advisor and people talked pretty highly of a tapas bar in town called Midland Tapas and Wine Bar. We walked up to it and David immediately walked on by and said "No way! Too lit up, too on display, looks very uncomfortable in there!" But I said we had no choice and that we were going in! So I turned around and braved entry. All turned to stare and we found a seat by the window and tried to assimilate. We're obviously American and a tourist attraction in our own right and as the evening wore on the couple next to us engaged us in many questions. The meal was totally amazing and we had a great time. We ordered some interesting plates of food and even some tiny desserts and all of it was outstanding. Would highly recommend. We trekked back to our Smithy the long way around and fell into bed. So tiring this traveling!