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!

Beaumaris

We both slept quite well in our ancient Smithy. If there ever was a place you reckon ghosts might visit you in your sleep, a 16th century smithy in a eight hundred year old Welsh Village may be the on the top of the list, but we heard had nary a boo.

Entry to the pathway leading across the Golf Course about forty yards from the Smithy

Public pathway to Beaumaris across the golf course. NEVER in America would they actually have a metal sign directing you to walk across a private golf course. Gotta love the Welsh!

We had a quick breakfast and decided to spend the day exploring Beaumaris and visiting the local castle. (I love saying that, I wish every town in America had a local castle...) It seemed pretty nice outside by Welsh standards so we bundled up and headed out retracing our route from the night before. It's lambing season and the lush Welsh rolling hillsides seem like just about the nicest place on earth for a herd of sheep to reside.

We've only been here a couple of days but you can't help but fall in love with the beauty of this place. When we visited Switzerland one of the things that struck us about it was that it was exactly what you imagined Switzerland to look like in your minds eye. Big Swiss cows with large bells clinging to gorgeous snow-capped mountainsides with chalets and "ricola" echos in the background! Well that's how Wales seems, just like you'd picture it. Verdant green hills running in every direction bordered by century old stone fences with crumbling castles, looking out over a rugged mountainous landscape as far as the eye can see. It just seemed "so Wales"!

After making our way across the golf course we walked down the little lane which led into town. On Google Maps it says that this is a half mile trek but we're here to tell you that Google LIES!!! We think it might be a little closer to nine miles, but that may just be because we were a little tired.

Beaumaris lies on the eastern entrance to the Menai Strait, the tidal waterway separating Anglesey from the coast of Northern Wales.
The village was was originally a Viking settlement known as Porth y Wygyr "Port of the Vikings", but the town itself began its development in 1295 when Edward I of England, having conquered Wales, commissioned the building of Beaumaris Castle as part of a chain of fortifications around the North Wales coast to protect against Welsh uprisings.

Today Beaumaris is a sleepy little coastal town (sleepy in March anyway, this place must be overrun by tourists come June and July), with pastel painted buildings, small shops and restaurants catering to the locals and visitors alike and a pretty little waterfront promenade with a nice little pier.

We poked around the city, looking down little back alleys and dead ends and finally came out at the port. We walked along the quay towards the pier. It was fairly cool out with a stiff little breeze but you could see that the weather was about to clear and the sun was starting to peek out from between the clouds.

We walked out onto the pier and you could see why this area must have had such a strategic value to Edward I. You can see for miles up and down the strait and far off into the hills that run off into the distance. From this vantage point you could have kept a watchful eye on any ship movements or potential uprisings.

We crossed the street next to one of the oldest houses in Britain, the small black and white Tudor style half timbered building. Sometimes it just takes you aback how OLD everything is over here and how run of the mill a four or five hundred year old structure is. This house was built around 1400. Wrap your head around that. And here's a real kick in the teeth, it's now a Real Estate Office. Sheesh!

We walked across the street to the oldest pub in Beaumaris for a couple of pints of Welsh Ale and some sandwiches. The Ye Olde Bull's Head pub is four hundred years old and was boiling hot from the coal fire that the barmaid kept stoking and just a little bit uncomfortable being that there was like an eighty year old Welsh woman glaring at us the whole time, but we tried to ignore her withering glare and finished up our lunch and headed back out into what now was a lovely bright and sunny spring day!

There was a cute little antique shop we had noticed from the night before so after finishing our ale and sandwiches we strolled down the street and went inside. The proprietor had some amazing stuff and we'd have been in trouble if we had access to a car, van or shipping container. In the end we decided on a local round turn of the century bread board made of sycamore. It's SO cool!

It's great fun to be able to look at "REAL" antiques from the areas you visit and this shop did not disappoint. Part of what's so special about purchasing antiques during your travels is that they will always hold a special place in your heart and you never forget where you found each and every item.(The words of a true hoarder! :))

Gates into Beaumaris Castle. 

OK, by now it has to be PAINFULLY obvious that I am completely and hopelessly smitten with castles. I don't know what it is, but I know enough to realize that it's something of an obsession. Well damn mental health, we are in CASTLE COUNTRY and I'm going to see some castles!!!

The inner coutyard

Beaumaris castle was one of the last of the mighty castles that was built to establish a ring of defense against the Welsh by King Edward I of England. It is said to be one of the most perfectly proportioned castles ever constructed and was suppose to be the antithesis of Edwards formidable building campaign. Unfortunately Edward ran out of funds for the project and it was never finished. 

It was a gorgeous spring day, sunny with blue skies and we were almost completely alone exploring the castles nooks and crannies. AHHHhhhhhhhhhhhh castle lovers bliss!!!!!!!

One of things that really shows the difference between how the U.S. and Europe look at things is to go out and visit a historical site. In the U.S. an old fort or monument is roped off, with plexiglass and fencing covering any hole or crawl space and a very stringent tour route mapped out that visitors must adhere to without any sort of deviation. Everything has to be spelled out for the visitor, nothing left to chance. I guess we're that dumb.

Now visit the same sort of site in Europe and the UK and there will be open 200 ft. cisterns with nary a rope in sight, jagged rusty metal protruding from open catwalks you are allowed to crawl along eight stories above a stone courtyard and slick moss covered stone spiral steps without handholds leading to a light-less dungeon. The onus in Europe is on the visitor and it's freeing. They allow you to ACTUALLY see and feel things the way they were. The difference in the mind set is that it makes you feel like you're truly walking through a castle and not on a homogenized Disney ride.

The other wonderful thing about these types of sites in Europe is that if you plan your visit for an off day, say a Monday or Tuesday, and not during peak tourist season (that's part of the reason we plan our trips for early spring, not summer, you can usually have the place almost entirely to yourself.

We spent a good hour exploring all of the little warrens and passageways and finally climbed a central tower to the highest point in the castle and came out on a walkway that gave us outstanding views of the Welsh countryside and the strait.

It's pretty awesome to stand on the very battlement used six hundred years ago to watch for Welsh uprisings and to look out over the same landscape and envision what it must have been like centuries ago to walk these very walls. Yes, I am that much of a nerd...

We walked around the upper wall and more people had started to enter the castle so we knew it was time for us to leave. We don't share well. So we made our way towards one of the front towers and took one of the before mentioned slick stone spiral staircases down.

We walked down to the bus stop in the middle of Beaumaris and caught a bus back to the Smithy. Our feet needed a rest after all of that cobblestone. 

Once home we decided to have a look around our little village and visit the church which is only about fifty yards away from our vacation rental.

It's pretty cool to have a medieval church that people drive long distances to see basically in your backyard. It's quite convenient. 

We went inside the church and looked around and then visited the graveyard with stones dating from the fifteenth century.

It was a beautiful evening and the sun was starting to set so not wanting to stand around in an ancient medieval graveyard in the dark (not that we are superstitious or anything...) we decided to head back to the Smithy for dinner and to rest our weary bones.