Weekend in Wales

This past Monday was a bank holiday in the United Kingdom. I have not a clue as to what purpose they serve, but most people get the day off. To take advantage of the long weekend we jumped on a train from London Euston to North Wales. Our mission was to hike Mt. Snowdon (the UK's highest peak), visit a few castles (there are dozens in Wales), and fill our lungs with fresh air.

Our first night was spent in Llandudno, a coastal town, just a few miles from Conway. Conway is home to this amazing castle. Blessed with great weather we scrambled around the castle and climbed nearly every tower. The coast around Conway is quite shallow, so high and low tide are hard to miss. These boats will be floating when the tide comes back in just a few hours. Crab, lobster, and mussels are popular items to catch here in Conway.

The medieval walls around the town of Conway are still standing. Houses are built around and against the walls. You can walk on and around most of them. Pretty amazing that you get to park your car right under a medieval tower...

After walking around a bit, and visiting the smallest house in Britain (yes, its in Conway!), we headed to the Isle of Anglesey to visit another castle: Beaumaris. These guys live next door to the castle and have the best view - they must be happy cows!

We raced around the island to make it to our second B&B in Maentwrog in Snowdonia National Park. Hugely disappointing was the poor selection of food in Wales. I was looking forward to some rustic Welsh classics but everywhere we went was meat on a plate and a side of thick-cut fries. In Maentwrog, however, we were rewarded with a lovely fresh water wild trout and this beautiful view.

The trout was so great and its pink flesh perfectly cooked. It was sad to hear that all the large local fishing lakes the Welsh have fished for centuries have been bought up by large fisheries. Now the locals have to pay to fish on the lakes. We explored the gravestones after dinner - some were from the 1700s and mostly written in Welsh.

The next morning we got up and made our way to the base of Mt. Snowdon. We hiked the mountain and back in less than 4 hours. So much for the challenge of UK's largest mountain - but the Welsh seemed so proud of their own Mt. Everest I'll just leave it at that. With our speedy hike we had much of the day left to explore more ruins.

Behind a sheep farm, was Dolwyddelan Castle.

We were so surprised they let us climb all over it. 

On the way down I had to stop for the sheep and their lambs. In Wales they say there are four sheep for every person. We drove past sheep farm after sheep farm and every sheep had at least one lamb. These sheep were back in the barn as it had just started to rain.

On our last day in Wales we visited one last castle - Caernarfon Castle. This castle is special because it is where the Princes of England are crowned Princes of Wales. The crowning of the Prince of Wales began centuries ago as a peace offering to the Welsh by the English King Edward for taking over their land. When (probably not anytime soon) Prince Charles becomes King he may choose to crown his son, William, as the Prince of Wales. It will be done at Caernarfon on the stone slab you see just above the first set of stairs. 

I did pick up a local Welsh cookbook and hope to try some of the recipes soon. If I successfully execute any recipes I will share!

Comments

[doggybloggy]

absolutely gorgeous pictures....wow!

[The Duo Dishes]

Amazing pictures. How cute is that baby lamb!

[maris]

These are such beautiful pictures! I've never been to Wales or the UK but I would love to - until then I'll have to live vicariously through the internet!

[Natasha - 5 Star Foodie]

Gorgeous pictures! Next time we go to UK, it will definitely be to Wales!

[Lori]

Beautiful! What a great trip. Wales has really sparked my interest lately. There is a ferry you can take from Dun Laoghaire, Ireland to there and I was tempted last year, but it was a little too short a stay to make it worth a day trip.

I love the picture of the cows. What a view! Do you happen to know what variety of sheep they have there? I don't think I've ever seen wool/fur like that on a sheep. Can't wait to see some of the recipes!

[lisa from dandysugar]

What a beautiful getaway! I hear that Wales is so lovely and you have the great pics to prove it!

[gastroanthropologist]

Lori - These are Welsh Mountain Sheep. There is also a Black Welsh Mountain Sheep - we saw a few rams that were totally black, but all the females we saw were the cream colored Welsh Mountain. Many of the sheep we saw were shaved - the farmers need some lessons in haircutting skills though, so many of the sheep had patches left!

[elra]

GAWD... my dream place to go for real.
I have Welsh friend, and he is the coolest guy on earth. His accent is thick, and My son and I always fascinated to hear about this place, the food, and the language. Fascinating!

I made several dishes from this place. I couldn't forget how good the taste of Bara Brit was. Was so proud to show it, tried to impress them (he and his wife. Wife from Surrey) Made the Glamorgan sausages, and the most love one was Katt pie, oh... I can not what which dishes you are going to share...

Great post!
Cheers,
elra

[Daily Spud]

That first castle view is just stunning! I've only ever driven through Wales - would love to go and explore it sometime.

[Tangled Noodle]

[Deep sighs] How absolutely beautiful are your photos and descriptions! This little taste of Wales is wonderful (even if the actual taste of Welsh food didn't quite match up this time). There's almost a sense of timelessness in such places when you are surrounded by a landscape and architecture that have withstood centuries.

I am confident that any Welsh recipes you attempt will be totally successful so I will say right now that I look forward to reading about them!

[Sara]

Amazing pictures! My husband's family is Welsh, he's always wanted to go to Wales.

[maria]

It all looks so beautiful and romantic. The historic architecture, landscape ... I would love to visit there some day.

[Sam]

I just love Snowdonia, it's a beautiful place. I've climbed Snowdon three times now, if you want a more challenging climb there are lots of different routes to the top, some are really easy, some are quite difficult.

As always, great photos!

[lisaiscooking]

What a terrific weekend! Beautiful views and castles and the cutest lamb ever. Interesting to see where the Prince of Wales is crowned. Thanks for sharing!

[OysterCulture]

What a great escape for a Friday morning - I loved the wonderful photos, and bits on the local flavor and history. The trout sounds divine and I am of course curious about the recipes in the cookbook.

[rebekka]

I just found your blog...so cool! Can't wait to look around more!

[Sapuche]

Your trip to Wales sounds amazing, and since I’ve never been there myself I appreciate the photos you included. It looks gorgeous. Too bad about all the meat and fries you came across there, especially since the area is known for its mussels, crabs, and lobsters. I wonder how the locals feel about having to pay to fish on the lakes; I’m sure there’s resentment in some households. Great post! I hope you get more bank holidays soon!

[Sophie]

Lovely pictures again!!!
Looks that you had a wonderful & great time there!

[Ann]

Amazing pictures! looking at this picture, make me feel like going to UK again..
Love the picture of mom and baby sheep! totally cute and lovable... Happy mother's day!