Here are some more maps and images from our road trip around North Wales. We drove from Pentrefoelas across the Denbigh Moors into Denbigh itself, visiting the hilltop Castle ruins there.
We then made our way over to Chester, a walled city that served as a border town on the English/Welsh boundary.
ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST PARISH CHURCH
Rita informed us that in the not-so-distant past, Welshmen were forced to leave the city by sundown. After a day visiting the impressive walls of Chester, its ancient church of St. John the Baptist, and its recently excavated Roman amphitheatre, we headed up the coast on the A548, passing through several of the coastal vacation towns on the Irish Sea coast. Sue had spent what she referred to as 'a rather unpleasant week' playing Bridge with her stepmother at Rhyl, one such resort town. Intended by her stepmother to be a nice bonding retreat between the two of them, instead Sue found the a whole experience 'a bore'. She said she has never, ever played Bridge since.
We enjoyed a nice lunch in Llandudno, a beautiful town situated below a dramatic peninsula jutting out into the sea. Taking the car up what seemed to be a 70 degree incline on what I wasn't entirely sure was an actual road, I brought us to the top of the peninsula, finding a breathtaking view of the rough sea. Intrepid sheep nestled together in patches on the rolling pasture that covered the crest of the cliff-bounded hilltop. With a biting wind throwing cold rain at us horizontally, we spent enough time to snap a few shots, but didn't linger. The trail down and around along the edge of the cliff I found exhilarating, although Sue commented that she was glad it was a right-hand drive vehicle, allowing me the closer view to the precarious edge.
Another day trip took us out to the Anglesey island, and one of the gems of North Wales: Beaumaris - famous for its unfinished, but spectacular castle. On this trip we were joined by another of Sue's dear old friends, John Hart. John found himself in Pentrefoelas as a child because his mother was the headmistress of the school Sue attended. According to the various stories I heard in the local pub, the almost teenage John was once rebuffed in his romantic advances toward a barely much older Sue. Judging by their friendship which has spanned over 60 years and the Atlantic Ocean, he took it well.
Other sites include the Roman ruins of Segontium, located in Caernarfon. Walking across the ruins of barracks and a military parade ground, I let my mind wander to what some of those Roman soldiers must have been thinking, thousands of miles away from Italy in the farthest corner of the known world, surrounded by a strange and suspicious people. And I chuckle as I wonder if at certain times in our careers, we may have had the same exact thoughts. What the hell am I doing here?
My favorite travelling activity has to be driving, and Britain has some of the most beautiful scenery in the world - and among the most stunning is to be found within Snowdonia National Park, a vast area that encompasses about a third of North Wales. We shot across from Penygroes to Rhyd-Ddu on the B4418, and then back up to Betws-y-Coed via the A498 and A4086, linking up with the A5 at Capel Curig. No picture can ever do such scenery full justice, but here is a taste of it.
It's positively magical countryside. I don't know how else to describe it; but that being there makes me believe that I am in a land where unicorns, wizards, dragons and jousting contests are regular phenomena. And if suddenly, while driving past a lake, a voluptuous nymph emerged waving a magical sword, I guess I wouldn't really be all that surprised.
