Over the last three days, Tom and I have become the masters of getting things done. There are so many sights to see, and so little time... Our days are filled from beginning to end.
Sept. 26 - Edinburgh to York
We picked up a rental car in the morning, a Vauxhall Astra, and hit the road. The radio stations out here are terrible; they are either talk radio or Lady Gaga. Maybe if you're lucky there will be some Rhianna thrown in the mix. We had four hours of driving ahead of us, and very little to listen to.
First stop, the ruins of Melrose Abbey. Tom and I have decided that we prefer the sites of ruins to restored buildings. The abbey is made of a beautiful pinkish sandstone, and many of the grand arches, walls and windows are still standing.
The remains of Melrose Abbey.
Seoncd stop, the ruins of Jedburgh Abbey. This abbey was built about a thousand years ago. It is considered a "Border Abbey" (because it was built near the border of Scotland and England), and as a result, was destroyed and rebuilt during the hundreds of years of conflict between the two countries.
The stacked arches of Jedburgh Abbey.
In the evening we stopped in York, and had dinner at a pub called "The Plough." There was a fat local cat who visited each table in the pub begging for love (and scraps). The cat sat on a chair across the aisle from us with his head on the table, and watched a man and his wife eat dinner for nearly 30 minutes. Tom was very happy when he came to visit us.
Sept. 27 - York to Llandudno
On Tuesday we had three hours of driving to get to our final destination, Llandudno, Wales. I'm still not exactly sure how to pronounce the town's name, but I heard a DJ on the radio say something that sounded like, "Clan-did-no." Apparently the double 'l' can be read as a hard 'c' sound(?)
The main attraction for the day was Conwy Castle, and it did not disappoint. The Castle was built in the early 1200's, and is now preserved as ruins. The castle walls still stand and contain the town of Conwy today. There are even portions of the castle wall that are open to the public!
The interior of Conwy Castle.
The castle wall still standing in present-day Conwy.
Modern bridge entering the castle.
We finished up at Conwy Castle much sooner than we expected, so we checked into our B & B. The proprietor suggested some local attractions, and Tom and I decided to take a drive into Snowdonia National Park. We are both very glad we made this decision.
First we made a stop at Swallow Falls. We were surprised to see that we needed a pound coin to get through a cage-like turnstyle in order to even see the waterfall. We had used all our coins to pay for parking, and all I had left was a five pound bank note. An elderly group of three pooled together to give us change, but only had three one pound coins. When we told them that would be more than ample for their trouble, they insisted giving us the full five pound amount in 20 and 5 pence coins. One of the ladies then suggested that instead of paying one pound each to get through the cage-turnstyle, we should squeeze into it together. They then proceeded to "help us" through the turnstyle by forcing us through. I can only imagine what would have happened if turnstyle had gotten jammed, and Tom and I had been stuffed in the cage, stuck!
Swallow Falls.
Next we drove through the Llanberris Pass by to the tallest mountain (at ~3600ft), Snowdon, in the park. The scenery was a nice change from what we'd been seeing the last few days.
Scenery in Snowdonia National Park.
After travelling nearly 400 miles, we filled up the car with petrol. The bill came to 60 pounds for 43L, which can be converted to $97CAD. Good God! We probably would have paid half that at home!
Stay tuned! We still have another 350 miles to go!
