Allow me to explain the title for a moment. When I was a
small child, I wanted to have a day that was just mine. Maybe it was because I
had a lot of siblings, maybe it was because I hated presents (giving and
receiving them), or maybe it was because I was just a little quirky, but I
decided that I was going to have 1 day every year, one day that I could have to
get away from everyone, shut off the phone and the internet, skip school and/or
work, and cross something off of my bucket list. I chose, for some reason or
another, April 23rd as that day. Now as an adult, I understand you
can’t always shut the phone off, skip work, and ignore the rest of the world,
but I can still cross off a thing from my bucket list. This trip is crossing
off a BIG thing from my list. This may be the best favorite day I’ve ever had!
It started off with a home cooked breakfast from our
hostess, Gill (pronounce Jill), who is the owner of this B&B. She made
sausage, bacon, eggs (scrambled), mushrooms, oven roasted tomatoes, toast,
fresh fruit and Greek yogurt, and fresh squeezed orange juice and coffee. It
was all very good. After breakfast we got ready for Irene to come pick us up,
and then went outside and walked along the beach (right across the street). Irene
arrived and we headed off, towards the town of Walled town of Conwy. This town
has a 12th century castle and wall that encompasses the entire town.
Once again, we toured throughout the castle ruins and then walked along the
wall, with a bird’s eye view of the town below. The view of the town with the
Welsh countryside in the background is something everyone needs to see!
Also in the town we toured Plas Mawr, which is the best
example of an Elizabethan Town House that was built in the 18th
century. We went to the smallest house in Britain, which was located on the
historic quay. We got lunch from this little meat market that made homemade
meat pies (I had chicken and mushroom) and ate down on the pier. We left Conwy
en route to Llandudno, another seaside town. Again don’t try and pronounce the
names, it’ll drive you mad! It was in Llandudno that a gentleman (I can’t
remember his name) met a young girl named Alice Little. He was a friend of the
family and upon meeting her, he began to write stories of Alice and her
adventures in Wonderland. I saw the hotel where the two of them met and that
story we all know so well all began; which seems so surreal to think about.
From here we went up to the summit of the Great Orme and had 360 degree views
of the islands and surrounding area. I
know I keep saying it, but Wales truly has some of the most amazing scenery
I’ve ever seen!
After some time up here, we drove back to Beaumaris and
toured the church that contains the sarcophagus of the wife of Prince… Llewdyn???
Ugh I’ve heard so many names, dates, places and everything is usually in a
different language; they are all starting to get blurry in my brain. Anyway he
was the last Prince of Wales that was a true Welsh, I believe, and her
sarcophagus was found and used by farmers for many years as a drinking fountain
for their sheep; her body was never found.
We were then dropped back off at the B&B and I… took a
nap! That’s right, I’ve been sleeping so little, and seeing so much that I was
too sleep deprived to even focus. So I slept for about 30 minutes, and then we
went to dinner. We went to a nice little restaurant and I had fish and chips
and a local Welsh beer. Afterwards we walked along the moat of the castle
(Beaumaris Castle) and then back to the B&B. We talked with Gill and her
husband Laurie for a while and then came upstairs. I watched the sunset over
the mountains of Snowdonia and then wrote this. It was a great day, and
tomorrow is going to be just as amazing. Irene has a lot planned for us,
including a railway through the foothills of Snowdonia, the village of
Beddgelert, the Llyn Peninsula and seaside town of Criccieth, and the
Italianate village of Portmeirion (the location of the cult TV series The
Prisoner, if I like the view as much as I have been I may have to watch the
show). Until then…
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