Anglesey, Wales

We met up with Mary Ellen and her family and drove to Anglesey, an island off North Wales and are staying in the lovely town of Beaumaris. Our accommodation for the week was a large cottage which was formerly a rectory. It was well located and had a lovely garden...

Our house...

We have a great view from our bedroom of the Church across the street...

Some scenes from around the town...

Lovely flowers everywhere...

The pier at low tide overlooking the Menai Straits which separates Anglesey from the rest of Wales...

One of the most famous attractions is Beaumaris Castle which was built as part of Edward’s 1 campaign to conquer north Wales after 1282. UNESCO considers Beaumaris to be one of "the finest examples of late 13th century and early 14th century military architecture in Europe", and it is classed as a World Heritage Site.

Entrance to Castle...

The Moat...

On Sunday our friends, Stacy, Stephen and their dog Mico drove up from England to spend the afternoon. We met this lovely couple on the beach in India and have stayed in touch. It was so nice of them to make the drive to see us and we spent the afternoon catching up and planning when we might see each other again. One of the joys of traveling is the new friends we make along the way!

This is our second trip to Wales but the first to this area and again we remark what a beautiful part of the world this is...

Green fields everywhere...

And lots of sheep!

Sandy beaches as well...

Coastal landscapes that reminded us of home...

Rocky cliffs enveloped with fog...

We visited South Stack, an old lighthouse on the tip of the island with many steps down...

But the fog lifted for a beautiful view...

Lovely wildflowers...

One day we took Rhys and Owain for a walk on the Coastal Path which runs all around the island...

Washing the sand from their feet...

Writing their name in the sand...

Views across the water at low tide...

Lots of stone cottages along the paths...

Everywhere around the island there were footpaths for walking...

And pubs to have a drink...

While the kids had lots of places to play...

Another day trip brought us to Portmeirion which is a tourist village in North Wales, designed and built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and 1975 in the style of an Italian Village and is now owned by a charitable trust. It was quite surreal to see this place but it did remind us of our time in Italy...

The grounds and flowers were beautiful as was the spaces he had built into the cliffs...

People actually live in the village while there are lots of accommodations, many movies have been filmed here and famous people have been known to hang out here as well including the Beatles, Frank Lloyd Wright and George Bernard Shaw. The village is also located along the shore with amazing views...

 

Unfortunately the weather wasn’t great when we visited but it was still an interesting stop...

Another visit took us to a very pretty town called Beddgelert which according to legend, is named after 'Gelert', the faithful hound of the medieval Welsh Prince Llewelyn the Great.

The story, as written on the dog’s tombstone reads:

"In the 13th century Llewelyn, prince of North Wales, had a palace at Beddgelert. One day he went hunting without Gelert, ‘The Faithful Hound’, who was unaccountably absent.

On Llewelyn's return the truant, stained and smeared with blood, joyfully sprang to meet his master. The prince alarmed hastened to find his son, and saw the infant's cot empty, the bedclothes and floor covered with blood.

The frantic father plunged his sword into the hound's side, thinking it had killed his heir. The dog's dying yell was answered by a child's cry.

Llewelyn searched and discovered his boy unharmed, but nearby lay the body of a mighty wolf which Gelert had slain. The prince filled with remorse is said never to have smiled again. He buried Gelert here".

The burial place in a peaceful field...

This town had postcard views everywhere we looked...

Wales has so much history as we saw when we visited our son-in- law’s Aunt who lives in a cottage which was started in 1330 and subsequently built on over the centuries, including a section built from timber scavenged from the wreck of one of the ships from the Spanish Armada! She is an academic and quite an historian...here Don is listening to her stories.

 

Her cottage at evening time...

Our last day trip was to Eryri, or the Snowdonia National Park which has been a National Park since 1951. It is the second largest National park in England and Wales and includes some of the most beautiful and spectacular scenery in the British Isles.

It was a misty day but we still made it to the top of Snowden Mountain which is the highest peak in England and Wales at 1,085m (3,560 feet). We went by train...

If it was a sunny day this would be our view. (image from Snowden Mountain Train)

Unfortunately on the day we went this was our view, but still hauntingly beautiful...

And at the summit...

We can’t let weather stop us from exploring, though overall the weather was on our side this week and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit here. If anyone is looking for a beautiful, peaceful place to visit Wales should be on your list! Now a ferry to Dublin and a flight back home to pick up our granddaughters for a cabin visit...let the fun continue!