Conwy to Llanfairfechan to Anglesey June 28+29

Just have to announce one of my great accomplishments!  I can pronounce, Welshly, Llanfairfechan, the name of the town wherein I am staying!  (It took a lot of practice!)  There are a lot of other place names to learn, so maybe I'll get the hang of it.  Going to web sites that give you the rules is just too tedious; more efficacious is to ask someone, then repeat as many times as necessary.

Leaving the B&B, noticed that some guests had a different style of transportation:

This was the first day of walking in the wilds.  It was rainy, cold, foggy, and windy, not good conditions in which to GET LOST, which I did.  Up there on the mountain there were stone walls going all over the place, so one wrong move, and you're kind of done for, especially when the visibility is poor.  But between the phone and GyPSy, I got back to where I had gone astray, at which place there was a choice: you could go right or left! (Apparently, I had gone on a diagonal, which was pretty stupid.) The OS map on the phone pointed left; GyPSy pointed right, or the other way around, depending on which way you were facing of course  A difficult decision because the graphics on the phone are much clearer, but I thought it wiser to follow the waypoints programmed into the GPS, and, fortunately, it did work out.  

Just to complicate matters, there is the Wales Coast Path and the North Wales Coast Path.  Sometimes they are the same and sometimes they are not.  The color of the little icon that identifies the trail(s) is not consistent, either, AND although there will be arrows de temps en temps, they do not indicate the place to which the arrow is pointing.  This is most irregular! Signage on the cheap I call it.  

By the way, when I realised that I was off course—tromping through huge clumps of gorse is a good indicator—oh, and another by the way—remember that woman who DIED on the Appalachian Trail last year, only a few feet from the path—I decided that it was important to keep warm, so added the poncho to the other rain gear and used three hoods: wind jacket, rain jacket and poncho.  It helped.

Sometimes it is easy to know where NOT to go, for example, when you come to a padlocked gate:

Despite everything, there was some gorgeous scenery.  This shot taken during a moment of respite from the rain and before much ascent:

Follow the wall (ha), so long as it is the correct one and you are on the correct side of the correct wall!

The walk ended at a beach side cafe, where I did purchase and consume a delicious raspberry swirl ice cream cone, and the B&B, right close by, is just gorgeous with sea views and comfortable easy chairs form which to watch the wind and rain!  Staying in a really nice place on a dreary day, after a unwanted experience is among the best treats ever!

So ferocious was the weather today June 29), that  though the impulse was there, no photos were taken. Heading out of Llanfairfechan, the wind, rain, greyness, and temperature were such that I swear it felt as if snow was expected.  But onward one goes.

Biggest challenges of the day were cold wet hands....did have gloves and thin "waterproof"mittens, but you have to take them off to use GyPSy and each time, the inner glove gets wetter and wetter, and harder and harder to put it back on.  Wore the light boots, today, 'cause I was after speed, and  knew there was much pavement and no ascent, but they did not stay dry. Signage was so confusing in spots—they could have just put up a placard reading: go whichever way you like and you will arrive somewhere—that without my navigational tools, carefully and lovingly programmed, I would, at this very moment, be weeping by the roadside, completely at a loss as to which direction to head.

Oh, I forgot!  I did take one picture:

The highlight of the day, more than a highlight, really, a thrill, was crossing the Menai Bridge.  You can see it for yourself, if you like:

http://www.photosbykev.com/wordpress/2008/06/09/menai-bridge/

Rest Day June 27

In the rain, found my way under two underpasses (Google Maps does not do underpasses), to Llandudno Junction rail station, where boarded the #25 bus to Bodnant Gardens.  

The gardens are gorgeous, and, due to the weather and my early arrival time—9:00 a.m. when the gardens open—I had the place, and it is a BIG place pretty much to myself, so you might say it was peaceful!  

Who would not like to look like this at 100?

Because of the rain and because it is so bloody annoying to deal with photos on Blogger, I am not sure I chose the best few to elicit oohs and ahhs.

There are streams and waterfalls in many areas of the gardens:

Some areas are just lush:

Sweet little sweat peas

And sturdy deep purply-blue daisy-like flowers:

 Flowers in the water, too:

There were towering trees.  In fact the tallest Japanese Maple and the tallest Sequoia in the UK are in this very garden.  Of course, there are much bigger sequoias in the US.  How Trumpian is that? (The tree below is not of either above mentioned species, but I loved the way its branches fell so low.

After the gardens and the bus ride back to Conwy, I visited Conwy Castle.  Massive.  Massive walls massive spaces, massive towers.  In short, it is big, even more Trumpian that the trees, and dates from the time of Edward I, who, to the Welsh, was not kind.

I have no really good shots of the castle, but must include at least a couple or you would not believe that I had been there, ¿verdad?

The view from the gaps in the turrets (or whatever) yield a view quite different from that that old Edward and his men had:

Even a fighting man needs time to think once in a while:

Llandudno to Conwy June 26

A short day, the first walking day that did not begin with rain, pretty, with a climb up and over the BIG Orme, which, honestly, is not very big:

Approaching Conwy, you see its castle from across the estuary:

I did not visit the castle today, so taken up with other sights that time ran out, and besides I decided to buy half a chicken and some other edibles, return to B and B, eat, and "get sorted" for tomorrow's visit to Bodnant Gardens. How to get there was the sorting part.

There was the merchant's house dating from the 16th century, and Plas Mawr which dates from I don't know when.  Let us assume photos are from the latter.  Anyway, every house must have at least one handsome door:

And where to eat:

And where to sleep:

Poor man's dinner:

And poor man's toilet:

Rich man's dinner:

And rich man's toilet (the padding on the seat, is, apparently, original:

Ya'll can write your own caption for this delightful decoration.  There were many images of these ladies, who, on close inspection, look pregnant.  

This vessel was so impressive!  It beats a crockpot, though I don't understand the bacon part:

Cutting edge of medical practice:

Bur people still died in droves (before their time) of other unpleasant ailments. Note, especially, the last cause listed!

One cannot come to Conwy without visiting the Smallest House in Great Britain.  It is SO CUTE!!

I would love to know how many women had to audition for the job of smiling-lady-wearing-period-costume-standing-in-front-of house-to have-picture-taken-hundreds-of-times-a-day:

 Littlest house has a little ladder to take you up to the little second floor, which contains a bed, normal size, as the house belonged to a man 6'3".

Homage to mussels, which looks oddly like Horton:

Prestatyn to Llandudno, June 25

'Twas the truth, but by and by, the beach showed up.

Lots more walking on asphalt today, but there was a little bit of pretty scenery (not photographed), but that came with  some navigational problems ups there in the Little Orme.  Tomorrow there should be some doozies up in the Big Orme!

After arriving in Llandudno, again in the rain, it was off to the copper mine

Just walking though the tunnels was fascinating:

This looks like a photo that Alex took in Hawaii or at least it reminds me of one:

Some of the things I learned: large stones, bones, and fire can be used to quite some advantage!  It  does somewhat boggle the mind, as so many things do, that people could extract ore from rocks by such primitive means—that they even thought to do it.  More boggling is that tin, which was mined in Cornwall, somehow got together with copper, mined here, to make bronze.  Quite some years ago, someone wrote a dissertation called Copper and Tin.  It was very short. I think I have a copy (unread).

Though convinced by some of the curation—like that bellows for the fire were made of leather and had logs for handles—some was whackadoodle.  For example, blackberry seeds were found in the tunnels, the take on that being that this suggested ritual sacrifice!  What, of a berry?  Wouldn't seeds be more a sign of bats?  Then there was a pair of boots.  The thought about that was that them there boots were left for the mine spirits....maybe.  Aye, and there's nothing like an old pair of boots when you are a spirit, now, is there!

Anyway, after Effyd's tour of the mine, it was off to the Bodafon nature centre where there is a large collection of owls.  Now, owls in cages would be easily photographed 'cause they just sit on their perches most of the time.  But since the cages have lots of protective mesh, the birds are not so easy to photograph except when the mesh has some wide openings, like here, for example:

There were some other animals, too:

I am staying at a much nicer place!

Prestatyn-Colwyn Bay June 24

When the walking is flat, on asphalt, it really lifts the spirits to have the band come out to greet you, especially if that is, say, Ringo on the right:

I would not have noticed this establishment off to the left, had I not heard the most horrendous yowls coming from inside.  Hydrotherapy?!  (Waterboarding?! God forbid!

Carlos (L) and Fenton (R) have a good thing going:

Playing on the beach is for everyone, only they are not really on the beach:

There is a zoo a mile from Colwyn Bay, so walked the 15 1/2 miles from Prestatyn fast in order to have time to visit.  In the reptile house there are heads:

and tails:

A deceptively innocent-looking  Meerkat:

Then the camera battery died, so you cannot see the really gorgeous camel, not the scruffy kind you usually see, even if only in pictures, but a sleek one with two fat humps.  His way of eating was like this:  hind legs straight, kneeling on front legs and head sideways on the ground, as opposed to the way a horse eats, for example.  But even though this was a most handsome creature, it sure needed a good dental hygenist!

The dead battery was not the end of the drama for the day.  After returning to B&B, little pouch containing $$, ATM card, credit card, and passport copy gone.  VERY VERY nice proprietress of B and B drove to the zoo, the main entrance of which was closed, and the other entrance not to be found.  A frantic call to emergency number did not yield helpful results.  While thinking about having to bother Suzie and searching for USAA's overseas number,  I felt in the pocket where I had looked three times previous, and, lo, the treasured object materialized, like magic.  To quote the wise rabbi of Where is Yankela? "Where you left it, there you will find it."  Very embarrassed!

First REAL day, and second day, too. June 22+23, 2017

21.3 miles from Chester brought me to Greenfield Dock—the mileage should have been a little bit less but I made a mistake at THE CLOCK—at which place I did call for a taxi to get to B&B in Prestatyn, so impossible was the bus schedule to decipher and besides, there were hardly any anyway.  

What a welcome!

Today it rained and it didn't rain and it was windy and then it wasn't, and it was hot and also chilly, so it was possible to try out all the garments and determine whether they were well placed in the backpack.  They were.  The terrain was flat as a pancake and the first twelve miles or so were like the Farmington Canal's worst stretches. Very dull, indeed.  The signage is ehh.  It takes a bit of doing to figure out how best to use the GPS, maps on the phone and stuff, so an easy day with lots of weather changes was tolerable.  I will say this, it is much much easier to walk 20+ miles that to run to Liverpool and Manchester chasing after repairs and devices.

Today, being the tomorrow of yesterday, the weather was the same except it never got hot, and the challenges of finding the way persisted, mostly, but by no means entirely,  due to my own inabilities. Though the distance was less by two miles, the walking was more difficult because a L O N G stretch was on sand and against a heavy wind.

The Duke of Lancaster:

Maybe this is why the Duke (see just above) might be most profitable at Alderman Dow, as opposed to, say, being rented out for bar/bat mitzvahs:

And, though in a nature preserve,  just to stay with the theme of decay (poor birdie):

WALES COAST PATH 2017 Chester, June 19-22

The adventures narrated heretofore (?) will, as they unfold, enlighten the reader as to the reason for the tardiness of this post.  Did arrive without too much incident, "got sorted,"visited the Chester Zoo, about which more later with photographs, and then, on the eve of the second day, crises did befall.  Whilst ambling about, checking the GPS, received a bad notice that the device was full.  Did hasten straight way to remove data, but computer went dead and GPS froze.

 Not being yet in the wilds, I harnessed all my energy to solve these problems all the while trying to suppress a sense of utter terror.  An Apple Store in Liverpool. Oh joy!  Liverpool 45 minutes away by train.  This is doable.  Arrived early, very early, to be first in line (smart move!) and Ben did set things straight.  Luck improving.

On to sporting goods emporia.  Nary a one carried anything more up-to-date than an eTrex.  This is like telling someone who drives a 2017 Audi that they would do just fine with an early model Volkswagon.  Now I must interrupt the narrative here to tell you that Liverpool is a metropolis with more HUGE shopping centers than the mind can process, and they are one next to the other.  A little outpost we are not talking here.  After trying hiking and sporting goods stores, the kind that are big enough to have branches in other cities, and having no success, and almost ready to have one overnighted—and where to send it exactly would be a problem because overnight does not necessarily mean overnight— one vendor did do search and found that in Manchester, an hour's train ride away, there was an Oregon 650 available for sale.

Did extract many pounds sterling from ATM in case credit card was not happy with the purchase, and bought a new unit+map, after which, was overcome with a sense of relief so profound that I ate a peach.

Then, on train back to Liverpool, for that was the best way to get back to Chester (well, maybe it wasn't, but that was the combination of tickets I had), I decided to look at the adaptor I had purchased at Apple—details unnecessary at this point—which cost about twice as much as it does in the Sates, and, luckily, before it was too late, did note that the genius who had gotten my computer going that very morning, had put the wrong item in the right box.  Back to Apple.  

Exhausted, utterly, from the heat and worry and having to find my way about, I started preparing for the next day, that being the first day's walk. Marvelling at the fact that with so much to do, my watch was reading 5:50 for an awfully long time........

After that kvetch,  I bet you are ready for some pictures of  Chester and the zoo!

This clock on the wall—Chester has  about two miles of city walls that you can walk around.  Some people call this going to Chester to walk.  This fancy clock on the wall allows you to orient yourself, after you descend the steps, except when you are too stupid to remember in which direction you want to go or had come from, as the case may be. It is, nonetheless, a very pretty clock:

On the wall, there are doors that open and doors that do not.  On which does opportunity knock?

Here is a fact about elephants.  They have very sensitive skin!  Who knew?  This is why they throw mud on themselves and spray themselves and such.  And look at the little baby:

Great big Galapagos turtles (tortoises?) 

A friend of the Galapagos turtles (I made that up) who lives in an attractive house:

Shiny tiny blue frog:

And a couple of little green ones.  There were some gorgeous orange, foetal looking specimens, but they did not want their picture taken, so you will have to look at the bored-looking green ones:

Birds are hard to photograph, unless you have a super duper camera, since they have a tendency to fly away but these two sat still:

OK, who would name their eatery Slug & Lettuce especially with that awful thing going on in Hawaii?