July 06, Llangollen

I  had wanted to do the 6 1/2 mile history walk around Llangollen, so while Alex and Alex were still abed, I headed out, but had surprising difficulty following the trail.  Never mind, it was fun anyway.

This urn in a nook must be history because it is old.  It is also quite lovely

View of the River Dee:

A most strange stile:

But cross it one must.

Like Tintern, this remnant of an abbey still stands:

Near the end, I abandoned the route, and so did not see the remnant of Castle Dinas Bryn, but I wanted to get back to The Riverbanc to meet Alex and Alex for breakfast.  Much, very much to my surprise, they were already dining at 10:00 because noise from an adjacent bar had interfered with their sleeping the prior night, and also they had to check out of their room by 10:00 a.m.  After breakfast, we headed out to Plas Newydd rather than to the aqueduct, which had been out original plan.  "I am all about the aqueduct," said Alex, only after crossing it the day before, her enthusiasm tanked.  "It was so not impressive," was the report.

Again alexandalexacrossamerica.wordpress.com will give you much absorb about the Plas and the Ladies of Llangollen, who, the audio insisted, were not lesbians even though, as young girls, they ran away from Ireland together to escape marriages they did not want, and lived together for the rest of their lives, 'because," the audio insisted, "it was common for people to share a bed back in the day, even strangers!" 

The house was reminiscent of Powis Castle what with all the dark Jacobean carvings, only here you could see them up close, and take as many pictures as you liked:

Beds were very short back then...don't know if you can tell from the photo:

The ladies of Llangollen, as Sarah and Elinore were called, were famous, but all in all it is a strange story.  You will learn a lot about them on Alexes' blog.

A sign at a restaurant:

This well-behaved not wet, welcomed dog was waiting to order:

A barber shop had a special seat for children:

Our walk through town took us to the railway station where a steam train was about to roll in

The station master:

"Say, Alex, can you help me with this luggage?"

It is good to be warned about the obvious:

A little girl watching the ducks on the Dee:

 We went for dinner to a restaurant near the hotel as a sort of farewell since tomorrow Alex and Alex head off to Switzerland.  It has been a lot of fun to share the sights and sites with them.  I hope they had a good time!