Part IV - Page 15 16 16a 17 18 19 Go to: Part I Part II Part III
Wednesday, 31 August. We had another big breakfast at 8:00 and were on our way out of Caernarvon by 9:00. We would be driving through Snowdonia National Park most of the day. Actually, we had been in the Park almost from the time we entered Wales. The 840 square miles park stretches from Conwy in the north to Machynlleth in the south. The area was sculpted by glaciers in the Ice Age and includes several small mountain ranges (3560 feet the tallest), lakes, waterfalls, and abundant wildlife. As we drove toward Beddgelert, our next stop, we found ourselves on a very narrow, twisting road with new mountains streams, and lakes at nearly every turn. Beddgellert is a small village set amid steep mountain slopes and has a small river running its length.
Nearly every building is made of the local stone. It was a beautiful place and very peaceful. Apparently we were the only tourists there that early. We spent about an hour walking around the village and visiting St. Mary’s Church, built on the site of a 6th century Celtic church and incorporating part of a 13th century Augustinian priory.
Our next stop was in the town of Machynlleth, where we wanted to see the Celtica Center. It features exhibits tracing the history of Celtic civilization in what is now Wales. The sky had been clouding up for some time and, just as we got to Celtica, it turned cold and started to rain. We spent two hours in the Center, and the weather was clearing up when we left at about 3:00.
ABERAERON
By 4:00 when we got to Aberaeron, it was sunny and warm. I had picked this old fishing village from information on the Internet. I told Jane it would be very quiet, nearly deserted, but was supposed to be very picturesque. Well, it certainly was picturesque, but it was anything but quiet and deserted. The narrow little streets were swarming with tourists. When we found our B&B, the Arosfa, right on the marina, every place in the public parking lot and on all the nearby streets was taken. I finally parked illegally at the curb right across from the Arosfa, almost blocking the entrance to the parking lot.
We checked into the B&B and were delighted with our room - really rooms. We were right on the ground floor in the yellow building on the corner, next to the Arosfa itself. We entered through a good-sized sitting room separated by a sturdy door from the bedroom. The bedroom was huge, with both a double and single bed, plus a big love seat and TV area. Both the sitting room and the bedroom had windows facing the marina, and the bedroom had two more windows facing a quiet side street. We rushed right out, though, to take advantage of the daylight and warm weather. It took us about 90 minutes to explore the town and the harbor adjacent to the marina. During that time, the weather changed dramatically at least four times, fluctuating from sunny and warm to cloudy, cool and windy, then back again.
After a short rest back at the Arosfa, we went out to eat at 6:45. We found a rustic restaurant just the other side of the marina where we had a hearty roast beef dinner, complete with Yorkshire pudding. We walked around a little to see the village by night. By the time we got back to the B&B, many of the cars were gone, and I was able to move the car to a spot right in front of our door.
Part IV - Page 15 16 16a 17 18 19 Go to: Part I Part II Part III |
