Wales Day Two

August 20, 2007-Sanity?

(Photos: Llangollen towpath,

Llangollen falls,

Lladuno beach)

O. K., so I got it all off my chest yesterday and feel better now. Maybe it came out as it did because I was propped with my knee on an ice bag while the computer sitting on my lap was plugged into electricity. I'm happy to be here even though it wasn't at the top of my list. Scenery is scenery but if it's lovely I can still appreciate it after a good night's sleep. But I'm still ticked at the root causes of airport security. Bottom line is I can't cope well with disorganized living. It's a good thing I'm traveling with a psychologist.

Things looked up when I took a shower. The crescendo of the clanging and wailing of the water running through the pipes built until it became orgasmic and sounded better than any sex I've ever had. The problem of the phone message light being perpetually on (the desk agreed it was a worry but couldn't fix it) was solved by tossing David's underwear over it. We passed out and slept in our lumpy uneven bed comprised of two twin mattresses of different heights that had been pushed together.

The sun came out this morning and we were able to walk the castle grounds in comfort. A gardener took us under her wing and showed us to the whipping pit where prisoners were flogged before being taken to the drowning pool. If they survived that they were stashed in the dungeon until they died. The dungeon was one room about eight feet square that was reported to hold seventy people. She led us to the grave of "the gray lady," her husband, and his lover's head. The gray lady is said to haunt the castle. She hasn't been resting well since she lopped off her husband's head then she in turn was beheaded. I assume his lover was beheaded as well since her head rests with them. I don't know what became of the rest of her. Perhaps she was fed to the black adders that are said to exist in these parts. On a happier note: the grounds are inhabited by luscious looking peacocks of which I have more pictures than I need thanks to the freedom of digital photography.

Wanders

We pulled out of Ruthin past hills covered with heather (yes, we sang the song) and tooled on to our next stop. We encountered free range sheep and saw a truck carrying free range eggs. I guess they start their free range chickens young. Signs are all written in Welsh and English with Welsh being the first language on signage. The directions warned of "bad bends" in the road so we were concentrating on keeping David away from the stone walls and on his side of the of the highway. Highway here is a two-lane road. A motorway is what we'd call an expressway. That's how we ended up in LLangollen instead of LLandudno. Hey, they both start with "Ll."

Llangollen is a charmer of a village. Some of its earliest settlers were two women whose parents disapproved of their relationship. These lesbians set up housekeeping with their maid with whom they were extremely close. Read menage-a-trois. They were visited by numerous dignitaries including Walter Scott and Wordsworth. They’re buried with their maid in the church and a monument and marker were erected commemorating them all. Now I understand why the town is famous for its alternative festival.

We assembled lunch between a bakery (meat and cheese pasties) and a fruit stand (Italian peaches, local blueberries and raspberries) and walked over to the canal. We hopped onto a horse pulled canal barge to enjoy the scenery and our lunch. We could have been in Canal Fulton.

We didn't realize our error until we got into the car and looked at the map as we headed to our next stop. We corrected course and made it to Llandudno, a seaside town of Victorian architecture. I took tons of pictures while scampering on the stone strewn beach (see, my knee is functional) and we huddled together against the stiff wind from the Irish Sea until one of us gave up due to the cold. It was Karen this time, not me.

The trip to Betws-y-Coed (pronounced betus-ee-coyd) was through the kind of topography we see on the way to Wooster, Ohio. There were more sheep but the gently rolling farmland and rolled bales of hay could have been transplants. We were to stay at the Best Western Waterloo Hotel but when we arrived the didn’t have our reservation. We had vouchers for today and tomorrow. They relocated us to a major upgrade. We're at the Royal Oak, a sister hotel and stunning example of stonework overlooking the river Dee.

Dinner was at the Stables Bar. We've found bar meals are as reasonable as it gets here (8-9 pounds or $16-18 plus beverage,) varied, and filling. We lolled around the hotel bar afterward until we started nodding off. We have an early start tomorrow and a full day as we explore Snowdonia in Western Wales.

I think the emails from here will be shorter since we're not on a guided tour. We're a little short on historic background. I'm sure brevity is appreciated.

Toby