Cymru

July 15 - Holyhead

Arrived on Thursday around 2PM without any clue of where I would stay. After some lunch at a dive pub, Mike (a chap from my program) and I wandered the city looking for a cheap B&B. After a few unsuccessful stops, we stumbled upon The Haven, a quaint seaside home run by a friendly older Welsh couple. Once we were settled in and paid up, we walked over toward Holyhead Mountain and the heath along the sea--a truly medieval feeling. After searching (successfully) for a long time for a place that served food after 5PM, Mike and I turned in early to catch an early ferry to Dublin.
However, with the morning brought bad weather and even worse news: the ferry would not be traveling that day. So, after bartering with the inn-keepers to get some of our money back, we bought an all-day public transit ticket and headed to Caernarfon.


July 16 - Caernarfon

After a short train ride to Bangor, we jumped on a slow bus to Caernarfon. Having been slightly unimpressed with Holyhead we really had no idea what to expect, and were feeling slightly wary of northern Wales at this point. The ride to Caernarfon, however, quickly changed those feelings. Our bus weaved through the rural, mountainous countryside, with miles of ancient stone walls, green mountains and mystical valleys. Once off the bus, we soon found the 13th century castle of Edward I, situated on the edge of town right along the Menai Straight and overlooking surveying much the Welsh landscape.(Caernarfon is one of the neatest places I have ever been; I could definitely see myself spending a long time there). Having decided not to book a place to stay prior to arriving, we once again set out to find one. This time it only took two stops to find a very cool B&B with an equally cool owner. The rest of the day we spent snapping photos of the castle, walking around the city and drinking British beer. Mike later regretted doing one of those three things.