The Return from Gogland

Having returned from a quick and jolly jaunt up north, I now feel as though I know what my nation actually looks like. The beauty of the Snowdonia mountains was certainly breathtaking and was like nothing i had ever seen before. Good to know that its all on your doorstep.. well kind of!

After a little rendezvous with Ria and Lisa in Mid Wales's most premier town, Aberystwyth, Leighton Jen and I headed north. We firstly conquered Machynlleth and Dolgellau, then we powered on to make sure we got to the Llanberis Slate Museum. En route we witnessed some beautiful sights, such as the one above, which we took whilst riding the famous Llanberis Pass. Once spending no more than 10 minutes in one of the most uninteresting museums ever, we made our way out of Snowdonia into Gwynedd's mighty administrative heart
of Caernarfon. We meandered around the town, looked at the great castle and made base camp at our accomodation in Bangor. In the evening we strayed into Bangor city centre and had a fine meal at the local Varsity and had a few cocktails in the very packed out Lloyd's Bar. Leighton at this point of the trip was euphoric as he felt well at home, with Welsh speakers galore! Although we agreed that Bangor was not what we imagined; it was quite dark and dismal, in addition to being a place which belonged solidly to the student population.



On the next day we attacked the day with a light breakfast, as we had castles to visit and Argos stores to assess. Before we left Bangor we decided to stop at the Argos Extra in the retail park, to check out North Wales's hottest Argos store as one would normally do! Our first stop was Beaumaris castle, which meant a trip over the Menai Strait and into the druidic ancestral home of Ynys Mon, or to many, Anglesey. This was probably the castle I wanted to see most, for it is revered for its sheer architectual brilliance. And it didn't disappoint. Leighton was still in awe of surrounding Welsh speaking folk by this time!

After that we went to Llanfair PG; which I must say, astounded me for it's absolute tourist pulling power! Its amazing how one train station can bring into so many elderly people! Jen stocked up on her beloved aniseed balls, I got my rum and raisin fudge and Leighton, well.... in his words, bought "enough to get me back to Caernarfon"! So we crossed back into the mainland and it was Caernarfon Take Two for Leighton to see his castle. We conquered the castle after a good two hours or so and we were all mesmerised by it's size and the well-preservation of the walls.

We then hurried along to Conwy for the castle Jen had longed to see. And it was pretty impressive. Again with lots to see, and a before entering the main gate there was a castle wall walk which was absolutely pointless to walk on but we walzed along it anyway! The sights of Great Ormes Head and the town were fantastic from the tall towers. Jen by this point had caught the Welsh speaking bug and began to recite the same sentence over and over much to her delight... "dw i eisiau coke", "dw i eisiau coke"... and to report, this trend hasn't ceased yet! After visiting Conwy, we lost a good friend in Mr Sun. So as we had to deal with Mr Night, we knew that it was time to head homebound bound. But first, we visited the North Walian seaside citidel of Llandudno, which boasted a picturesque beachfront (above). It did look like a Spanish hideaway, but it certainly wasn't as warm as one! We rounded off our trip by checking out another Argos Extra in Llandudno town and noticed a few safety hazards and poor name badge wearage. But, at least, their quickpay kiosks were A-OK.

We then travelled down the A55 North Walian Expressway towards Chester and then went to Wrexham, Shrewsbury, Telford and then came home via the M54, M6 and so on. It was a shame about the traffic on the M5 but it least it gave us a chance to reflect a great two days. Also Jen learnt more Welsh and put it to good use by asking for more things! Leighton nearly killed us with his toxic ass, but gladly Jen and I survived to tell the tale. Never again! Well, until next time!