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| Llangollen |
Snowdonia Wales
Wednesday 21st
October 2015
The
sound of wind and rain echoed through my room from outside realising today
would be a bad day for weather. As soon as I opened my curtains, all the
beautiful mountains which overtook the landscape had disappeared behind a thick
dense fog and rain. Autumn leaves were flying everywhere though which I thought
finished a typical autumn scene; I happily enjoyed watching it from inside my room.
I headed out of my room realising my mother was already awake stating that the
rain had woke her up. I then let smudge out the back of the cottage and we were
welcomed by three sheep who were constantly staring at her probably thinking as
though she was a little lamb. We soon headed back in and down for breakfast
already debating on where to go for the day especially with the way the weather
was; what a debate it was too as my mother didn’t want to go to the places I
was suggesting.
Eventually
we came to a decision to visit two places which were not far from us. For the
moment though we would sit and relax waiting for the weather to settle down.
Reluctantly though we were packing the car with essentials including the dog
and we took our leave from Ffridd Uchaf. For once there were no sheep blocking
our path so we quickly made it past the gate and onto the narrow roads. We were
heading to a places called Betws-y-Coed and Llangollen which to be honest did
look like a long drive away on the Welsh country roads but I was looking
forward to it even with the bad weather. We had already passed Beddgelert and
onto the mountainous roads we witnessed the day beforehand.
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| Beddgelert |
My
optimism was not high though for the sight of marvelous views as the clouds
would cover the whole area. However, I couldn’t have been more wrong as I
pulled over at the same spot as yesterday completely won over by the change in
environment of the land. The misty clouds were brushing against the mountains
and foothills that we could see giving the area a sense of mystified far
eastern vibe making me wonder what was beyond the threshold; it was truly a
magical experience then we headed back into the car and drove on to
Betws-y-Coed.
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| Mystical Mountains |
The
views along the way were phenomenal and I said to my mother that this was the
best road I had ever driven along. A long time had passed driving along the
mountainous roads gaining height until we came to a level road straight to
Betws-y-Coed. There was still a lot of miles to drive but as there was
completely nothing on the roads, we ate up the miles until we had finally
passed a sign; ‘Welcome to Betws-y-Coed’. We wanted to stop hoping the place
was worth the trip and to stay a while longer. As soon as we approached the
central area of the village, we received our answer. It was the most beautiful
little village I had ever seen on this trip; even better than Beddgelert.
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| Quiet Roads |
We
headed for the nearby car park crossing the stone bridge which was surrounded
by picturesque beauty of a rapid river flowing through the rocky terrain; again
autumn trees would finish off this pretty place with colours of orange, brown
and yellow. We eventually parked up and once we grabbed our essentials from the
car, we headed straight for the riverside. As we approached the rapid river, we
came across the smooth and slippery rocks. My mother didn’t risk balancing on
them but I did as I carefully made my way closer to the river. I stopped
admiring a heron staring into the water looking for fish without moving a
muscle; then I looked upon the river myself. I admired the water rushing down
the small ravine flowing under the bridge and beyond the village.
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| Betws-Y-Coed |
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| Betws-Y-Coed |
I
eventually headed back onto the mainland to join my fellow explorers as we
continued along the stone bridge still mesmerised by the beauty. We then headed
up along to the shopping area where all the shops were mainly outdoor/hiking
shops; my kind of place I thought. Only trouble was the very high prices for
things inside as I only came out with a pair of gloves which were well over
£10. We continued along towards more shops admiring the beautiful displays of
baked goods and clothing. I immediately walked into the shop and came out with
2 caramel slices and 2 local pies which were called ‘Lamb Oggies’; Welsh
version of a ‘Cornish pasty’. We had seen basically everything the village had
to offer so we headed back to the car with our food a dug right in; the Oggie
was spectacular with overwhelming taste and flavours.
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| Betws-Y-Coed |
We
still had a very long drive ahead of us to get to our next destination
Llangollen so we strapped ourselves in and drove east leave Betws-y-Coed
behind. The country roads which were weaving down mountains were behind us now
as we were now driving along farmlands as far as the eye could see. There were
also long straights too which was quite nice in order to pick up speed. The
views were still phenomenal though but not as good as the view of a delorian
car driving passed us. It was very ironic for the specific date it was; Back to
the Future fans will understand.
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| Delorean |
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| Back to the Future Time Display |
Anyway,
we were driving along miles of road for a very long time until finally a sign
approached saying’ Welcome to Llangollen’. We were so relieved when we
approached the town centre trying to find a parking area. We finally found one
and made our way straight towards the high street area. Our first port of call
was a café though which was set high with the main bridge spanning across the
majestic River Dee. We had entered the café and at a table overlooking the huge
river ordering two lattes and a cake each; with ice cream of course. It didn’t
take long for them to arrive and we wolfed them down as though we hadn’t been
fed for months. It was very quiet inside the café and along with the views
outside I felt at peace for a small moment; then we had to take our leave and
explore this small town.
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| Llangollen Train Station |
We
first crossed the bridge overlooking the river flowing towards us quite calmly
reflecting an autumn forest in the distance. It was a lovely view but we moved
on back towards the shopping area coming across a handful of hiking, novelty
and charity shops. No doubt we had a look in the majority of them to pass the
time well sometimes with no luck despite the expensive prices placed on a lot
of things. We ran out of shops to see so we headed back along the main bridge
to the other side.
As
we approached the other side, we came a across a small hill which lead us to
the famous Llangollen Canal. There was a huge banner saying ‘Horse Drawn Canal
Boat Trips’ so we headed towards it hoping to get a ride. However, there was a
billboard showing trip times and we immediately realised we were too late to
get the last ride up. It was a bit disappointing but we wanted to walk along
the canal anyway. This was when we noticed the peaceful sight of a 3 metre wide
canal hidden well under a huge row of yellow autumn trees. The leaves were
flowing like a feather down onto the pathway and canal carpeting the area; it
was truly breathtaking.
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| Llangollen Canal |
With
nobody in sight we took a slow walk along thee canal making our way to an area
known as ‘Horseshoe falls’. We were breaking the peace and tranquillity along
the way by laughing and joking on at everything and anything passing the time
realising that it would be a very long way to get to the falls. Then slowly
approaching us from a distance was the horse drawn boat trip. It looked amazing
watching the boat pass by so elegantly not making a sound. I did feel sorry for
the horse though as it looked quite miserable as though it was sick of its life
walking up and down the same route.
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| Llangollen Canal |
We
kept on walking and it felt like we were on an endless trail. We decided to
turn around and head for the town again and to pass the time we were laughing
and joking once more pretending Smudge was pulling the canal boat along; Smudge
drawn boat trip sounded awesome. It felt as though it took longer to return to
busy town but we eventually made it. As we had seen everything in the town and
the fact it was getting late, we decided to return to the car and leave this
beautiful place. It took us a while to get out of town but once we did, we ate
up more miles. I was absolutely enjoying the drive as yet again there were long
periods of time I had the road to myself.
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| Llangollen Canal |
A
very long time passed as we drove through Betws-y-Coed once more admiring the
pretty little village for a brief moment already making our way towards
Beddgelert. From this point the weather had changed as we were gaining height
and once again we were welcomed by misty mountains. It was a lot thicker this
time and because it was raining all day, the clouds were a lot lower and
suddenly we were driving through the clouds; it was a surreal moment but
amazing nonetheless. I had to put my fog lights on as I couldn’t see a thing in
front of me as well as slowing right down; eventually we were below the clouds
with the views clearing up but still quite misty which was brilliant I thought
as we were finally nearing Beddgelert.
The
last few miles had flown by as we were now approaching our cottage at Ffryd
Uchaf as the daylight began to disappear. My mother couldn’t believe how much I
had driven today but I enjoyed every moment of it and I could see enjoyed it
very much too; Smudge on the other hand was fast asleep on my mothers lap. The
farm was in our sights and what a relief it was finally turning the engine off.
We soon realised the cottage was quite cold inside so I immediately planned on
getting a fire burning. I set up the kindling and newspaper and set it alight.
Yet again it lit up straight away and held its burn very well for once; again I
felt like a caveman at the first sight of fire.
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