The Best of Britain and Ireland -- Day Nine

The following is my journal entry (with pictures added) for Day 9 of my vacation to Britain and Ireland.

Today we had a scenic drive through North Wales. We first stopped for a photo opportunity at the bridge at Llangollen. The bridge is one of the Seven Wonders of Wales. It is the first stone bridge to be built over the River Dee. Llangollen (pronounced Clan-gloflin) is the home of the annual national competition for poets and musicians.

The River Dee.

The Llangolen Railway Station. As "preserved railway", it is a railway run by volunteers for tourists.

We continued through more beautiful scenery.



During our morning drives, Christina, our tour director, usually talks to us about the culture, history, and interesting tidbits of the countries, cities, and counties we are visiting that day. While she was talking today, she suddenly stopped, stared out the window, and then pointed at buffalo in a corral. I guess it is an odd sight in Wales.

One of the things Christina talked about today was the history of the Welsh flag. It is a flag with a red dragon on a green and white background. The dragon is significant in this country and has come to be synonymous with all things Welsh. The story of the red dragon is said to be a prophecy of the coming of King Arthur, and of course the story features Merlin as well. In the story the red dragon fights the invading white dragon and ultimately wins. Because of this, Henry Tudor (Henry VII) flew the red dragon as his banner, overlaid on a green and white field representing the house of Tudor, on his way to Bosworth Field (the penultimate battle in the War of the Roses in the 15th Century and the start of the Tudor dynasty in England). After that battle, the flag was taken to St. Paul's Cathedral to be blessed. It has been the Welsh flag ever since. One more interesting tidbit about this flag, it is the only national flag NOT represented on the Union Jack flag.

We stopped for a shopping and comfort stop in Betws-y-Coed. This small town didn't have much, but it was in a beautiful area.



During today's drive, it was Kelli's and my turn to sit in front of the coach (we have to rotate our seats every day). It's a different experience sitting up front on a bus tour. What a day to do it! Beautiful scenery and perfect weather!

Next we stopped for a quick photo op of Mt. Snowdon, the tallest peak in Wales. The area around the mountain is called Snowdonia.

Mt. Snowdon in the distance


Our group taking pictures of Mt. Snowdon


An interesting farm across the lake at our photo stop.

The Ugly House in Snowdonia. This house is said to be built by outlaw brothers in 1475. After that, it was a house used squatters.


Holyhead to London stage coach outside the Ty'n y Coed Hotel, north Wales

We continued our drive over spectacular Llanberis Pass (sounds like Clanberis) around windy and narrow lanes with amazing views of Snowdonia.

Backpackers hike this Pass too. You can see a hiking trail through the middle of the hill above. Also, cars have the share the road with hikers. I think it would be scary walking around these narrow lanes.


Notice the biker traveling up the Pass. These lanes are so narrow, cars have to wait for the opportunity to pass. It still trips me out looking at the cars on the opposite side of the road.


Notice the Heather on the rocky mountains.

The above pictures are to illustrate how narrow these lanes are and how good the bus drivers have to be. I have my camera smashed to the window on the second picture, but I still do not see asphalt.

An interesting mine in Snowdonia at the bottom of the Llanberis Pass.

We then crossed the Britannia Bridge (originally completed in 1850, re-built after a fire in 1970) to the Isle of Anglesey. The Isle of Anglesey is an island and county off the northwest coast of Wales. It is connected to the mainland by two bridges spanning the Menai Strait: the original Menai Suspension Bridge, which carries the A5, completed in 1826; and the more recently constructed Britannia Bridge; which carries the A55 and the North Wales Coast Railway Line.

Crossing the Britannia Bridge

A view from the bridge.

A view of the Menai Bridge

We stopped for lunch at a small town with the longest name in the Europe and the second longest name in the world. Ready for this? Here it is:

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

No kidding!! I don't know how to pronounce it, but there you go!!



After lunch, we continued on to Holyhead and boarded the ferry to Ireland. We drove right onto the boat, bus and all. Then we disembarked the coach and found a sitting area on the ferry. We stayed there for the three hour ferry ride to Dublin.

Our first view of the ferry

Driving onto MS Ulysses

The ferry is called the MS Ulysses, the flagship of Irish Ferries. It is the world's largest car ferry. It has three miles of parking spaces for 1,342 cars or 240 trucks. I tried walking around a little, but I got pretty motion sick, so I slept for most of the ride over.

Goodbye Wales!

Onward to Ireland


Land Ahoy!!


Our first look at Ireland


Coming into port


Driving off the ferry

Last look at MS Ulysses

We finally arrived in Dublin and drove the few minutes to our hotel. It is pretty near the port. Once we settled into our room (we are here for two nights), Kelli and I went out to find an ATM. Ireland uses Euros so the English pound will not work here. It was really busy around the hotel because the Black Eyed Peas is having a concert at the 02 Concert Hall just down the street from our hotel.

We found the ATM, got out our money, and then went to find a restaurant. This was one of the few nights without an excursion or a dinner at the hotel, so we pretty much had the night to ourselves.

We found an Italian restaurant without a huge crowd waiting outside, but when we walked closer, we saw the chairs were really close together and it didn't appear there were any empty seats. We decided not to eat there. As we turned to leave...

WARNING....MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT ALERT

...I didn't see a step in the walk way and lost my footing. My attempt to run to catch my balance failed and I dived into the pavement, stomach first. I scrapped up my hands a little, but my stomach caught the brunt of my fall. I stayed on the ground for a while trying to figure out what had happened and if I was hurt. My brain was not processing anything at the moment, so I did not move or make a sound. I was SO CONFUSED! Kelli finally came over to help me up when she both got over her initial shock. At first she made sure I was okay, but then she couldn't contain her laughter. No one else in the square came to help, but the people in the restaurant all looked over as I fell and the people waiting at the trolley station clapped. I had to bow when I stood back up.

Kelli lead me away from from that spot, but I was still in shock. I could either laugh hysterically or start crying. I would switch between those emotions so quickly. The fall knocked the wind out of me so I was having trouble breathing, but there didn't seem to be any other injury. Kelli told me later I was pretty graceful when I fell. A lovely swan dive with my arms at my side, my hands up, my back arched, and my head back. It is amazing I didn't hit my face to the sidewalk, which I'm really glad I didn't. Though, I can't lay on my stomach as I write this tonight; it hurts pretty badly now. I bet I have some deep internal bruising. But I am still laughing about it, so that is good.

We sat in the square (on the opposite side from where I fell) for a little while for me to compose myself and to catch my breath again. Then we continued our quest for dinner. We stopped at a few more restaurants, but all tables would not be available for an hour or two. So we decided to go back to our hotel and wait for the concert to start so all the crowds would be gone from the restaurants. We also had to do a bit of laundry (by hand...in the tub. Groan!), so it gave us a good opportunity to do that before it got too late.

After a couple of hours, we were able to go get something to eat (we decided to eat in the hotel restaurant). Then we returned to our room to finish our laundry and get ready for bed.

Our hotel in Dublin

Tomorrow should be pretty laid back. We have about an hour and a half tour through Dublin, then the rest of the day is ours. We don't want to do the excursion that is offered (a tour through the Guinness Factory) so we will do our own thing and have a fairly relaxing day. This is the middle of the tour, and we've been going, going, going non-stop, so it should be good to have some down time to rejuvenate us for the rest of the trip. Plus, tomorrow is the UK's Bank Holiday, so it should be pretty quiet and not very crowded.

INTERESTING TIDBIT: During our short stay in North Wales, I noticed that every road sign or the signs inside hotels were in both English and Welsh. Look at the difference between the two languages. Very interesting: