Betws-y-Coed

Wales, Wales, we love Wales!

Well, we enjoyed Wales so much last time that we decided to go there again this last weekend. This time we went to North Wales -- into the Snowdonia National Park area. It was around a four hour drive so we left after work Friday night and stayed in a Bed and Breakfast in the small town of Betws-y-Coed (which means 'Sanctuary in the Wood'). We were so surprised when we woke up in the morning to see what we had driven through in the dark the night before. Tons of green fields, mountains (if you can believe it or not), forests, a river running through it all, and sheep all around!

We had a great time that morning just wandering around the small town, visiting the local church and graveyard, climbing a tree, crossing a suspension bridge and admiring the sheep with their baby lambs. It was so much fun to just watch the baby lambs run around. (Their bounding kind of reminded us of the lamb in the "Bound and Re-Bound" clip that you see at the beginning of the movie The Incredibles.) :)
After that we headed off to a local waterfall - Swallow Falls. They were really amazing and we enjoyed walking to the different levels of the falls. This part was my favorite - plus, doesn't Jared look so handsome! ;)
After that we decided to take a hike in their mountains. The hike was a pretty good one, but the wind was blowing so hard that we didn't get to enjoy it as much as we would have liked to. Oh, well! The view was still very pretty!
On our way home we stopped in a town called Froncysyllte to see their famous aqueduct: The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct! This aqueduct is the longest and highest one in Britain. Beyond the fact that small boats can travel across it there is also a walking path on it, so of course we had to walk across it. Although I have to say that it even made me question whether I was afraid of heights or not. I gathered that I was okay because there was a railing, but if there hadn't been I don't think I could have crossed it. It was a great stop and we're really glad that we got to see it in the day light!

We had another great weekend! It's so much fun to go out and see what you can find. It makes me think that we need to do it a lot more at home.

We also have to add the funny two things we came across whilst driving between Wales and back home in Staines.

First, amidst the fields of sheep we came across a "karting" course. Pretty much a race course for kart racing. We stopped to watch the racing. Pretty funny amidst all of the green fields of sheep to find a race course like that.

Second, was the Indoor Snow Ski resort that we came across when we stopped for dinner. It was the strangest thing to find man-made snow indoors along with a lift, slopes, and snow skiers decked out just like they would be back at home for a day on the real (outdoor) slopes. Pretty ingenuitive!

Well, that's all folks! Blog ya later! ;)