The Savvy Bollocks: Then There Was Wales

It's time for everyone's favorite blogging experience: the photo tour! Yay!

So we went on a group trip to Wales this past weekend. I honestly didn't know what to expect. It's part of the United Kingdom, a separate country from England, and it's full of Welsh-speaking people. But I really had a lot of fun there--I even celebrated my birthday! At any rate, I would definitely consider going back, if only to do some hard core hiking.

We arrived in the town of Conwy at 7:00 p.m. at our super-nice hostel. As Bob, our bus-driver, drove off, we couldn't help but be amazed by the Welsh landscape.

Joe and Ben exploring our room

Ben says hello

Oh hey, Moose! Didn't see you there.

A view of the village

The following morning, we took part on a walking tour of the town wall and Castle, built by King Edward I during his second campaign of Northern Wales. The castle itself, as you will see, was built on a cliff side near the coast. (Directly on top of living rock!) It was pretty amazing.

View of the town wall and car park (it's modern function, I suppose)

If there weren't already gates, like these, archways had

to be made in the wall to allow traffic flow

Group ascending a tower

Several of these towers were used to spot intruders

Tour Guide and group

Castle from afar

Castle from within

Castle wall and bay

Towers within the castle wall

View of the town from the castle

View of the bay (click to enlarge)

omg myspace photo

Of course bridges like these didn't exist back then,

but they're pretty amazing.

Yeah, that was quite exciting. It was definitely a change of scenery--one much welcomed after living in flat ol' Illinois. Later that day we visited Llechwedd Slate Caverns. Much of Conwy architecture depends on this natural resource, and so we ventured below to see how it worked. (Sorry about the dark pics... you can go here for better ones.)

We hopped on an underground tram and visited caverns as they

would have looked when being mined

Each room had to be surrounded by thick pillars so the roof

wouldn't collapse

You can't really see, but there was a vast lake inside this cavern.

Mining has long since ceased because the water seeped in.

Afterwards we attended a demonstration of how they cut slate

I couldn't help but draw connections to coal mining, what with the dangerous work, the poor lighting conditions, and the dust everywhere. Still, it was interesting to see what the city of Conwy was founded upon, almost literally.

The following day we got on a bus to Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales. Apparently it has been called the busiest mountain in Britain. (It certainly has a beautiful national park.) Our group got on a steam engine (sort-of) and scaled the summit. Once at the top, or as far as we could go considering weather conditions, we were able to look around and just BREATHE. THAT MOUNTAIN AIR.

Train!

View at the top

Flat guys enjoying the landscape

Awesome panoramic (click to enlarge)

Can you tell I love this feature?

One last shot

Ohmigoodness. Mountains. Must hike sometime. That is all.

Finally, we managed to get a glimpse of a Roman-style aqueduct on our way back to Nottingham. Bob, our bus-driver, likes to take his canal boat through here sometimes. It was quite neeto, to be sure.