Sunday, August 17, 2014

Off to Wales


A few months ago I had discovered a bus touring company that left for tours from Liverpool called Busy Bus. I now finally have a job so mu schedule is pretty locked in Monday to Friday. I am regretting not doing more travelling in June and July but I was job hunting then and didn't want to be somewhere if someone actually decided to ask me for an interview. So now my options of travelling are a bit limited to weekend trips but luckily I live not far from an airport and the UK has a great network of trains.  One of the places I wanted to see more of was Wales. After a few weeks of working, I decided to see if I could book onto one of their tours. Most of their tours are full day with one on Saturday and one on Sunday. Finding a free spot for this Saturday the 16th of August I decided I would claim the spot. The tour was £39 and I thought it was worth every penny with the fun I had.

The tour takes off from the Crown Plaza in Liverpool right by the Royal Liver Building. I woke up early so I could shower before heading to the train station to head into Lime Street. I went a little early for the 7:28 am train but ended up getting on the 7:17 am train. Arriving into Liverpool I headed to find myself a bite to eat. I wandered around the quiet city centre before stopping at a Tesco to grab a drink for the trip and headed over to join the group. Finding myself a seat on the bus with a good amount of window I settled back as we set off. We had to make two stops to pick a few people up before heading off to North Wales.

Our first stop was Llandudno where we visited the Great Orme which is a very large limestone headland next to the town. The views from on top of the Great Orme were very beautiful and I enjoyed looking over the water. Below a photo of our cute little Busy Bus that would take us everywhere.




The town of Llandudno is a little seaside resort. We only had time to explore the pier but I was happy we did as I found a souvenir for myself.  In the picture below you can see the buildings. They are all painted different pastel colours and are mostly all hotels.






Back on the bus we headed to Conway/Conwy where I saw the very amazing Conway Castle. I did not go in it but decided I would venture along the town walls which gave a great view of the castle and River Conwy.




Frank, the Busy Bus driver recommended Fisherman's Chip Shop for lunch and I enjoyed them while sitting by the river. The chips were very tasty and the fish was nice. I filled my stomach and headed to check out the Smallest House in Great Britain. I paid £1 to go in and explore it. Not much to explore though, it was so tiny. Just consisting of a small room and then a ladder leading to the second floor which had a bed in it. Apparently it was owned by a 6 foot tall fisherman who could not stand up fully in it.




I walked around the water front seeing a very cool food truck and wished I was still hungry to enjoy one of their pizzas.  I found room for ice cream at the shop next to Fisherman's and enjoyed the raspberry ripple as I wandered around the streets before heading back to the bus to join the others.







Off we went along the great and winding road into Snowdonia National Park. We navigated tight roads through farmers lands up into the hills before stopping to have a walk around in the mountains. You could not see Mount Snowdon due to cloud cover. I really want to climb it one day. This was my favourite part of the day. We were lucky as the sun was coming out a little bit. It was all just so beautiful. I will have another post with all my photos from Snowdonia National Park as I took quite a lot.




Sad to leave Snowdonia we travelled along and stopped to check out the Ugly House  or Tŷ Hyll in Welsh. It's now turned into a tea house and has amazing gardens in the back in attempts to bring back the bee population. Apparently it is working which is great. The house is called the Ugle House because of how crude and rough it was put together. There seems to be differing stories on how it was built and by whom but some of the rocks that it is built with are just massive.


Leaving the Ugly House behind we headed to Betws-y-Coed where I enjoyed the quaint feeling of the village which has a large population of B&Bs. There is also a large number of outdoor stores as Betws-y-Coed is a centre for outdoor activities. I walked around, enjoying another ice cream and purchased some Bara Brith to take home with me. The River Llugywy running through the village is very beautiful as well.






 Our last stop on our trip would be at the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct which is a World Heritage Site. The navigable aqueduct carried the Llangollen Canal over the valley of the River Dee. It was completed in 1805 and is the longest and highest aqueduct in Britain.

We walked across the aqueduct which was amazing as it is so high up in the air at 126 feet. There is a very sturdy railing to keep you from falling off the edge. The water is not that deep as the barges that go across it do not have much depth. After crossing the length of it, we all jumped back into the bus to head home.









We got home to Liverpool around 7:10 pm which means we had a very full day of bussing about North Wales. I thoroughly enjoyed the bus driver and the tour. They have another tour to the Lake District which I think I will do in a few weeks. I had a great time and enjoyed searching for the black sheep amongst all the white ones.

2 comments:

  1. I'd be all over this if I was you. Not too expensive but great fun by the sounds of it. I'm totally living vicariously through you these days cousin!

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  2. I love the picture of you with your feet along the edge - it looks like you may just jump into the grey waters below. That's very much how I've felt as I got ready to plunge into Toronto!

    Hope all is well! <3

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