Valle Crucis Abbey in Llangollen, Wales
On Friday, I hopped on the train and headed to Wales for the first time as a guest of Visit Wales. I went canoeing on a 200 year old aquaduct and visited several of the castles built by Edward I during his conquest of Wales. Both the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and the Edwardian castles are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. I also paid a short visit to the train station with the longest place name in Europe: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. (no, I cannot pronounce it)
I’ve been very surprised by Wales. It gets overshadowed by England and Scotland, but there is a lot to see here and the scenery is quite beautiful. I’m looking forward to returning and exploring the southern part of Wales…although next time it will be in the summer. Because of the warm Gulf Stream winds, it is easy to forget how far north it is here. The sun is now setting around 4pm here which doesn’t leave a lot of time for photography.
As I’m writing this, I’m sitting in the ferry terminal in Holyhead, Wales waiting to get on Ferry to Dublin. There have been seriously high winds here the last few days which has caused problems with sailing. A container ship capsized and several of the ferries have been canceled. I was supposed to get on a high speed ship at noon. Instead I’ll be on the slower 3.5 hour ship at 2:40pm.
If you are in Dublin or Belfast and would like to get a pint this week, feel free to drop me a line.
Links
- The Mall of the World: The Chungking Mansion in Hong Kong Foreign Policy
- China’s princelings pose an issue for the Communist Party Wall Street Journal
- Me and the man with the iPad: Ethics of taking photos Reuters
- Turducken: When one Thanksgiving bird isn’t enough Boston.com
- The Loneliest Places On Earth Huffington Post
I’d love to see some photos of the Aqueduct trip. Have you any to upload?
Not yet, but I will within a week or two.
I had a great morning guiding Garry over the Aqueduct look forward to seeing the photos!
I was going to say, where are the pics of you canoeing on that aqueduct?! But then I realized, you probably didn’t have a hand free for a camera trying to just stay alive…
hi gary,
so wat about the anfield visit? hope you saw some training going over there any ways reading your blog its self is good to make out wats going over there in whales n more ,keep writing!!
Travelling is not free from any kinds of stress. So we should be careful about any kinds of bad experience.
Hi,
I can understand your problem friend really this is very difficult task to do but you know you are doing great job so keep it up.
Thanks for all in stressful time.
Hi Gary – thinking of you today on the Irish Sea. Done plenty of trips visiting my Irish family from England over the years…..it’s one long crossing in rough sea.. I’ve been sick a few times!. Worse bit was I felt I was still moving for hours after! Enjoy Ireland its a fantastic place!
Hi Gary , I would love to have a beer with you as maybe you will pass through my home town of Dun Laoghaire. Not in the country at the moment though. Have a safe crossing. If it’s rough,just get your head down for a few hours.
sometimes travelling can be very stressful..but with the many interesting experience, we are quite satisfied for it….i wish i ma in dublin today to meet you…just kidding…..can’t wait to see spain next week…have a safe travel to you my friend!