Llandudno, July 25, 26

Right after breakfast (another English breakfast: how do those Brits live past 40 years with all that fat and so forth?), we got a cab to the train station (for three pounds), and waited for the train to Llandudno. While the car trip is only about thirty minutes, the train stops in several places, and takes twice as long. But it was worth it: views of the sea, long beaches, beautiful countrysides. And then we were there. The directions to the B&B were easy, and we got there in good time.

The B&B - Walstall House - was not our finest choice. They put us in an ordinary room on the third floor, were quite curt, not too helpful. We had gotten used to the fact that there are no facecloths provided in the UK or Europe, but this place also did not provide soap or shampoo. Hopefully, we wouldn't spend a lot of time in the room anyways, so it wasn't a big concern, but still an annoyance.

We went walking, partly to find the restaurant we had had recommended by our hosts in Chester's Blue Moon cafe, and partly just to get the lay of the land. We knew we wanted to take the tramway to the top of the Great Orme, and we wanted to walk the Pier. So we did both these things, under a fairly bright sky with a bit of wind. Of course, up on the Orme, although it is only about 600 metres, it was very windy, and even cold. As nice as it was, there was a pleasure in getting back into the valley and the coastline.

And the walk along the coastline, bay area, was wonderful. There is a long Promenade there, going about a kilometre, with terrace buildings along it. The main part of the town was purpose-built by a wealthy landowner (who benefitted greatly from the Enclosures Act) in the early 1800's, as a tourist/vacation area. But at least it was well-designed, and the architecture is very pleasant, albeit pretty uniform. So we enjoyed the walk, and were ready for our meal when the time for dinner came.

Dinner at the Seahorse was exquisite, tasty, not-too-expensive, and over too soon. Then back via the seashore again, to our B&B for an attempt at watching the news, before turning in again.

The next day we had a Welsh Breakfast (seems about the same as a British one), and headed off walking again. Our train to London didn't leave until 2 PM, so we had the morning to read, walk, get a coffee, and try for Darlene to get a check on her phone messages. For this latter, we had to join the Llandudno Library, so I now am a card-carrying member of that august establishment (it is really quite a nice place).

Then the train, tube, and bus to get to Dan's place, by which time we were all too tired to go out for his birthday. We ordered in curry-style dishes (here they will deliver wine or beer with your meal as well as the food), ate too much, and tumbled into bed.


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Location:North Wales