 Day 9: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerych-
wyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
Bless You!
Leaving Dublin, we went to the port of Dun Laoghaire to take the ferry
back across the Irish Sea to Wales. This ferry was a lot faster than the first one
(and also not as nice). In Wales, we passed through the villiage of
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerych- wyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. That's a Welsh word,
probably meaning something like "town that keeps its name out of sheer
bloody-mindedness." The name is, of course, the towns main claim to fame. Most
people just call it "Llanfair". You can see why.
As you can see, I was not quite able to fit the entire name into my shot!
Of course, we were in a moving bus at the time... Only a few places
that I saw actually showed the entire name: this was the best shot I got.
From Llanfair, we took a pleasant drive through Wales: as you can see from
the pics, it was a gorgeous day! Just like Ireland, Wales has a lot of signs in both
Welsh and English, in an attempt to preserve the language.
Caernarvon Castle
Our next stop was Caernarvon Castle, where the Prince of Wales was made,
well, Prince of Wales ("Invested", I think is the word). Unlike most of
the other castles we'd seen so far, this one was very well kept and in good repair.
The Castle is also the home to the Royal Welsh Fusiliers (with their mascot, a goat), and
had an interesting museum with the history of the castle and of the British Royal
Family. There was a family tree shown in the castle, and the most interesting thing
about it was that it looped! Boy, those Royals sure are a kinky bunch...
Caernarvon Castle
The view from the top of the castle was absolutely beautiful! There
are stairs all the way to the tops of the towers you see in the image above. The
castle is not far from a bay and a dock area so there were lots of sailing ships about.
Llangollen, Wales
Our final stop of the day was in the town of Llangollen (those Welsh sure
love their double-L's, don't they?). On the way we drove through a place called the
Horseshoe pass, so named because of its very narrow, very tight curls of road through
sheep-infested hills. We actually had to stop for some sheep as they were herded
over the road and over into a field across the way.
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