Still in Conwy

Turns out that we love Conwy so much and there's so much to do from here that we've decided to spend the rest of our Wales time here. Hooray!

The scene: Conwy lies at the mouth of an estuary, its medieval castle perched on a rock above the river. It was a walled city back in the day, and much of the wall has been restored and is still walkable today. To the west along the coastline lies the ocean. To the south lies the rolling hills and mountains. The colors are deep blue, vibrant green, and intense purple.

The first day we were here we walked along the town walls and all around the little town, along the promenade, onto the grounds of the cricket club.

The second day we walked along the river/coast to Llandudno (pronounced Cthlan-DID-noh), around that town and back again.

Day three took us along the Conwy side of the estuary/coast walk to the Conwy marina and beyond to a rocky shore.

Day four we hiked up Conwy Mountain on turfed paths among the sheep and rabbit dung, the foxgloves and some other beatiful purple flowers growing out of low bushes. The sea was on our right, the mountains on our left, the sky was cloudless and bright blue, the colors of the grasses, flowers and water were unreal. We couldn't imagine a more idyllic walk in Wales than this.

Day five, yesterday, we took the bus to Trefiw (pronounced TREH-view), checked out the Woolen Mill store, walked across a field to Llanrwst (CTHLAN-roost), walked along a creek to a tea house that had been recommended to us, ate a homemade currant scone with strawberry jam and whipped cream and butter, caught another bus to Betws-y-Coed (too complicated to explain pronunciation) where we took a walk along a river across a field dotted with sheep and through a wood. Was also a good food day, as the placed we lunched at in Betws-y-Coed and our dinner place here in Conwy cooked us probably the best meals we've had so far.

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Mom and I joke to each other that it's a good thing we experience Rhyl first so we could really appreciate where we are now.

I admit I'm getting tired of the sunshine and of having to slather on the 50 SPF every day, but the good news came this morning that we're supposed to get a thunderstorm this afternoon. Woohoo!

Tomorrow or Sunday we'll head to Ulverston, where our Lake District walk begins. If it's anything like our Conwy Mountain walk, it'll be gorgeous and perfect.