North to Wales and Conwy

Today was a travel day to Conwy in Wales. We stopped a few places along the way. We had nice weather until late afternoon when we entered Wales. Oh, we were slowed down by gypsies traveling on the road with horse driven trailers!

Near the Wales border in Shropshire we visited Stokesay Castle. It’s a fortified manor house that was built in the late 17th century for a rich wool merchant, Lawrence of Ludlow, and it has changed very little since the 13th century. It’s unusual because it has an almost complete set of medieval buildings. The audio presentation and tour was very well done, and I even climbed the fairy tale tower! Before leaving we enjoyed a cream tea for a mid morning treat. Cream tea is a pot of tea with a scone, clotted cream and jam.

Our scenic drive took us from the southern border of Wales all the way to the northern border with our destination being Conwy. The landscape was breathtaking. We couldn’t stop to take pictures because of the winding roads, but I don’t see how photos could capture the beauty of the bright green hills, forests, mountains, valleys, rock walls and many sheep. I wonder if there are more sheep than people in Wales! It’s a perfect time because of the number of lambs with their mamas…adorable. They say that the rain is liquid sunshine here. Conwy is a walled harbor town attached to a castle overlooking the Irish Sea.

We’ve had great hotels, but this one has a lot of amenities which makes it a little more special in our rooms…chocolate bars, cookies, variety of hot drinks, warm towel racks, deluxe toiletries, robes, and a cute dragon on the bed! If you put him outside your door, he will protect your room! The dragon is on the Welsh flag.

We ended the night with a group dinner in the hotel restaurant…classy place. I tried something new…lamb shank. I was hesitant, but it was actually quite good!Read more