Portmeirion & Bodnant Gardens

Portmeirion is an “Italian Village” which was the life’s work of a rich local architect, Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, who began building it in 1925. The British 1960s TV series, The Prisoner, was filmed here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, with not much time left in the day, we made a brief stop at Bodnant Gardens. Originally the private garden of the stately Bodnant Hall, this lush 80-acre landscape was donated by the Aberconway family (who still live in the house) to the National Trust in 1949.

The highlight is the famous Laburnum Arch—a 180-foot-long canopy made of bright-yellow laburnum. The peak blooming period is late May but we were able to get a glimpse of what it will look like in a few weeks.

 

 

The azaleas and Rhododendrons were spectacular.

 

 

 

 

This is Bodnant Hall.

 

 

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Caernarfon Castle & Beddgelert

We were with our guide again today. We decided to go back to Caernarfon again so we could go inside the castle. Edward I built this castle 700 years ago for defense and as a palace where he and his family could stay on visits to Wales.

 

This is a model of the castle.

 

 

And this is what it looks like today.

 

 

 

 

 

It comes with plenty of dark stone passages ...

 

 

... and narrow winding staircases.

 

 

Plus a chessboard of Welsh and English princes as life-size chess pieces.

 

 

This is a model of the castle with the town walls.

 

 

Nearby, the village of Beddgelert is a cluster of stone houses lining a babbling brook in the shadow of Mount Snowdon and her sisters. According to Rick: "Cute as a hobbit, Beddgelert will have you looking for The Shire around the next bend."

 

 

 

We took a short walk next to the brook.

 

 

 

 

 

This is St Mary's church. The grave markers are slate.

 

 

 

 

A craft shop in town was selling some impressive statues.

 

 

Our day didn't end here. See my next blog post for what happened next.

 

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Conwy

We followed Rick Steves' walking tour of Conwy today. All of the information below is from Rick Steves' Great Britian guide book.

 

This wall of slate memorials recalls the 1937 coronation of King George VI (the father of today’s Queen Elizabeth II). Notice the Welsh-language lesson here, given to the town by a citizen who never learned to read and wanted to inspire others to avoid his fate. It lists, in Welsh, months, days, numbers, and the alphabet with its different letters.

 

 

We 'toured' the Smallest House in Great Britian.

 

 

These women are in traditional Welsh costumes.

 

 

This is the first floor. The fireplace is straight ahead and, to my right, out of the picture, is a ladder leading to the second floor bedroom. In the 1800s this 'house' was occupied by a married couple (eeeeeeekkkkk!). According to Rick: It’s 72 inches wide, 122 inches high, and it had no WC—but it did have a bedpan.

 

 

This is the second floor which has a barricade to block visitor's access to it. I am standing near the top of the ladder to take the photo.

 

 

The Castle Hotel dates from the 1800s and was originally a coaching inn.

 

 

St Mary's Church was the centerpiece of a Cistercian abbey that stood in Conwy a century before the town or castle.

 

 

And no tour would be complete without further exploration of the town walls.

 

 

The turrets were positioned about every 50 yards, connected by ramparts, and each one had a drawbridge that could be raised to thwart any breach.

 

 

Notice those stone steps on the left. They lead up from the ramparts to the tops of the towers. No hand rails were needed back then!

 

 

One of the turrets has a cracked wall. When they tunneled underneath this turret for the train, the construction accidentally undermined the foundation, effectively taking the same tactic that invading armies would have. The huge crack makes plain why undermining was such a popular technique in medieval warfare.

 

 

To get into town from our B&B we have to enter by way of the Mill Gate, one of the original gates through the wall. These are photos of the gate and the walls from the outside.

 

 

 

This is the gate from the inside.

 

 

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