Day 8 Wales

Do you remember "Faulty Towers", a British TV show? Our B&B in Chester has turned out to be a boarding house--college student residence hall--and B&B all mixed into one. After hearing various conversations in the lobby and breakfast room, it seems most of the adults "always" come here for holiday. And there were several resident male students from a nearby trade school using computers downstairs (the only place in the building with any computer access). Since we could not get the Internet to work AT ALL on our computer this was somewhat helpful--except they couldn't get it to work either. HELP!!!


Our room was tiny but adequate--all the required furniture, fixtures and plenty of hot water.


That is until midnight when this noisy ringing woke me up! I shook Don who was still sleeping soundly----and we both decided it was the FIRE ALARM!!!

On every B&B/hotel door is an evacuation plan--where you should meet, etc, in case of a fire so management can count noses. Fortunately, I had looked at it earlier! But what do you do first?? ----leave the room in your pj's and bare feet?? ----- get dressed? ---- where are my shoes?? ---- where were all the irreplaceable things like the money?? ----- AND THE PICTURES TAKEN SO FAR!! ----- Was it is a false alarm?? ------ The ringing continued!! So off we go, sort of dressed, to meet all the fellow residents outside the building on the sidewalk---where it is RAINING!

But only 8 showed up for this party! Where was everybody else? Is this a regular occurrence?

The night manager (also, sort of dressed) checkout the building--no fire after all so we all trooped back to bed. As we got to our room, the older lady next door comes into the hall to evacuate. She had heard the alarm but stayed put and kept calling the front desk---she didn't know if she should leave her room! I think we just failed Fire Safety 101! I think we need a "just in case" PLAN!

Morning came very fast after last night's uproar. The manager this morning thought one of the students had been smoking which set off the alarm! The fire system could pinpoint the area so heads were going to roll today. He also said that sadly the reaction by the lady was very common ---- what to do, what to do? etc., until it is too late!

Enough excitement--let's drive to Wales. Our plan was a drive along northern Wales to see a couple of castles built by Edward I as he battled for control of this independent land for 20 years in the 13th century. His castles became English islands in the middle of a very angry Wales. Since the United Kingdom is England, Scotland and Wales, the differences have been somewhat ironed out (depending

upon where and who you ask!).

Conwy Castle is dramatically situated on a rock overlooking the sea just as you drive into Conwy (the town). There are great medieval town walls and a quant fishing harbor.

The Castle is a ruin but we got to walk all around inside.

It was very windy but the views from the top were spectacular!

The town of Conway was a very busy slate port; by the 1900's, there were actually 48 pubs for all the sailors who loaded and transported slate to Europe where most buildings had slate tile roofs. Today it is a lazy, very Welsh, holiday place that loves tourists.

There is a tourist attraction, which we walked by, called the "Smallest House in Great Britain". It is about 10 feet tall by 6 feet wide, 1 room down and 1 up, and was really lived in by a local fisherman until 1900 when the town council declared it unfit for human habitation. Doesn't it make you wonder why someone would live where he couldn't even stand upright? He was 6 ft. 3 in.

Caernarfon Castle is our next stop. It wasn't only a castle for defense but a place where Ed I and the family could stay (a vacation with your enemies?) You can see from the model that the castle was right on the coast. That location was good for bringing supplies and more soldiers who then could march into the interior to subdue the locals.

Edward made a deal with the angry Welsh that they would submit to him if he presented a "prince, born in Wales, who spoke not a word of English". I'm sure they were not thinking that Edward's infant son, born in this castle fulfilled all the requirements! There has only been an "Investment Ceremony" for the last 2 of the 21 Princes of Wales.

Driving back to Chester was a rainy ordeal. The Welsh country side is rocky and desolate between small towns. We drove through some of Snowdonia National Park and really loved Betws-y-Coed. This town is the resort center for Snowdonia hiking; a picturesque town surrounded by woods. Add it to "the next time list!"