Rain, cold and wind didn’t stop us from having a wonderful day, but they did stop us from going to Llanberis to ride the train to the top of Snowdon Mountain, the highest peak in the UK below Scotland, in the Snowdonia National Park. High winds and fog prevented the trains from running. So most of our time in Wales was spent near the coast, and we missed the rugged mountain interior.

In the morning, we drove to Caernarfon Castle, built under the reign of Edward I in 1283. His son, Edward, was born there, the first British monarch to be crowned Prince of Wales. In 1969, Prince Charles (now King Charles III) was invested Prince of Wales by his mother, Queen Elizabeth. But in fact, the castle was never completed and was never really inhabited—it was a show of power.

The castle contained a museum, but it was exclusively about the Welsh part of wars—so many wars. I wanted to know how the castle was furnished and where people lived and where they kept their livestock, but that didn’t happen. Finally, there was one room with statues of monarchs posed as chess pieces and housing the throne Queen Elizabeth sat in during Prince Charles’s investiture.

Once it started raining again we ducked into the oldest pub in town (1522!), unfortunately called The Black Boy Inn. It is named after Black Jack, the first black person in this area, who married a Welsh woman. We were in luck—they were serving a “Sunday Carvery,” a grand buffet. I chose roast beef, turkey, Yorkshire pudding, roast carrots and turnips, and creamed broccoli and cauliflower. Way too much, and way worth it.

After lunch we drove to Bodnant Gardens, a huge estate with over 8 miles of pathways through gorgeous gardens and woods. The main mansion, built in the 1790’s, is still lived in by the McLauren family (the Lord and Lady Aberconway). We spent a lovely 2 hours oohing and aahing our way through intermittent showers. But it was one of the most pleasant 2 hours we’ve spent so far.

Knowing we’d be too tired to take the 10-minute walk in the rain into Conwy for dinner, we bought provisions at ate at home. I’m sorry we didn’t get to sample more Welsh cuisine (I didn’t even get to try Welsh Rarebit!), but that will have to wait for another trip…or another life.

Today (Monday), we are off to Cerney Wick, home of our friends, Hilary and Paul Blackford. We will stay 6 nights. When we first said we would visit, we said we would stay 3 days and would get a B&B, but they would have none of it, insisting we stay with them, and stay longer. We are looking forward to it!