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[Photos] UK 08 - Wales (the North inc. Capel Curig)
When we were in Chester, visiting family (Mum's brother and cousin - they're the same person, by the way, it's complicated), we stayed at this hotel that my stepdad chose and it was kind of super boring and not really close to anything and Glen and I had a day to ourselves where we were like 'what the fuck do we do' because I wasn't really that well and so I couldn't walk around everywhere, but we wanted to do something.
And then I was like looking at Google maps squinting and I just said 'hey I think we're like ten minutes away from Wales.' Which we were. Glen and I looked at each other and then we were like 'day trip!' I picked Capel Curig because it looked pretty (it was pretty) and we were supposed to loop around, it did not happen that way.
So, Wales! Dual-language signs are awesome. Like, Inverness and the Highlands make an attempt a this, but Wales does it in a really dedicated way (i.e. it's not just some of the location indicators, it's everything just about). The North of Wales that we drove through sort of...brought home how much England has neglected Wales financially, generally the roads were in worse condition, more stores were closed, everything seemed a bit more functional and a bit less interested in being 'pretty' for its own sake.
But we loved it, and we'll go back. Though I'm really not a fan of one-way bridges, lmao, where you just have to 'guess' if someone is coming over the rise by going forward slowly and hoping for the best. This was also, I think, the only place where we did a fair bit off-road driving.
We ended up spending most of the day in Wales, driving through Snowdonia mountain range, mostly because I was like 'oh hey we're close enough.' (Honestly, this still blows my mind, Western Australia does not work this way at all.) On the way to Capel Curig we stopped off at a little roadside cafe, listened to the locals, and I mostly just marvelled at Glen and I getting a day to ourselves to do some exploring.
Spiritually, I had some pretty profound experiences with Gwyn ap Nudd that I hadn't been expecting or looking for, and I left pretty changed. But none of that will go in a public post, so potentially..more about that later.
( More under the cut. )
And then I was like looking at Google maps squinting and I just said 'hey I think we're like ten minutes away from Wales.' Which we were. Glen and I looked at each other and then we were like 'day trip!' I picked Capel Curig because it looked pretty (it was pretty) and we were supposed to loop around, it did not happen that way.
So, Wales! Dual-language signs are awesome. Like, Inverness and the Highlands make an attempt a this, but Wales does it in a really dedicated way (i.e. it's not just some of the location indicators, it's everything just about). The North of Wales that we drove through sort of...brought home how much England has neglected Wales financially, generally the roads were in worse condition, more stores were closed, everything seemed a bit more functional and a bit less interested in being 'pretty' for its own sake.
But we loved it, and we'll go back. Though I'm really not a fan of one-way bridges, lmao, where you just have to 'guess' if someone is coming over the rise by going forward slowly and hoping for the best. This was also, I think, the only place where we did a fair bit off-road driving.
We ended up spending most of the day in Wales, driving through Snowdonia mountain range, mostly because I was like 'oh hey we're close enough.' (Honestly, this still blows my mind, Western Australia does not work this way at all.) On the way to Capel Curig we stopped off at a little roadside cafe, listened to the locals, and I mostly just marvelled at Glen and I getting a day to ourselves to do some exploring.
Spiritually, I had some pretty profound experiences with Gwyn ap Nudd that I hadn't been expecting or looking for, and I left pretty changed. But none of that will go in a public post, so potentially..more about that later.
( More under the cut. )