Wales 2007

Wales, June 2007!!!

	We landed in Manchester, England on Saturday, June 9th, 2007 after 7 hours in the air. It was 10 a.m. We rented a car, and drove (on the left side of the road. Andy drove....thank goodness. I get confused easily enough as it is!) to the Graig Park Resort and Hotel in Dyserth between Rhuddlan and Meliden, near the northern coast of Wales. We had this little wood cabin to stay in. Rustic, but nice. The mountain that looms above is the Graig.
In the lobby of the hotel, we met Derek (and later, Tracy), who took us in hand, as we were in distress. My phone, despite what I was promised, didn't work in the UK. Derek emailed a daughter to let her know we were not swimming the Atlantic He also found other information for us and got us an International calling card, and called to ask if we wanted to come by his house to pick it up. We drove up a road that was about 6 feet wide (not much more than a cow path), and got lost (Of course!). Couldn't find the house. So we repaired to the Red Lion Pub, and called Derek and he came and met us there. That was the real beginning of a WONDERFUL week in Wales.
	While talking with Derek at the Red Lion, another gentleman introduced himself with the words, "You're not from around here." That was Lawrence Boyd (we met his wife,Kate and daughter, Katie later), who is a retired miner, an entrepreneur, a history expert, I-could-go-on-and-on.... In his company, in the pouring rain, we saw this waterfall, in Dyserth, and...
these ancient Roman baths, right down the street from our hotel. They were discovered when someone was excavating to build, and preserved!
	Prestatyn High Street where we went to find some internet access, and to buy a bathing suit at Esther Austin's (She must have known we were coming!)
Christ Church in Prestatyn.
	The next day, Monday, in the company of Lawrence, Derek and Tracy, we went to Snowdonia and Conwy. Snowdonia is a beautiful national park in northwestern Wales. We stood alongside this lake at Llanberis and watched a mother duck try to keep track of her offspring. While we were there, a little train went by on the opposite side of the lake. On the way, Lawrence told us all about the castles in the area, and the history surrounding them.
We went to the National Slate Museum, which stands in the old slate quarry, under these huge mountains of, well, slate.....
	The National Slate Museum (It poured rain this entire day, by the way. Lawrence said, "If we didn't do things because it was raining, we'd never do anything!")
A master craftsman cutting slate shingles -- which are on almost every building we saw.
	Then we went to Conwy, which boasts, not only a castle, but a wall around the entire city. Amazing!
The Bridge to Conwy
	A statue of Prince Llewellyn Prince Llewellyn, the last native Prince of Wales, lead the people of the mountains of Snowdon against Edward the 1st of England and swept the English from Wales in 1256
We had a spectacularly good dinner here, about 25 yards from the statue.
	Then we went to the Conwy Folk Club at the Malt Loaf Pub. This is Denis Bennett, who was hosting that night. He put us on the stage and we got 2 encores! I sold some CDs too, and got his and Mike's suggestion to call the Rhyl Folk Club and play there too! We also met...
Tony Franks
	Virginia Barrett (whose CD we've been listening to repeatedly since we came home. Gorgeous!)
Goodbye to Conwy, over the bridge and back to Graig Park.
	Friday evening, we could be found at the Rhyl Folk Club, with Derek and Tracy, where we enjoyed the music of Rum, Bum and Concertina, who were our hosts. We also got (sort of) serenaded by Tony Franks, singing "Let's Drop the Big One" by Randy Newman (Thanks, Tony!) and lots of other fine musicians.
Rum, Bum and Concertina were great fun! On Thursday, Lawrence, who grew up in Liverpool, took us there to see the sights! Go to http://www.janseides.com/Liverpool.html to see that day. The following week we went to Ireland. Go there with us at http://www.janseides.com/Ireland.html (home)