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percivalWales was lovely! Surprisingly sunny - I didn't get soaked once. And I had a fantastic hostess who even gave her bed up for me and cooked me some great healthy food. Thank you so much ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
brightfame for your hospitality and the long discussions we had about spirituality and life!
But now, some more about Wales itself:
The magic began when the train from Crewe started to snake its way along the coast of North Wales. We passed Conwy castle, built in the late 13th and early 14th century to avert Welsh uprisings, and camping site after camping site after camping site. No wonder this is a popular tourist destination: with rolling green hills on one side and the sea on the other, what more could you want? (Right, yes, sunshine.) The sea was mostly clear, with some minor ripples.
Wales is fiercely bilingual: all signs at the stations were both in Welsh and in English. In Scotland, you would only see this in the Highlands proper - in Wales, it's all over the country. Every street sign, every information panel has roughly equal amounts of Welsh and English text. In the Highlands, on the contrary, the text in Scottish Gaelic would be squeezed into a corner. I even heard Welsh spoken - I never heard Gaelic spoken in the Highlands.
My business took me to Cardiff for one day. The contrast between North and South Wales in terms of train connections couldn't be greater: Whereas Cardiff is linked with almost all of the neighbouring towns by frequent links, there are only a few lines in the North - and even those aren't served too regularly. There is also a stark contrast between Cardiff and Bangor. Bangor is a small town that oozes character. Old mining houses nestle on the slopes of the hills; the High Street has a couple of relatively unobtrusive shopping centres and plenty of local shops. There are the usual grey-pebble and cream and red brick suburbs on the outskirts, and the usual huge DIY and clothing stores out of town, but the centre is relatively unspoilt.
Cardiff, on the other hand, lives much larger. The High Street is long, and dominated by several large Shopping Centres - which in turn are dominated by clothing and knick-knack stores. This is the capital, and the shopping certainly lives up to it. Part of the University is housed in a large white 2-3 storey 19th century building with an impressive curve inwards. The National Museum is a huge building with a central dome and several large wings.
As if those contrasts weren't enough, in order to get from Cardiff to Bangor, you have to go to England ...
The last day in Wales was spent following one ofsff_corgi's suggestions: brightfame, one of her housemates, and I checked out Beaumaris. This castle is part of a string of castles that were built shortly after Conwy Castle, which is itself part of a batch of castles, all designed to keep those naughty Welsh in check. Beaumaris is a remarkably well-preseved 14th century structure, with two concentric rings of walls, inner and outer. All that is left standing is part of the gatehouses of the inner circle and the circles themselves, but even that is impressive, with thick walls and great views of the surrounding country side.
Beaumaris is on Anglesey, an island off the North-West coast of Wales, across the Menai Strait. Anglesey is linked to the Mainland via a bridge. And to the west of Anglesey, there is a small island called Holy Island. This is where trains coming through Bangor normally terminate, and this is where a ferry to Dublin leaves. Anglesey - or at least the bit I could see on the bus from Bangor - is wonderful, with great beaches, hills, and colourful villages. Definitely worth a return visit!
The only problem is the distances. The train from Crewe takes 1 1/2 hours, the train from Manchester to Crewe takes 50 minutes, the train from York to Manchester takes 1 1/2 hours, and the train from York to Edinburgh takes 2 1/2 hours. You get the picture ... including waiting times because of missed trains, it took me eight hours to get to Bangor from Edinburgh on my way down.
brightfame for your hospitality and the long discussions we had about spirituality and life!But now, some more about Wales itself:
The magic began when the train from Crewe started to snake its way along the coast of North Wales. We passed Conwy castle, built in the late 13th and early 14th century to avert Welsh uprisings, and camping site after camping site after camping site. No wonder this is a popular tourist destination: with rolling green hills on one side and the sea on the other, what more could you want? (Right, yes, sunshine.) The sea was mostly clear, with some minor ripples.
Wales is fiercely bilingual: all signs at the stations were both in Welsh and in English. In Scotland, you would only see this in the Highlands proper - in Wales, it's all over the country. Every street sign, every information panel has roughly equal amounts of Welsh and English text. In the Highlands, on the contrary, the text in Scottish Gaelic would be squeezed into a corner. I even heard Welsh spoken - I never heard Gaelic spoken in the Highlands.
My business took me to Cardiff for one day. The contrast between North and South Wales in terms of train connections couldn't be greater: Whereas Cardiff is linked with almost all of the neighbouring towns by frequent links, there are only a few lines in the North - and even those aren't served too regularly. There is also a stark contrast between Cardiff and Bangor. Bangor is a small town that oozes character. Old mining houses nestle on the slopes of the hills; the High Street has a couple of relatively unobtrusive shopping centres and plenty of local shops. There are the usual grey-pebble and cream and red brick suburbs on the outskirts, and the usual huge DIY and clothing stores out of town, but the centre is relatively unspoilt.
Cardiff, on the other hand, lives much larger. The High Street is long, and dominated by several large Shopping Centres - which in turn are dominated by clothing and knick-knack stores. This is the capital, and the shopping certainly lives up to it. Part of the University is housed in a large white 2-3 storey 19th century building with an impressive curve inwards. The National Museum is a huge building with a central dome and several large wings.
As if those contrasts weren't enough, in order to get from Cardiff to Bangor, you have to go to England ...
The last day in Wales was spent following one of
sff_corgi's suggestions: brightfame, one of her housemates, and I checked out Beaumaris. This castle is part of a string of castles that were built shortly after Conwy Castle, which is itself part of a batch of castles, all designed to keep those naughty Welsh in check. Beaumaris is a remarkably well-preseved 14th century structure, with two concentric rings of walls, inner and outer. All that is left standing is part of the gatehouses of the inner circle and the circles themselves, but even that is impressive, with thick walls and great views of the surrounding country side. Beaumaris is on Anglesey, an island off the North-West coast of Wales, across the Menai Strait. Anglesey is linked to the Mainland via a bridge. And to the west of Anglesey, there is a small island called Holy Island. This is where trains coming through Bangor normally terminate, and this is where a ferry to Dublin leaves. Anglesey - or at least the bit I could see on the bus from Bangor - is wonderful, with great beaches, hills, and colourful villages. Definitely worth a return visit!
The only problem is the distances. The train from Crewe takes 1 1/2 hours, the train from Manchester to Crewe takes 50 minutes, the train from York to Manchester takes 1 1/2 hours, and the train from York to Edinburgh takes 2 1/2 hours. You get the picture ... including waiting times because of missed trains, it took me eight hours to get to Bangor from Edinburgh on my way down.
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Date: 2004-12-20 01:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-20 10:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-23 01:58 am (UTC)And Cardiff might be that well-connected, but the further you get away from where the Saesneg found it convenient, the fewer your options get. There isn't even a train-line going up the coast because it was torn up around the turn of the last century, if I remember correctly.
'Course, this actually kind of fits in with the aggressively-rural Celtic lifestyle, but alas, few can afford to be aggressively-rurally-Celtic until the airwaves are saturated with wireless connectivity and everybody can telecommute. And stwff.
I seem to remember seeing some happy reports that Welsh-English bilingualism is on the rise in school-age children. It's horrifying to think that the Caerfyrddin B&B owners' baby to whom they spoke both languages is probably a graduate from uni already....