Driving Wales

Wales is a fun place to drive. Forget about the tiny cars that I don’t fit in and the fact that they drive on the wrong side of the road, they are European and they don’t know better. Gently rolling hills lead to small mountains and over to villages. I hate tour buses and public transportation, what can I say I’m and American thru and thru. There are many things to see and interesting things to find if you explore on your own and I like to stop when I see something fun.

Cardif

Cardiff is the capital and largest city of Wales with a population near 400,000. I hate to use this line but it applies here…..it is a combination of old world charm and modern amenities. It is a beautiful city and it is that sweet spot of large enough to have everything you would want but not too big where it feels overwhelming. It is beautiful and situated at the river mouth of the River Taff and Ely and spills into the bay of the Celtic Sea.

https://snowdonia.gov.wales

Driving thru Snowdonia was a magical experience for me. My father is from here and when I took the ancestor.com test it showed 49% Welsh and it tracked it to this particular region of the country. My father just passed away and it was important for me to come . I researched this area thoroughly by reading travel books and consuming every YouTube video I could find. By the time I pulled on to the road leading to the park I felt I already knew this place and felt the sense of home with each turn of the windy road and escalation as climbed her many hills. I most often travel in the offseason and this provides me access to places with less people. On this day very few people were out, each time I came across something I found interesting I stopped to explore. I crossed one particular bend and spotted a small stone church on a private road so I pulled over. It had a cemetery with old tombstones some of which had crosses and it made me think of my father. I don’t know what it was but I felt something. I looked around and took it in I even put my arms out and did a very slow 360 turn and up on a grassy hill was a single sheep. It was staring at me and continued to stare. Its white coat was a stark contrast to the vibrant colors of its surroundings. I stood there looking back for around 20 minutes having a not blink contest and we both called a draw. I took a few snapshots and went to get back in the car looking up one last time and the sheep hadn’t budged. As I pulled away I looked in the rearview mirror and saw the sheep now turned the way of my vehicle watching me disappear down the hill. I don’t know if that was him saying goodbye or if I even believe in such things but I dont know how it could not have been. It was my favorite moment of the entire trip.

St. George

St. George is a quint village in the county borough of Conwy, Wales and is close to the coastal town of Abergele. It was by pure happenstance that we found this place but isn’t that how you find really cool places sometimes? This town is a gem and I felt lucky to have found this place.

If you make it here the ”Kinmel Arms” is a great hotel, restaurant and bar and I highly recommend it. http://www.thekinmelarms.co.uk

Scotch in Wales?

Single malt Welsh whiskey…before arriving to Wales our travels began in Scotland so the expectation on the whiskey front was high. I ate dinner at a restaurant/bar and the owner came and we talked at great length. As our friendship bloomed he went behind the bar and pulled out this beautiful bottle of Penderyn and he said this is the crown jewel of Wales as far as drinks are concerned. He was not wrong, this is perhaps one of the finest whiskies in all the world.

Map of Cardiff

Snowdonia Map

Map of Wales

Destinations

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