A brief visit to Northern Wales...

On Friday, we left long before any classes started at the University. We all missed our first Friday classes of the semester, a great impression on our professors, that's for sure. A long drive, many reluctantly listened to lectures later, and after half of a day in Chester, the group arrived in Wales. The city walls proved to be good for walking at night and observing the full moon, the castle, and the occasional boat going in and out of the estuary. The first morning started with an excellent Austrian style breakfast (meusli, croissants, pain au chocolate, fruit, sliced meat, cheese, juice, tea, hard rolls, and various other breakfast foods). We were also treated to a lecture from Llewelyn Groom, a Welsh/English historian. Llewelyn also took us through Conwy Castle, sharing with us numerous stories and accounts of the history that we could have found no where else.

We spent most of our time in Conwy, but took a day trip to Llandudno (pronounced Clon-dude-no). There, we perused the shops, took a tram/cable car to the top of the Great Orne, hiked the long way back to town and finished the day with my group managing to pick the worst restaraunt. Ever. The experience became comical - no one could actually believe how bad it was. Many laughs later, we returned to Conwy and returned to the city walls. We met up with the rest of the group and sat for hours, the boys had cigars, the girls shared drinks. Once again, we watched the moon peak through the clouds and this time, the stars were out. After a great evening, we returned to our accomodations. The youth hostel was serenly set amongst the hills of Conwy and overlooked the estuary and peninsula. Although hostels are much different than any accomodations that anyone is used to, the group has grown accustomed to them and we are all starting to like the simple accomodations which force us to explore our surroundings, rather than sit inside and watch television or get lost infront of a computer screen.

Today was breathtaking. Words simply cannot do this place justice. I have posted an excessive amount of pictures on my photo page, so take the time to look at a few of those. I started the day with a long run out of Conwy and across the estuary onto the peninsula and back. It was wonderful to watch the town wake up and see the tide sweep across the sand. After another pleasant breakfast, our time was spent hiking and mountain climbing, traversing grassy hills and scaling rocky cliffs overhanging the sea (not really Mom, we were safe... most of the time), meandering through sheep and Shetland ponies that were munching on heather and thistle, and most importantly, enjoying our surroundings.

Now that we are back in the hustle and bustle of the city, we have all become attached to our computers. Tomorrow we return to class and the public transit of Nottingham. For tonight, I will leave you all with a picture of Llandudno and the Irish Sea.