The Wanderer Returns...
Dec. 7th, 2008 09:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
windemereHaving done quite a bit of travelling (at least distance wise) in the last few days I thought it warranted a Big Damn Travel Post.
Friday:
Went to Cambridge for the day. And by Cambridge I mean the Fitwilliam Museum. And by the Fitwilliam Museum I mean the two temporary exhibits and the empty Greek and Roman section. We had a lovely talk and your of the exhibit in the 'in progress' stage (they are still planning cases and movement throughout the room). And the two new exhibits were quite interesting especially the one on the finds from Georgia (Black Sea - Colchis).
But the important part of the day is that I have fallen in love with Cambridge (100 years too late) and have decided to marry an academic and work in the library as I will and host elaborate dinner parties where we debate the merits of...something.
Saturday:
Up at the crack of...two hours before dawn. Surprisingly I was very awake, by my gods was it cold! I have become incapable of dealing with minus temperatures. I'm doomed! Set off with 12 others on a 4 hours bus ride to North Wales. We had a couple of...mishaps we shall call them along the way, and so it ended up being closer to 6 hours before we arrived at Pen y Pass at the base of Mount Snowdon. However, the sun was out and it was pretty warm considering it was December...in Wales, so I didn't complain too much. We set off up the 3000ft mountain knowing we weren't going to have time to reach the top (it's about a 5 hour round trip if you set a good pace), but we wanted to reach the snowline half-way up. Which we did, even though it was a definite hike uphill (and often up rock faces). But we had plenty of snow and a gorgeous view of the lakes! Sooooo many pictures and all postcard worthy. And then we headed down as the light started to fail. Gods was that terrifying. I'll take the lower path next time.
We headed to Bangor for dinner (I have no idea why) and got to see the pier at sunset, which was pretty. And then we spent 2 hours sitting in Whetherspoons trying to unfreeze our extremeties. And then we went to Caernarfon for the night and stayed in the very nice backpackers there (recently decorated by the looks of it). And slept rather soundly I must say...
Sunday:
Didn't sleep in. I have no idea why as we weren't leaving till 9:30. We took a detour to Morrisons to buy food for the day and then went to explore the castle. It's so beautiful! And huge. It was built in the 13th-14th century (straddled) by King Edward to defend Snowdonia along with...4 others I think (maybe it's 5). But it was never actually finished. However, it's where Prince Charles swore his oath to the Queen. I tried to climb to the top of every tower, but lost the ability to walk on the 4th one, so just walked the winding, narrow corridors between them (alone, of course, and not one ghost!).
We then headed off to the longest named place in the world, which I will never be able to pronounce but a nice woman at the shop helpfully repeated it about ten times. Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiligogogoch. I can get the first part and the last, but I get lost somwhere in the middle. It means 'The Church of Mary in the Hallow of the White Hazel Near the Fierce Whirlpool and the Church of Tysilio by the Red Cave'. Yes, they were greedy and named it two names. It's still brilliant! Then we headed off to Gwydyr Forest Park which is somewhere near the base of the mountains, and then we walked an hour uphill without steps or rocks or anything to help the climb so reach a lake that look suspiciously like Muskoka in October. And then we walked back down to start the 4 hour (really 4 this time) trip back to Leicester.
All in all, I am happy I went. But I would like to go back with a more adventurous crowd that doesn't complain about everything every five minutes. And maybe in the summer. The trails were starting to get dangerously icy.
Friday:
Went to Cambridge for the day. And by Cambridge I mean the Fitwilliam Museum. And by the Fitwilliam Museum I mean the two temporary exhibits and the empty Greek and Roman section. We had a lovely talk and your of the exhibit in the 'in progress' stage (they are still planning cases and movement throughout the room). And the two new exhibits were quite interesting especially the one on the finds from Georgia (Black Sea - Colchis).
But the important part of the day is that I have fallen in love with Cambridge (100 years too late) and have decided to marry an academic and work in the library as I will and host elaborate dinner parties where we debate the merits of...something.
Saturday:
Up at the crack of...two hours before dawn. Surprisingly I was very awake, by my gods was it cold! I have become incapable of dealing with minus temperatures. I'm doomed! Set off with 12 others on a 4 hours bus ride to North Wales. We had a couple of...mishaps we shall call them along the way, and so it ended up being closer to 6 hours before we arrived at Pen y Pass at the base of Mount Snowdon. However, the sun was out and it was pretty warm considering it was December...in Wales, so I didn't complain too much. We set off up the 3000ft mountain knowing we weren't going to have time to reach the top (it's about a 5 hour round trip if you set a good pace), but we wanted to reach the snowline half-way up. Which we did, even though it was a definite hike uphill (and often up rock faces). But we had plenty of snow and a gorgeous view of the lakes! Sooooo many pictures and all postcard worthy. And then we headed down as the light started to fail. Gods was that terrifying. I'll take the lower path next time.
We headed to Bangor for dinner (I have no idea why) and got to see the pier at sunset, which was pretty. And then we spent 2 hours sitting in Whetherspoons trying to unfreeze our extremeties. And then we went to Caernarfon for the night and stayed in the very nice backpackers there (recently decorated by the looks of it). And slept rather soundly I must say...
Sunday:
Didn't sleep in. I have no idea why as we weren't leaving till 9:30. We took a detour to Morrisons to buy food for the day and then went to explore the castle. It's so beautiful! And huge. It was built in the 13th-14th century (straddled) by King Edward to defend Snowdonia along with...4 others I think (maybe it's 5). But it was never actually finished. However, it's where Prince Charles swore his oath to the Queen. I tried to climb to the top of every tower, but lost the ability to walk on the 4th one, so just walked the winding, narrow corridors between them (alone, of course, and not one ghost!).
We then headed off to the longest named place in the world, which I will never be able to pronounce but a nice woman at the shop helpfully repeated it about ten times. Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiligogogoch. I can get the first part and the last, but I get lost somwhere in the middle. It means 'The Church of Mary in the Hallow of the White Hazel Near the Fierce Whirlpool and the Church of Tysilio by the Red Cave'. Yes, they were greedy and named it two names. It's still brilliant! Then we headed off to Gwydyr Forest Park which is somewhere near the base of the mountains, and then we walked an hour uphill without steps or rocks or anything to help the climb so reach a lake that look suspiciously like Muskoka in October. And then we walked back down to start the 4 hour (really 4 this time) trip back to Leicester.
All in all, I am happy I went. But I would like to go back with a more adventurous crowd that doesn't complain about everything every five minutes. And maybe in the summer. The trails were starting to get dangerously icy.
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no subject
Date: 2008-12-07 10:06 pm (UTC)I didn't realise you'd hopped about North Wales quite so much. Gwydyr Forest is a bit of a trek from Caernarfon. Well, I guess dependin on which bit of it you visited.
Also, I can say LlanfairPG. If you want lessons :P
I have no idea why you went to Bangor for dinner either. Although I did meet a man in the Wetherspoons there once (which used to be a church, you might have noticed, in that way that Wetherspoons has of taking over random buildings) who said he'd been married there. And that not many people got to stand on the spot where they got married and order a pint.
Also, when you drove to away from the pier, did you go up the hill alongside the straits on a one-way road through some trees? If you did, then after that part, where you would go past a field on the right between you and the straits, then some houses for a couple blocks before you turn back onto the main road, then you drove past my house. How exciting for you.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-07 11:21 pm (UTC)I love that about Wetherspoons! Ours (in Bradford) was called "Sir Titus Salt", and the building was the old public bath house.