At the beginning of April, my friend Archie and I took a train to north Wales to spend a few day by the sea. Our goals were simple: see sheep and seals, have knitting time, explore a castle, see the train station with a long name, and be healed by the sea air (like when Jo takes Beth to the ocean in Little Women). We were successful on all fronts (definitely felt healed by the sea while I was there) and the combination of the company and the place made the trip feel surreal. I will be thinking about it fondly for a long, long time.
Penrhyn Bay
We stayed in Penrhyn Bay, a short walk from Angel Bay where seals moult until the spring. Needless to say, we spent plenty of time observing the seals on the beach while they flopped around, getting in and out of the water for reasons our human brains didn’t understand. I have so many unanswered questions about seals now. Seeing the ocean and so much open space was baffling and wonderful, and the air was so fresh.
Llandudno
Llandudno is like the British seaside towns that I’ve seen in films and TV shows, complete with a pier, endless ocean, and carnival game sounds. We hiked the Great Orme starting there, and stopped an indeterminate number of times to look at sheep, seals, and even mountain goats! Our lunch atop a cliff only confirmed that food always tastes better when eaten outside, even if some feeling is lost in fingers due to the cold. We trekked through Llandudno post-hike to find life-size statues of Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee from Alice in Wonderland because we felt like they pretty accurately reflected our personalities, and the several flights of stairs on wobbly legs was worth it for the pure entertainment that was provided.
Conwy
After a morning spent collecting sea glass and pottery pieces on Morfa Beach while in the blustering wind and rain — can’t say we don’t know how to have a good time — we spent the afternoon exploring Conwy.
The main draw of the town was a yarn store (obviously) and it was great, but we also spent many hours in Conwy Castle. We made sure to go to the top of every turret to see if the view was different from a few meters away from the last one. Every single climb was worth it. As very serious history majors, we spent lots of time speculating about the architecture of the castle (why are there so many benches in rooms that don’t seem accessible?), and trying not to fall down due to the wonky stones and laughing so much. Conwy also boasts a town wall that we walked around, and the smallest house in Britain which was a charming little attraction.
Llanfairpwllgwyngyll
I’ve known about the train station in Wales with the long name for several years, and have wanted to go for just as long. My elementary school teacher would say the name in Welsh for us in class when we were good: it was like a special treat to hear her say it. When I determined that it was a 45 minute train from where Archie and I were staying — and I would likely not be that close to it again anytime soon — I knew I had to go. Always down for a silly adventure and very good at committing to the bit, Archie and I stopped through the station on our way back to Birmingham. The town is essentially just the train station and accompanying gift shop — a fact we found out as we realised we had three hours in the town before our train home. The name does mean something (or rather, many things) but it was named intentionally to be long to attract tourists, and we played right into it, so it worked on me!
This was genuinely such a lovely trip, with the perfect mix of picturesque nature adventures, little seaside towns that seem out of storybooks, relaxed knitting time, really good food (cheese on crusty rolls <3), and non-stop giggles and conversation. I feel very fortunate to have experienced it.
Reading: Normal People by Sally Rooney — definitely recommend this one, especially to be read while taking trains and sitting outside drinking coffee.
Listening: My extraordinarily smart and talented friend Emily made a playlist inspired by King Lear (William Shakespeare) and Station Eleven (Emily St. John Mandel) to accompany one of her grad school assignments and it is just so good.
Knitting: I didn’t take pictures of it, but I brought my fisherman’s sweater that I was working on in the fall on this trip. I got it in my head to call it my UK sweater, so I felt it was appropriate to work on it in Wales. Now I just need to get it to Northern Ireland…
More adventure stories are on their way!
Cheers,
El
El!!! it is great to hear from you, it sounds like you and Archie (cool name) had a blast!
That castle (great shot) looks so old! And i will definitely nudge your teacher to speak the name of the train station (good party trick, eh?).
When are you coming home?
Is your Mom coming to visit?
Lots of love,
judi
Sounds absolutely magical El. You definitely have a way with words. So happy to hear the binos are being put to good use! Gran💕🏴