Caernarfon, Wales, United KingdomPremier Inn - Victoria Dock, Caernafon Wales
Today we had planned to take the steam train from Porthmadog to Caernafon but then Marilynn found that a bus would take us there in 45 min or so and it would be earlier and cheaper, so we had the breakfast box breakfasts (11 pounds each) in the Travelodge which were quite substantial with cereal, milk, juice, an oat bar and a chocolate bun.
I think I had some tea as well. We checked out and called a taxi to take us to the bus stop in the town center. The taxi driver was a woman who could hoist Marilynn's big bag into her trunk but questioned our ability to take the regular bus with such a big bag.
It was a short ride to the bus stop and the taxi driver saw an earlier version of our bus just about to leave for Caernafon so she asked if we wanted it. Getting a yes, she gunned the engine and pulled up in front of the bus to keep it from going off and told us to rush to catch it. While I was ready to get out of the door - near the road side - there was a clattering and the driver discovered some boards in the road in front of us. She told me to run and get into the bus while she was getting out Marilynn's bag....which I did. Marilynn was ready to pay her with her credit card but the driver rushed off and we tried to settle into the bus with all our bags. We got off the bus at a stop nearest our hotel and walked down the hill toward the waterfront.
When I checked in, it turned out that our room was a double rather than two twins so the desk clerk switched us and let us check in at around 10:30 am opposed to the 3 pm check in time.
Once we got to the room, I could see that our seaview had disappeared with the room change. I was devastated but I will get over it.
We decided to visit the castle today and go to another picturesque town tomorrow so we headed off to the castle which we could see in the distance. We used our CADW cards to get in for free but they would only give us one guidebook which seemed rather unfair so we plotted on reentering to get the second. Which I eventually did. The castle was built in the 13th C by Edward duirng the Norman castle building period but was then burnt down by Welsh rebels and rebuilt. There are pretty extensive town walls still intact and a lot of the castle towors and walls etc standing but I don't know how much is reconstruction. There is some rich lord responsible for rescuing this castle too. We went in quite a few of the towers and climbned the stairs and walked on the ramparts, saw a short film, but we missed having a guided tour and being able to get a lot more information that way.
It was a good castle but the steps were somewhat hazardous for me so I decided to forego a number of upper stories and just concentrate on a few of them
After the castle we stopped for coffee and a light snack - what did I have now I can't totally remember - oh, yes, potato leek soup and a large latte. The soup was quite good. Then we went for a walk along the waterfront which is a beginning to the big park on that side of the town. We found a bench and sat and people and gull watched for some time before going back to the hotel. This is the first internet I have had in days, so I wanted to catch up on emails and whatsapps. Then I napped for about an hour before we went for dinner at Black Boy Inn. Marilynn had done a lot of research looking for a place, and I did a bit, and it turned out that tons of restaurants were closed on mondays, some until thursdays. We enjoyed the Black Boy Inn I think with their pub food. I tried a Welsh pie - which had mean and a potato layer on top with a small ramekin of veggies and a bigger cup of fries. I couldn't eat more than a third of it and had to leave the rest.
We walked back to the hotel. I uploaded a bunch of photos from the Nikon, we watched a mystery episode and now I am blogging and ready to go to bed because I don't want to disturb Marilynn anymore since she has already gone to bed and she is now getting my cold.
2025-05-22