This morning after breakfast we boarded a minibus and headed out on a Rabbies’s tour. As we left Manchester, the driver related some of the history of the city. Then, when we hit the Welsh border, he told some of the history of Wales, and especially of the castle building of Edward I. After about an hour and a half, we reached our first stop, Conwy Castle.
We walked through the ruins of the castle for about 45 minutes. While it’s impressive, there wasn’t much signage about how castle defenses worked, or about life in a castle, and only one tower had a bit of its floors restored. Some of the towers had refurbished spiral stairs, and Jenn and I went up to walk the battlements, which had nice views of the town, nearby bay, and surrounding countryside. We then spent another 45 minutes or so walking down to the Quay and stopping in some shops for souvenirs and snacks.Then it was back on the bus to drive into Snowdonia National Park. After a brief stop at Padarn Lake, we drove over the Llanberis Pass and a view of the mountains of Snowdonia. While we did the driven continued to tell us some of the history of the area.
Another short drive brought us to the picturesque village of Berws-y-Coed, where we had a late lunch, did some more shopping, and enjoyed the views of the stream running through the village.
Then it was another hour plus ride back into England for our last stop, the city of Chester. This historic town, first founded by the Romans, has a lot of old buildings containing different types of shops, a cathedral, and Roman ruins. We wandered around for a little over an hour admiring the city center then grabbed a drink in a pub. Then it was back to Manchester where our tour ended. It was a long day - we left our hotel around 8:15 am and got back around 7:15 pm - but we enjoyed it.