Country: Wales, United Kingdom
Travelmates: Meixia and Iris
Better late than never at all...
Wales Facts and Figures:
- One of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom
- Capital city, established only in 1955: Cardiff
- Official Languages: Welsh and English (most pple in south wales speak english but about 60% in north wales speak welsh)
- The English name for Wales means "stranger" or "foreigner"
- Largest principality in the world
- Christianity is the majority religion (70%)
- Has the most number of castles per square metre in the world!
- Symbols: Welsh dragon (as seen on the flag below), leek, daffodil
- Patron Saint: St David
- Tourist must-have souvenir: a Love spoon!!, originally made by young men for their sweethearts.
Coat of Arms
Iris and Meixia came over to my place on 06APR07 for a sleepover and we set off early in the morning for the travel office near London Victoria station. our tour bus departed london at 0730hrs, stopping at the coach stop in Reading for breakfast. we continued our way past the Severn Bridge into Wales (spanning the river severn, the suspension bridge cost GBP8million to build!!).
A Norman Castle, Chepstow castle is the oldest surviving stone fortification in england. built close to the welsh-english border, it was an important defensive stronghold.
Church of St Mary the Virgin
Associated with Tintern Abbey below
Tintern abbey
Situated in the Wye valley, the cistercian abbey is one of the most spectacular ruins in Wales so much so that it inspired William Wordsworth to write a poem about it.
Caerphilly Castle
In the town of Caerphilly (apparently famous for its many teenage mums according to our tour guide).
Daffodils with caerphilly castle in the background. daffodils are a symbol of wales just like the rose, thistle and shamrock are symbols of england, scotland and ireland respectively.
Group Photo while travelling northwards
Photo-stops along the way...
Somewhere in the wilderness
With Iris
Bus in Ditch
After a brilliant first day, our bus very unfortunately fell into a ditch and all of us had to walk 1.5hours to a "nearby" pub and wait for vehicle rescue to recover our bus.
Brecon Beacons
At the brecon beacons the next day. look at the amazing weather!!! The brecon beacons is a mountain range and is one of the famous national parks in wales. the mountain range was named "beacons" because it was historically used to light signal fires to alert soldiers of attacks from england.
We stopped at a nearby town for lunch, Hay-on-Wye, and managed to get a few cheap books froma bookstore that had everything going for a pound each.
Castle Y-Bere
Castell y Bere (in Welsh) stood guard over a major trade route through the mountains. today, it lies in ruins but remains a famous tourist spot in the welsh countryside.
Snowdon
On the third day in Snowdonia national park in the region of snowdonia, north wales. Snowdon is the highest peak in wales at 1085m. 6million people visit the park every year with about 500,000 people scaling snowdon.
The Name speaks for itself
Meaning St. Mary's Church in the hollow of white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of St. Tysilio near the red cave. The town has the longest officially recognised place name in the United Kingdom. It was given its name in the 19th century in a bid to attract more traders and tourists to the town.
Stratford-upon-Avon
We made a final stop in England at "Shakepeares birthplace" before returning to London. it was a pity we didn't get to spend more time to walk around and visit all the shakespearean attractions and admire all the quaint looking cottages. a must-visit before i leave the UK.
Country Rating: 7/10
Wales is incredibly scenic and is ideal for anyone wanting a quiet break away from the hustle and bustle of the city. the castles, ruins, mountain ranges and water bodies take your breath away. it is otherwise mostly like england but of course, much friendlier.
No comments:
Post a Comment