Weekend in Northern Wales

Hello All!

Last weekend the I got to go Northern Wales with my flat! We had a lovely weekend filled with beautiful hikes, magnificent castles and even a slate mine tour.

We drove to Wales Friday evening and got into Conwy late so our night was filled with checking into our hostel and finding some dinner.

Saturday

Saturday we woke early and went on a short hike up a bluff to have amazing views of Conwy Castle, the Coast and surrounding towns.  Before we left our professor mentioned that she had seen wild ponies last time she was here. Although I tried not to let my hopes get too high it definitely made me more excited to get to the top!  The views were spectacular at the top and we did find a couple wild ponies.  

Views From the Top 

Looking back at Conwy! You can barely see the Castle in the distance.

Well Hello There!

After our little hike we headed back to our hostel for breakfast before going to Conwy Castle.  The Castle was incredible it was built between 1283 and 1289 by Edward I during his conquest of Wales.  He hoped to create a "Ring of Iron" by building several castles to help control his new subjects. However, Conwy was the only Castle ever completed within this 'Ring' due to lack of funds. The Castle itself was incredible and still very much intact, and yet the views from the Castle towers of the little town and harbor below were my favorite. 

This is a view from the castle of the city wall and harbor the other side of the harbor is another town. 

This is Conwy!

We left Conwy around noon and Drove into Snowdonia National Park where we had a lovely hike up to see a "mountain" lake. 

This was by far the most "path" we've had
while hiking in Britain. However, don't
be fooled the path was at a steep incline the
whole way up! 

Can you see Mt. Snowden!

After our hike we headed off to hostel for the night. The drive there was beautiful but we all fell asleep pretty quickly!

Sunday!

Sunday we left our hostel and headed off to see a slate mine the tour was a sombering reminder of just how far workers right have come but also the caverns the miners made were incredible and the tour guide did a wonderful job of explaining how the slate was mined, what life in the mines looked like, and honoring the miners that inevitably lost their life due to working in the dusty mines.

heading down into the mine!
we were all a little freaked out from the depth
 we were going and the blinding darkness!

All in all Northern Wales was incredible I was constantly taken away by the natural beauty that surrounded me and how humans have built within the rugged terrain.  Wales by far was  a much needed break from Uni life and it was wonderful to be out traveling with the group again!  

Cheers!

Meghan

“Investment in travel is an investment in yourself.” ~ Matthew Karsten