Great Orme Head

"I don't know how you get dressed if you live in Wales, because it's pouring rain, and then it's hot sunshine, and then it might hail. It's just so confusing." - Piper Perabo

I've climbed. I've walked. I've waded in the Irish sea. I've been drenched in cold rain. I've been bathed in warm sunshine. I've been swept by lashing winds. All this in one day. We started the day in Conwy with a tour of Conwy castle. That is an outdoor activity as all that is left of the castle is the walls. There are no rooms, no ceilings. It was warm and sunny when we first arrived. Within minutes the cold rain was driving. We ducked into doorways and sloshed through puddles. Then we moved on to a fifteenth century house for a tour and a glimpse of Welsh life in old times. It seems like every school kid in Conwy was on a class trip today to both the castle and the house. To call the children ill behaved is to speak kindly. After leaving Conwy we drove to Great Orme Head. The weather alternated every five minutes between frigid rains and warm sunshine. Merv did a superlative job of driving us to the top of Great Orme Head though he claimed the need to change his pants once we finally got up there. It was a bit harrowing. I like to think of it as a chance to improve my prayer life.

Great Orme Head offers a magnificent view of the Irish sea, the village and the countryside. And the sheep, of course. The winds were so strong at the top of Great Orme Head that I was clinging to Jacob for protection. It is quite a fascinating place. There are more than 400 species of rare plants at the top of Great Orme Head. And there are the Great Orme Goats which have massive horns on their sheep-like bodies. After our visit at the top, we made the drive back to the bottom, which was as harrowing on the way down as it was on the way up.

In the village we walked to the pier where the boys each had a Welsh beer at the end of the pier which is half-a-mile from the shore, followed by a walk of several miles through the village. By the time we returned to the car, we were all falling apart.

The drive back to Betws-y-Coed was punctuated with rain and then sun and then more rain. A lovely rainbow briefly shone upon the mountain tops. We decided to stop for dinner at an inviting little inn. It was a great choice. The food, though far too abundant, was delicious.

Tomorrow we will leave Wales and head to Stratford-on-Avon. We have tickets to see The Merchant of Venice tomorrow night. There is still much to see in Wales but it will have to wait for another time. I managed to learn one word in Welsh today - the word for thank you. I cannot say it often enough.