An early limo to Heathrow and we’re on our way home. A fun trip, for sure.
Transit
Ferry to Wales
Early rise and cab to ferry terminal for the 2-hr trip to Holyhead, Wales. We stopped in the village of ‘Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch’ for a photo-op next to the town’s welcome sign. Per wikipedia, the name means: Parish [church] of [St.] Mary (Llanfair) [in] Hollow (pwll) of the White Hazel [township] (gwyn gyll) near (go ger) the rapid whirlpool (y chwyrn drobwll) [and] the parish [church] of [St.] Tysilio (Llantysilio) with a red cave ([a]g ogo[f] goch). Now you know.
On to Conwy, a fantastic castle town with views of the Irish Sea and port. An award-winning pub, the Albion Hotel, warrants a stop. Our drive takes us through beautiful Snowdonia National Park and the resort village of Betws-y-Coed. Further down the road is Porthmadog & the Purple Moose Brewery.
Our lodging for the night is a really cool B&B, the ‘Plas Gwyn’ in Dolgellau. We enjoyed a fantastic meal at the 160-year-old ‘Y Meirionnydd’ restaurant in town.
Ferry to Belfast
Off to Northern Ireland!
The drive from Glasgow to the ferry terminal in Troon is a short one and our crossing of the Irish Sea to Larne (just north of Belfast) is pleasant. Our B&B in Belfast is the ‘Ravenstall Guest House’. It is quite nice and Olive, our hostess, is helpful with suggestions for dining and sightseeing. We headed into the city and visited the ‘Titanic Belfast’ museum and memorial. The ship was built in the Belfast shipyards. We walked from our B&B to dinner at the Errigle Inn.
Off to the UK!
At last, we’re heading out. After breakfast at ‘Bar Simon’ at PGH, we catch a prop flight to Toronto, our connection point for Heathrow. Flight to the UK was pretty easy – seat companions are a gentleman from Quatar & a retired teacher who was on a ‘world tour’. Maybe one day! Also traveling today are a group of Canadian women who drank wine the entire flight to London and never shut up, so no sleep.