A big bridge, An unfinished Castle and a taste of Wales...

The outerward of the Castle
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So when I woke up the next morning, I was in great shape!

After the pub, I went back to the hostel to find myself wondering if any other backpacker would have book in! No, was the answer of the chap at the reception. So here I was back in the hostel, which I began to call my room! A great room, with a lot of beds to fill but hey, I will have some kids later on in my life! Been the only one in a hostel gives you a lot of power.

I like the liquid sunshine but I can't understand Welsh!

The South Gatehouse of the Castle
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Like for example been able to take a shower without disturbing a fat lady getting her hair done or cooking a fancy dinner (spaghetti) without asking six persons for the frying pan.

It was great but I began to feel a bit lonely after all the whole purpose of sleeping in an YHA is to meet some people and share a laugh or a snore! Hopefully, in two days my mate was coming from Nottingham to join my adventure and mostly to climb the highest mountain in Wales, Mt Snodown with me.

After I took my shower and make myself some nice cheese on toast, I walk back to the Bangor bus station, which is not more different than a street where all the buses are. The only problem, I had is that I can’t understand any feckin’ words of Welsh. And it seems to me that everything is written in welsh. My first strategy was to jump on the first bus that comes here and go wherever it goes… But I finally realize that it was not a good strategy when I climbed in the bus going back to Conwy. I finally managed to ask the other passengers for forgiveness as I ran down the entrance door during the time that they were all entering! So I began wondering if I would one day be able to see the second castle on my “iron ring” tour, Beaumaris Castle. After looking like a dude who obviously don’t know where to go, I’ve spotted a bus with the word I needed to see “Beaumaris”, I ran and crossing the street was nearly hit by two buses and one lorry but I was now in the bus who I was supposed to take.

Quiet in Beaumaris
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Great!

I was on the right bus!

And when we crossed the Menai Bridge (bridge) and stopped at Menai Bridge (town) I began feeling a bit as an outsider. Everybody were talking in Welsh, I didn’t heard a single word of English during that 45 minutes bus ride! I began wondering if my England jumper was going to make me have some problems…

Once in Beaumaris, which is a very nice small town close to the Menai Strait, I followed a group of old Ladies because I didn’t know where to get off and I didn’t want to go back to Bangor in the same bus! So after looking again like a guy who doesn’t know where to go, I found a small sign indicating “Castle this way” Great sign! As I was getting ready to go tour the castle the liquid sunshine started like hell, so I went inside the public washroom to put my rain suit on, looking like a outsider to that old chap taking a piss! Fully equipped with my rain garment, I went on touring this absolutely massive castle.

We are in Beaumaris!
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“ Beaumaris, begun in 1295, was the last and largest of the castles to be built by King Edward I in Wales. Raised on an entirely new site, without earlier buildings to fetter its designer's creative genius, it is possibly the most sophisticated example of medieval military architecture in Britain.”

This castle was never finished so the way it looks now was how it looked when they stopped the construction. One impressive thing about the Castle is the double fortification. So if by any chance the bad guys were able to enter the Castle’s outerward, they were faced with another ward more imposing than the first one.

The main gate of the Castle
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I spend about an hour touring the castle and when I was very wet, I decided to run for cover somewhere…and luckily that somewhere was a nice pub!

The landlady seeing me drenched she asked me where I was from and without even having time to say anything my England jumper made me more trouble…but that trouble was a nice foamy bitter! I began chatting with that nice lady. Nice meaning kind and not beautiful! I had a couple pints all on the house before I sadly walked back to the bus stop to take the bus back to Bangor!

So I was back to my room…a very large room!