Cheshire and Wales 15 - 28 March 2023

Time for another tour and a delayed start due to the optician suggesting a bit of a rest following an eye issue. North Wales via the Wirral beckoned, and we drove up to the Chester  Fairoaks Cackyvan and Motorhome Club Site near Ellersmere Port. The CAMC has become incredibly expensive and the rip-off prices that they are now asking are probably the reason the site was half empty. It rained. We wandered across to the excellent outlet Mall down the dodgy, unlit lane, had a mooch around and then had dinner in an excellent Indian Street Food restaurant called Mowgli, where we sat on a swing to eat the superb food.

On Thursday we were due to meet our niece in Liverpool, but unfortunately she was unwell. We still took the terrible No 1 bus from the Blue Planet Aquarium on the interminable journey to the 'pool and, once there, we headed up to the Philharmonic Pub and had a fantastic lunch. The Phil really is all that a good pub should be. Any pub whose pink marble urinals are a renowned tourist attraction has a right to boast, I feel. Following a very lengthy lunch we wandered around the  Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral (Paddy's Wigwam) and then a mooch around the Cavern Club area before heading back on the dreaded No 1 bus.

Friday 17 March is, of course, St Patrick's Day and, having a very large Irish community, Liverpool was all-out Oirish. It was horrible, with gangs of bright orange girls in nearly skirts and tops screeching drunkenly in large gangs and the fights starting very early. We met up with family who were in town, then wandered around Albert Docks and Liverpool 1 stopping in the Bierkeller, but we hated it. The Erdinger tasted off and the place was raucous and tacky.  We then visited the wonderful Museum of Liverpool, a very interesting and well laid-out place.  It's strange that a city with so much history and culture focusses so much on the Beatles when there is so much else to highlight.  Later, we found dinner with a far, far better German flavour at Albert's Schenke on Hanover Street. We would certainly go back there. 

On Saturday we left the hyper expensive CAMC site at Chester and joined the North Wales Expressway to cross the frontier into Wales, after first filling up with very cheap fuel at Costco Chester. After a very quick detour to visit Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch (a silly name at a place with not much there apart from a tat shop), we arrived at Llanberis Touring park and quickly pitched up. We wandered through the village in the rain, visited Dolbadarn Castle and then onto the Ceunant Mawr Waterfall before drying out in some of the outdoor shops on the way back to the van

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Dolbadarn Castle

On Sunday 19th  it was actually dry, so we decided to have a walk up Snowden via the Llanberis pass. Our fitness levels are not what they should be and I have suffered a long period of not being quite well, so we didn't push things too far and got to just below the cloud line (no point going any higher). This route is meant to be one of the easier walking routes up the mountain, but the first bit on the roadway out of the village is absolutely crippling - and worse on the way down!

After the mountain climbing we decided to jump on the Llanberis Lake Railway for a little steam train ride along the edge of Llyn Padarn.

On Monday we were a bit stiff and tired after  the exertions of the day before so we took a bus into Caernarfon for a gentle day out. Gentle it wasn't! First we scrambled up the hill to Caernafon Tower to see if we could get a decent view of the Castle and Town, then back down into town for a coffee and Welsh Cakes before exploring Caernarfon Castle and realising that there are an awful lot of dark, narrow, steep stairs going up numerous towers. It was more tiring than Snowdon, but a wonderful Castle to explore. From there we headed into the Black Boy Inn (are they still allowed to call it that?) for a brilliant roast dinner, then back to the Palas Caffi for the most wonderful home made ice cream.

Tuesday was a fine, sunny day (well, that is by Welsh standards. there was actually one or two patches of blue sky), albeit it had rained heavily all night We had a little wander to the edge of the lake to get some photos, then a bimble around to the National Slate Museum, which turned out to be a fascinating place. From there we decided that all this water must be going somewhere so we should have another look at the Waterfall. It was impressive - and we got soaked yet again!

It was time to move on once again and, having sought advice from the locals, decided to risk going over the Llanberis pass to our next stop at Betws-y-Coed. After one quick last look at the lake (it had rained heavily throughout the night and the levels were raised), we set out for the short trip. The pass wasn't as bad as expected and we arrived on site a little early. It rained heavily once again on arrival and pitch was miles from the facilities, but we donned our well-used wet weather gear and had a wander around this pretty, but very touristy, place.

Thursday 23 March - We were told Conwy was worth a visit and, as it was only a short hop by train, we decided to visit. For some obscure reason the trains were not running, so we had to use the replacement bus service to Llandudno Junction and walk across the River Conwy to the town. On the way, we popped into a wonderful car and bike dealer, Conwy Classics, who had some lovely classic old cars and bikes for sale. Finally arriving in Conwy,  we managed to get a little way up the  high street before heavens opened yet again, causing us to dive into a tea shop and grabbing a couple of toasted tea cakes before braving the rain again. I am sure the Welsh economy is based upon taking money off people sheltering from the incessant rain. We were told that we should try Conwy mussels as they are exceptional. Accordingly, we started our search, asking the lady in the RNLI shop if she knew where we could buy some for lunch. Although she didn't know, half an hour later, after she stopped chatting, we were advised to ask the fisherman. He pointed us to a delightful restaurant around the corner named Upstairs at Anna's. En route we told the RNLI lady about the restaurant and she said "Oh - that belongs to the lifeboat coxswain"!  The mussels were delicious. From there it was exploring another castle and then, for pudding, we stopped for an ice cream at Parisella's, which was meant to be excellent, but we preferred the ice creams from Caernarfon.  After a quick circuit of the town walls it was back to the bus that is meant to be a train, stopping for a quick beer at the excellent Old Station Hotel, where we sat outside in the glorious sunshine (until it rained 15 minutes later) 

On Friday we decided to walk to the Swallow Falls, which was meant to be a restful easy march for a couple of miles or so. Of course, it turned into a mega hike of up and down steep hills and crossing muddy streams. We arrived at the viewpoint and rested, enjoying a rare glimpse of sunshine. Chatting to another couple of brave souls they told us that the famous Ugly House was just another 20 minutes slog up the footpath so off we went. It was a great lunch in this lovely little place (and Ugly it aint). The toilets gave Wetherspoons a run for their money though. You had to climb a very steep hill up through the gardens to get to a composting toilet. We followed the smooth and level road back to Betws-y-Coed and had dinner in the Stables before  heading home to bed. 

The trains were meant to be back on Saturday but, typically, they weren't, so we took to the bus that looks like a train to Llandudno for a walk around. We were actually very impressed. A very nice seaside town with minimal tat shops or amusements arcades. We stopped for a jolly nice breakfast, then took the tramway to the top of the Great Orme for a very chilly and windy look around, back down and a long walk along the front and finally a bit of shopping in M&S before catching the bus back home.

We needed to capture a night in Flintshire to tick off another county in our "sleep in every county" project. Accordingly, we booked a couple of nights in the massive Haven place at Presthaven, near Prestatyn. We have walked some distance each day so we decided that we would just have a gentle stroll along the sea front. Yeah, right. We walked for pigging miles once again! 

On Monday 27th we had another long walk into Prestatyn which is, again, a fairly nice seaside town with no amusement arcades blaring out crap music, nor awful stalls selling sugar and cheap tat. We stopped for a large coffee then popped into M&S to restock before walking back and heading up to the Haven central bit for a beer and a bit of dinner. It was OK-ish, but there were an awful lot of screeching kids and lots of very large orange women, but you get what you pay for.

On Tuesday it was up, packed and heading for home, stopping at Costco Leicester for a spot of lunch and some bargains.