WALES

SUNDAY 8^TH.    Ian decided he wanted to do the tram ride up to the Great Orme so we went back into the town centre and caught the tram up to top.  This is equally as steep as the trams in San Francisco and at times felt you might have to get out and push.  The weather was much clearer this morning so we had better views from the top.  Back down again and on our way to Snowdonia National Park. 

We spent the night at Llanberis which is where the train to the summit of Mt Snowdon starts.  We had plenty of time to walk around in the afternoon and really enjoyed the place.  It is a hive of activity because this is where people come to start the walks around Mt Snowdon and other surrounding mountains.   The landscape is really spectacular with lots of rugged mountains.  The dark moody skies really added to it this afternoon. 

Mountains around Lake at Llandudno.  There were many slate mines around the area although most are now not operating.

 

MONDAY 9^th.  We had booked on the 10.00am train to the summit not realizing that this wasn’t the steam train however Ian kept telling me it was the journey and not how we got there and he was right, it didn’t matter that we were being pulled up by a diesel engine instead of steam.  The scenery was fantastic all the way to the top.  Clouds drifted across the mountains with filtered sunlight and as we got closer to the top the mist just enveloped the whole landscape.   Ian had decided to walk down and I was tempted to do it with him and tossed up but thought I would get better views from the height of the train.  Ian came down in just under two hours and said it was really hard as the path was rugged and hard on the knees so glad I came in the train.    After lunch in a local café we drove around Mt Snowdon and on to Llangollen where we are tonight.   This was a great drive and we stopped a few times for photos and sightseeing. 



  

This was a lucky grab shot at the summit of Mr. Snowdon.  I went out to the platform so that I could get a window seat going down and just as I did the mist moved across momentarily.  Two seconds later it was covered in mist again.