Day 13: Driving

(Driving, yes, but not one of these beauties.)

Stuck with the Golf, Sheila and I had a fairly big day of driving planned: to traverse the middle of Wales and head up to Snowdonia National Park in the north. It was about 4 hours total with our diversions, but with pleasant views of lush fields and farms and occasional snatches of the ocean along the way. We entertained ourselves sightseeing and trying to pronounce to unpronounceable Welsh village names. 

Needing a break from the road, we stopped about 11am at Birthdir to check out a now unused 1895-era church done up in a modern Mediterranean style with funky ocher painted walls and bright blue ceiling. The pulpit was shiny punched copper but other than some carvings on the choir pews, that was about it for decoration. I thought it was a bit cold and creepy.  

Just down the road we took the short Torrent Walk (thanks, Ron & Linda!) which was a delightful mile-long stroll down through the ferny woods to a small stone bridge, then another easy mile back up the other side of a cascading stream, ergo "Torrent". Just what the doctored ordered to clear our minds.

Lunch was in Dolgellau, a surprising nice little town. It could have been rather depressing, with its grey block buildings and dark slate roofs  but cheerful window boxes full of flowers and freshly painted trim work kept it looking rather cheery. Not eager to leave after our repast, we strolled a bit until we feared getting lost, then headed back to our car to be on our way again.

It's quite obvious when one reaches North Wales, the change in landscape is so noticeable you say, "hey, this looks different". A rise in elevation brings you into forest, rather than more fields; a serpentine section of road twists through a ravine instead of hedgerows; and hills covered in heather and bracken start to close in upon the car.  It reminded us a lot of the Highlands of Scotland, this new scenery, and we liked it a lot.

Our home for the next 2 nights is right in Beddgelert. Our first village B&B and the setting couldn't be more delightful.