Mick and I left our comfy accommodation in Caernarfon just before 9am this morning as we had over 50 miles to drive to our first destination. Now that does not sound too far, but some of the roads made it a slow and windy trip.

We drove through some amazing scenery, initially through Snowdonia National Park, and today I was able to pull over to get some photos.

We then drove through what we think is the most beautiful village in Wales that we have seen so far – Betws-y-Coed. It was quite small, with fewer than 600 people, and every second home seemed to be a B&B. But, we did not have the time to stop!!

We had tickets for a train ride. (I’m sure I’ve mentioned before that Mick loves trains!)

When we knew we coming to Wales, the only train tickets I could get for us was on the Llangollen Railway. It is the only standard gauge heritage railway in North Wales, and the only one that was running any sort of schedule that Mick and I could link into during our week in Wales. And today’s trip was a special train trip with a special theme.

But, Mick could not be dissuaded.

Llangollen Railway Station is located on the Dee River, just past the bridge in the main part of town. We found a car park a few hundred yards away, and stopped at a bakery we passed on our way to the station and bought a sausage roll and a pasty for the trip. We had been told it went from 11.00am to 12,30pm.

As expected, there were lots of children and parents and grandparents, and a few of Santa’s Helpers all heading towards the station.

I cannot explain the special effects I obtained in this photo of Mick – he said it was something to do with the lens on my iPhone camera fogging up. Anyway, it looks pretty cool.

I actually did not need those ear muffs I’d bought a few days ago at the op shop in Cardigan, but we had been told to prepare for a cold trip. As it turned out – both Mick and I took several layers off once on the train.

The children on board were given a gift from Santa, and the adults were given a mince pie and a ‘tipple’ – which was a little bottle of Baileys.

We actually spent more time sitting on the train waiting for it to go somewhere, and then to be re-filled with water, then we did moving

The journey was less than 10 miles – and travelled through the Dee Valley.

We spotted quite a few ‘fly’ fishermen in the river as we ‘crawled’ past the stunning countryside. However, I did not capture any in action. Some were up to their armpits in the water.

Volunteers run the railway – they were the ones dressed as Santas helpers, and serving our treats, and filling the engine with water and fuel. Quite often the steam from the engine would blow back in our direction.

 

Once back at the Llangollen Station, Mick and I had to hot foot it to our car – we were already more than 40 minutes later than we expected, and we had a long trip ahead of us. We are going to spend the next two nights in Brecon.

As we travelled through central and south Wales the scenery changed from rock wall fences and homes made of stones to hedge rows and homes made of bricks.

Obviously most of Wales’ rocks and slate are in North Wales – but I could be proved wrong tomorrow as we hope to go for a bit of an ‘explore’ in the Brecon Beacons. It depends on the weather.