Wales for us was the first reunion with family since April. My (Bethany’s) aunt was over in the UK for a weaving conference, and for months had planned to meet us in Wales for a few days. We pedalled from London to Llandudno, Wales, in six days, then spent four days at a bed and breakfast, seeing the sights of Northern Wales.

On the first day, we visited Conwy Castle. Beautiful and well-preserved ruins of a once-great fortress stand with water in front and mountains behind. We enjoyed roaming around the castle grounds, climbing the towers and exploring the rooms.

View of the castle interior from atop one of the towers.

Castles are such a treat for us… not something we really have in the US! Especially old ones!

We spent another day roaming around on the “Great Orme,” a small elevated peninsula not too far from Llandudno. Because of its limestone composition, it is home to several unique species of plants and butterflies. Because of its location in Wales, it was also home to some cold, windy and damp weather! So we also took some time to explore the recently discovered Bronze Age copper mines on the Orme.

And on day three we took the Snowdon Mountain Railroad to the top of the highest peak in Wales! The views were spectacular for the whole journey, and we VERY much enjoyed the change of pace in not having to pedal our way to the top!

Around a curve we could see deep into the valley below with mist suspended above… beautiful!

The views from the train turned out to be much better than the view from the top… which was mostly fog! Cold temperatures and strong wind made our visit at the summit a quick one!

Reminiscent of climbing to the Sun Gate when we hiked Machu Picchu… the view from the top was a bit cloudy!

Though we loved seeing the beauty of Northern Wales, we so enjoyed spending time with family. We would sit around for hours around meals just talking, sharing stories from the different journeys on which we’ve all been. Plus we got good and spoiled by staying in a posh bed and breakfast… certainly our nicest accommodation in Europe up to that point!

Our daily breakfast was such a treat! We spent time just hanging out and enjoying the delicious food each morning.