It's Always Windy In Wales!

I think my brain is going to explode from trying to remember everything that happened today. We'll see how this goes. For starters, we have no internet, on the bus or otherwise, so I can't say for sure whether or not I'll get to post this in a timely manner, but at least I'll get it all down before I forget! It is currently the 28th of June, and I am sitting in a "lodge" in town that starts with a "t" at the foot of Mount Snowdon in Wales. (More on Mount Snowdon tomorrow!)

We got up at 5:00 this morning and had adventures in the pouring Dublin rain waiting for our coach to show because we had to be on the ferry at 7:20. Little did I know that our coach was coming with us! We drove onto the ferry and then climbed up to the top where we found ourselves on a miniature cruise ship. Everything was indoors and the chairs were all plush. We were some of the first people on the ferry, so we all found seats (and they were comfy seats) at the front where we could see the Irish Sea in front of us. That's about it from the ferry, honestly. It was a little longer than three hours and I fell asleep shortly after setting out. By the time I woke up, it was goodbye Ireland and hello to the Welsh!

Preliminary thoughts on Wales:
-it's still green, but decidedly less green than Ireland. Somehow Wales manages to accomplish this while having more trees.
-the sheep aren't nearly as cute.
-I already love it here. The scenery is mostly mountains that are covered in trees.
-Irish, when it's written down, is very beautiful (though that could be because it's always written in that Irish font that looks so very Celtic). Welsh gives me a headache. They have an affinity for consonants and will bunch them together in long strings that I could never pronounce. An example: "Failtu" (Irish) vs. "defnyddiwch" (Welsh).
-The roads here are much more narrow and twisty. On our giant coach, we came across an intersection that said "Not for wide vehicles" one way and "not for long vehicles" the other. Also, our bus driver squeezed us through two tunnels that were no more than a couple inches wider than our bus on either side. It was quite exhilerating.
-It is, indeed, always windy in Wales.

(Warning: The Following Paragraph is Extremely Logistical and Boring and Written for the Benefit of My Parents. Read at Own Risk.) I would like to take this moment to say that bringing a handful of pounds with me from home turned out to be a brilliant idea. We have only had one opportunity to change money and it was at an ATM outside of a grocery store. Because I already had my pounds handy, I didn't have to bother with taking money out or not having any pounds at all. Also, the amount of euros that I came with ended up being perfect for the eight days we spent in Ireland. That is all. (See? Boring. You were warned.)

 Our very first stop in Wales was Beaumaris Castle. That's French for "beautiful marsh" because most of the land used to be underwater. Ready for a history lesson, everyone? Anyone? Okay, we'll go with the abbreviated version. King Edward I (nicknamed "Longshanks" and "Hammer of the Scots") invaded and conquered Wales all the way up to the Isle of Anglesey, where he then proceeded to build castles every twenty kilometers along the coast. Due to various complications (running out of money and having to borrow from Italy, and having to go fight a war in Scotland against "Braveheart," to name a few), Beaumaris was never completed. In fact, people started taking rocks off of the top whenever they wanted to build stone things because it was easier than finding their own. So it's only about half as tall as it was supposed to be. That does not mean that it's not impressive. This is the first castle that we've seen that actually has a moat!  It was a grimy, disgusting moat and I kept on expecting alligators to pop out of the brown water, but it was impressive nonetheless. The Castle itself is concentric, meaning that it is a castle within a castle. (Big outer wall that was castle-like itself, slightly smaller but still big actual castle inside.) How beautiful it was! I have decided that I have to stop trying to rank these castles because they're all so beautiful, but this one has joined my list of favorites with Blarney and Cahir. 

The highlight of Beaumaris was easily the chapel. Most castles had a chapel of some sort where people could go to pray and worship. When we were in the chapel, we sang "God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again" for our bus driver, Declan, who is leaving us tomorrow. (Side Note, we also gave him a Book of Mormon that we all signed!) The acoustics of that room were amazing; we sounded almost angelic! I recorded our singing on my phone, so hopefully I'll be able to put that up.  And thus the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Jr. was born. We only sing in stone buildings in Europe.

Stop number two was a Slate Mine in the mountains. We were each given a hard hat and taken seven stories down into the mine in little yellow carts. There was then a timed light/story tour that told the story of a twelve-year-old boy who worked most of his life in the mines with his family. We were walking around in an actual slate mine wearing hard hats and dodging low ceilings. It was so cool. (That is also a literal use of the word: I could see my breath down there the whole time!) It was also pitch black, save for the lights they put up for you to follow. I don't know what happens when you don't keep up with the lights. Maybe you're stuck waiting for the next group to come around. In any case, it was absolutely fascinating. When we came back up, we were surrounded by clouds, but it was warm in contrast with the cool air in the mines.

Now, you ask? I'm sitting in a house that reminds me of the Winchester Mystery House. You know, that house in California with doors that open onto brick walls or the front lawn, five stories up, or stairways that disappear into the ceiling. This place is a labyrinth, and it smells like Grandmom and Granddad's house in West Virginia (and that's a good thing!). There are five of us in one room--it reminds me of girls camp a little bit. :)

So that's Wales so far! Hey, if you guys wouldn't mind, I would love to hear from any and all of you who are reading this. Leave a comment, send me an email, message me on Facebook, whatever! It would be greatly appreciated. :) Those of you who are already doing this (and you know who you are!) you are awesome with a capital A. 

One thing from the jail yesterday: The tour guide took us into the exercise yard and made us walk in circles looking at our feet. Inmates had to do this for one hour every day, not looking at each other and not talking. (Les Misrables! "Look down, look down, don't look 'em in the eye...") It was tedious for the minute that we did it, even with the tour guide talking to us. But I suppose that hour was better than the twenty-three others they spent locked in their overcrowded cells. There were also four rooms that were kept in total darkness twenty-four hours a day. People who got locked up down there didn't see daylight for years. They took us down there and it was absolutely pitch black. I can't even imagine. So a depressing note to end this post, but interesting nonetheless. And Wales! That's that, I guess. More later, if I remember!