Wales to Whitby

I had every intention of posting yesterday, but upon checking in to the hotel (yes, a hotel this time - Marriott City Centre, Liverpool -- thanks for the suggestion, Jane!) we found they had no free internet.  The charge was 15 GBP for 24 hours or one hour - it didn't matter.  The hotel was great in every other way, so we simply skipped "interneting" for one evening. 

Thursday we drove from mid-Wales to north Wales.  I'd always wanted to see Caernarfon Castle, and it did not disappoint.  Again, we had fantastic sunny weather!  What luck!  We've heard from many different people about the horrible, dreary summer the UK has suffered through this year.  Thankfully, September has been a gem!

Anyway, here are a few shots of Caernarfon....

 

After exploring the nooks and crannies of the castle, we drove to Conwy in Wales, a town with intact walls as well as a castle of their own!  Our B&B - a very lovely home - was literally just outside the town wall.  Here is a picture of the garden, right outside the door of the B&B - 

 

We had a wonderful stay at the Bryn Guest House in Conwy.  There were several things we did NOT get the chance to do while in Conwy.  I would have loved to explore their castle too, but.... there doesn't seem to be enough time in a day!   Here is a photo of our room at the Bryn.  Lovely, just lovely.

On Friday morning, we had a great breakfast and traveled from the countryside of Wales to the large city atmosphere of Liverpool.  John had told me over and over that Liverpool was more like a "cesspool" and a "horrible place".  Well.  He was wrong - and when he gets the chance to blog again, I'm just sure he'll admit deny it! At any rate, we navigated the busy streets of Liverpool, checked in to the hotel, and walked down to Albert Dock, the meeting place for the "Magical Mystery Tour".  Here is the bus :)

 

We are both huge Beatles fans, so I just knew we'd enjoy this tour.... and we did!  They took us to many sights around the greater Liverpool area, home of all the Beatles.  They played Beatles music on the tour and the tour guide/commentator was very knowledgable as well as engaging.  I loved listening to his very "Liverpudlian" accent.  We saw Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields, homes of all four Beatles, as well as plenty of Beatles history and tidbits of info along the way.  Here is the very unassuming Penny Lane.

If you enlarge this pic, you can see it says "Penny Lane" on the building on the left side.  Then it was on to Strawberry Fields. 

The guide told us that the gates to Strawberry Fields (as well as street signs for Penny Lane) had been stolen over and over.  Finally they welded the gates permanently shut - nobody will be able to nick the gates again.  

After our bus tour, we were dropped at the famous Cavern Club.  Here's John, beginning the four flights of stairs down into the Cavern. 

We imbibed in a beverage or two before heading back to the hotel for some much needed rest.  As far as "beverages" go, I've re-developed a love for Cider again!  I found I really enjoyed Cider a few years back when we made our wonderful trip to Australia and New Zealand.  We don't have much in the way of cider in the USA, and certainly none on draft ("draught" here in the UK) - so I've been enjoying a pint or two of Strongbow and while in Cornwall, I tried the "Cornwall Rattler" which is supposed to put one on one's behind, so to speak....  I was very cautious and had only a half-pint.  It was so lovely you could drink it down fast, and that, I believe is the problem!!   

Today it was out of the big city and back into the beautiful countryside again.  This time  we went to the  east side of England, to the Yorkshire seaside village of Whitby.  Here is an ocean scene near Whitby. 

Again, we have been blessed with lovely sunshine.  Tomorrow it's York, with a stop off at a former WWII prisoner of war camp.  I'm crazy for WWII history, so I am really looking forward to that.  More later... from your buzzing around Britain bloggers....