Wales. Snowdonia. BD :)

Snowdon. Foto: Aili Roosa

Llandudno

19.07 Hommik algas ilusa päikesetõusuga. Olin küll enne seda üleval. Kuna mul on vajadus kõige kõrgemate punktide otsa ronida, siis võtsin sihiks Great Orme u 200m tõusu. Sinna otsa viib samuti £8 raudtee (täiesti mõttetu) ja gondlid. Mäe otsa jõudes oli taevas peeaegu pilvitu. Lambad ja paar jänest seltsiks. Mida veel tahta? Suur Orme on Llandudnot ühelt poolt ääristav lubjakivi kalju, tema vastandiks ranna teises otsas asuv Little Orme. Great Orme tippu viivad mitu rada. Seal on koopad ja kaevandus ning 6. või 7. sajandist pärit kirik.

Suur Orme

Meduus

Kokkuleppel majutusega saime hommikusöögi erandkorras tund aega varem kui tavaliselt, sest meid ootas ees Walesi kõige kõrgema mäe tippu viiv rong. Tee Llanberisse kulges viivitusteta. Parkimine oli jälle üüratult kallis (£8) aga see selleks. 

Teel Snowdonile

2011 aasta Germalo reisiga oli samuti võimalus Snowdoni tippu sõita. Mäletan nii selgesti kadedust üles kõndivate inimeste vastu. Seda, et neil oli vaba voli veeta tipus nii kaua, kui soovivad, mitte tormata 27 minuti pärast alla suunduvasse rongi. Seekord 😊 (veel) üles ise ei kõndinud aga alla küll.

Snowdon 2011

Vaade Snodwonilt, Hobuseraua tõus

Snowdon on oma 1085 meetriga Snowdonia rahvuspargis asuv Walesi kõrgeim mägi aga Šotimaa mägede vastu ta ei saa. Suurbritannia mägedest mahub ta vaevu kõrgeima 20 hulka. Snowdoni tipp on üpris terav ja sealt avaneb selge ilma korral võrratu vaade. 2130 m² rahvuspark on mägine, täis järvi, kaunist taimestikku ning loomi ja loomulikult suures hulgas matkaradu.

Kuna Snowdon on ronimiseks piisavalt inimesemõõtu (ja no isegi rongiga on võimalik üleval ära käia. 60 minutit rahulikku kulgemist ja kauneid vaateid läheb täiesti märkamatult), siis seda külastab tohutult palju inimesi. Rongiga üles sõites paistis päike. Eelmine kord oli lausudu. Nii tihke udu, et tipust ei paistnud isegi rongipeatus, mis jäi kõige rohkem paarikümne meetri kaugusele. Just siis, kui päike viimaks natuke pilvi eemale ajas oli kiire tagasi alla.

Llanberis rada

Niisiis, üles sõites päike paistis. Seda kuni umbes 10 minutit enne sihtpunktini jõudmist. Hinge tekkis väike kahtlus, kas tõesti kordub eelmise korra ebaõnn. Aga siis olime üleval ja erinevalt esimesest korrast oli meil VAADE. Vaade ümbritsevatele mäetippudele ja mägijärvedele. Puhas nauding. Kunagi kavatsen oma isikliku mootoriga üles liikuda :)

Tee alla kulges sujuvalt. Llanberise rada on kõige mahedam. Selleks ajaks (ja tegelikult juba terve rongisõidu aja - kusjuures selleks päevaks olid kõik reisid välja müüdud) oli mäekülg üles- ja allaliikujaid täis. Osad õhetasid juba alguses, mõned reipamad. Ja saime piisavalt teretada.

Llanberis

Llanberis on Snowdonia keskele jääv küla, mis oma imelise asukoha tõttu on suureks turismiobjektiks. Sealt saab alguse Snowdoni tippu viiv rong, lisaks järve äärne raudtee ning algavad mitmed matkarajad.  Lõunakohaks oli valitud Pete`s Eats, kust kahjuks ei lahkunud positiivse muljega. Kuna lõuna jäi praktiliselt söömata, siis sobis asemele üks kosutav jäätis. Mägedevaheline tee iseenesest on juba imekaunis, seega sõitsime välja kuni Pen-y-Pass`ini. 

Llanfairpwllgwyngyll

Edasi viis tee Suurbritannia pikima ja maailmas pikkuselt teise nimega linna - Llanfair­pwllgwyn­gyllgo­gery­chwyrn­drobwll­llanty­silio­gogo­goch, mille esialgne nimetus oli Llanfairpwllgwyngyll aga 1860 nimetati see ümber eesmärgiga saada Suurbritannia pikima nimega raudteejaama tiitel. Tõlkes tähendab Maria kirik valge sarapuu lohus kiire veekeerise ja punase koopa juures asuva püha Tysilio kiriku juures. 2011a rahvastikuloenduse järgi on seal 3100 in. Ega seal peale nime, raudteejaama ja suure suveniiripoe väga erilist silma ei paista. Aga poest sain vähemalt isale ektra hapusid komme, mille peale poemüüja hoiatas, et kas ma ikka panin tähele, et need on eriti hapud. 

Conwy

Väikseim maja Suurbritannias

Siis 13.sajandist pärit kindluse ja linnamüüridega linn Conwy ja Suurbritannia väikseim maja mõõtudega 3.05x1.8m, mis oli järjepidevalt kasutuses 16. sajandist kuni aastani 1900. £1 tasu eest on võimalik maja ise seest üle vaadata.

Llandudno, foto: Aili Roosa

Summer pudding

Ja õhtuks tagasi Llandudnosse. Jälle jalutuskäik promenaadil ning õhtusöök The Albert nimelises restoranis. Jälle uus kogemus, et lauda juhatatakse aga toit tuleb leti ääres tellida. Oleks siis keegi seda enne maininud 😀

The Great Orme

19th July The morning begun with a beautiful sunrise. Although I was up before that. As I have a need to find the highest places and climb them I had decided to walk the Great Orme whit its 200metres. There is also a  nice old train (£8) taking you up.

Jellyfish

The sky was almost clear when I reached up. Sheep and a few rabbits. What else to wish for?

Ashfields

The Great Orme is a limestone head on the one side of Llandudno, with the Little Orme on the other side of the Bay. Several tracks take you to the Great Orme. There are caves and a mine and 6th or 7th century church.

I had written to Ashfields earlier about the need to eat earlier than the usual breakfast time and they nicely agreed to that because we had to catch the train to the highest moutain in Wales. The road to Llanberis was lovely. Parking way too expensive - £8.

The way up

When I was in Wales in 2011 with Germalo, I had also the opportunity to take the train to Snowdon. I still remember how envious I was of the people walking up and down. They were able to enjoy the views for as long as they wanted to not having to rush back to the train in 27 minutes. This time😊 I didn`t walk up (I will some day) but we did walk down.

Snowdon 2011

Snowdon is the highest moutain in Wales, located in Snowdonia National Park with its 1085 metres but it has nothing against Scotland`s moutains, barely making it to the top20 highest mountains in Great Britain. Snowdon has a quite sharp top and offers amazing views with clear weather. The 2130 m²  national park is full of mountains and lakes, beautiful fauna and animals and naturally lots of hiking trails. As Snowdon`s height is as it is (and you can also take a train up, imagine that. 60 minutes of drive with gorgeous view passes in a blink of an eye) many people visit it.

Viwe from Snowdon

The sun was shining when we drove up. It was complete fog the last time. It was so foggy, I couldn`t see the train station from the top and it is about 40 metres (?). And as the sun finally chased a bit of clouds we had to rush back to the train. So, driving up, the sun was shining until we had about 10 minutes left to go. I was already beginning to worry the bad luch would return. But then we were up and unlike the first time there was a VIEW. We could see the neighbouring mountains and lakes. Pure bliss. I will climb up some day.

Snowdon

The way down was relatively smooth. Llanberis path is supposed to be the easiest. By that time (well, actually all the way up - and a side note, all the train tickets were sold out for that day) the hillside was filled with people moving up or down. And we got to say enough hi`s.

Llanberis

Llanberis is a village in Snowdonia that is a popular tourist attraction due to its wondeful location. The Snowdon train starts there and there is also a lakeside train and of course numeral hiking tracks. I had chosen Pete`s Eats to eat lunch in but unfortunately it didn`t turn out to be a good choice. As we had to skip lunch, we are a beautiful ice cream instead. The road between mountains is so pretty, so we drove up to Pen-y-Pass.

Llanfairpwllgwyngyll

Next to Llanfair­pwllgwyn­gyllgo­gery­chwyrn­drobwll­llanty­silio­gogo­goch, the town with the longest name in Great Britain and the second longest name in the World. It was originally called  Llanfairpwllgwyngyll but was renamed in 1860 to have the longest named train station. Its full meaning is: Saint Mary’s Church in the hollow of the white hazel near the rapid whirlpool and the Church of Saint Tysilio of the red cave. Well, besides the name, train station and a huge souvenir shop nothing interesting seemed to stand out. But I did find extra sour candy for my father. The sales assistant asked if I had seen the extra sour warning.

The smalles house in GB. Photo: Aili Roosa

Conwy

Then Conwy a walled town with a 13th century castle and the smallest house in Great Britain (3.05m x 1.8m) that was continuously lived in from the 16th century until 1900. For £1 you can also visit the house. 

The Albert, salmon

And back to Llandudno by the evening. A lovely walk on the promenade and dinner at The Albert. Again a new experience. We were directed to our table but noone informed us we would have to order by the bar😀