Thursday 7^th August                       WAUNFAUR  -  CWELLYN  -  SNOWDON

It’s been a very quiet, down day today, which I think was just what we needed after several very busy weeks of hectic travel. It was raining, heavily overcast and cold when we woke up, and stayed that way for several hours. Having seen the forecast, I was only too happy to designate it a laundry day, as by now we had two big bags full of washing, and this house rejoices in a washer and a drier.

So I got that underway, and we had a lovely lazy morning reading, sorting photos etc. Lex thought about going for a walk, then looked at the weather and decided against it. I had got all the washing done and some dry, when he suggested we go out for lunch. The rain had stopped by this stage, and the sky was beginning to lighten, so we drove south about ten miles to the little village of Cwellyn, and had a lovely lunch at the pub there.

                          Cloud starting to lift on Mynnyd Mawr

                            The joys of driving in Wales: stone walls and oncoming traffic!

                  Lots of sheep, and, we think, the remnants of old mines/quarries

Cwellyn is right at the foot of Wales’s highest mountain, Snowdon, but today, unfortunately, it was still covered at the top by thick cloud. Our waiter said that on a clear day, you can see the train and people on the summit, but not today! At least the other mountains around were able to be seen, and they are quite spectacular.

                                            Interesting décor choice outside the men's toilets!

                             Foothills of Snowdon. Apparently the peak is under all that cloud.

                                                              Cwellyn Arms

                                             Where we were compared to Snowdon's peak

After lunch, Lex dropped me back off at the house so I could continue putting things through the drier (the sun came out, so I even hung some clothes out on the clothesline!) I managed to get everything dry, so at least we are stocked up now for the next week or so. I had a lovely lazy afternoon doing some family history research ahead of our trip to Pembrokeshire this weekend.

                     The lake Llyn Cwellyn lies between the two mountains we can see from our place.

                                                     How green was my valley!

Lex went for a drive and did manage to finally see the summit of Snowdon (1085m) later in the afternoon, though he’s regretting not having a really good camera to get good zoom photos. He had tried to get us tickets to go up it on the train, but they are booked out weeks ahead.

                                                     Snowdon

                                                        Train going along the ridge

We’ve had an easy tea, and he’s watching one of the hundred or so DVDs provided by our hosts, while I do the blog. It’s been a very restful day, finally. Tomorrow we’ve booked tickets on a train ride down to Beddgelert, which I’ve just read is in the top 4 of prettiest Welsh villages, so I’m looking forward to that!