Swansea Feb 1-4/ Snowdonia Feb 5-9, 2022

#1 Caernarfon Castle

Caernarfon Castle is a fortress-palace that was built on the banks of the river Seiont in Wales, UK. The castle took 47 years to construct and is the largest in scale and grandeur of the four castles built by the English King Edward I in Wales (Conwy, Beaumaris and Harlech are the others). He built the castles and walled towns and filled them with English migrants after suppressing a Welsh rebellion and conquering Wales in 1282-83.

The castles and English settlements made a clear and imposing statement by Edward about the permanency of his intended rule over Wales. The polygonal towers, eagle statues, and multicolored masonry were intended to reflect Imperial Roman architecture and Edward attempted to legitimize his rule over the Welsh by referencing the legends of Macsen Wledig and King Arthur. In the legends, Macsen (the Welsh name of the Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus) had a dream of a beautiful princess who lived in a castle. Legend has it that he searched for her and found her in a castle by the sea in Caernarfon. Her name was Elen and she was a princess of Britain. Their descendants supposedly included King Arthur as well as the Welsh princes. In the past, King John of England had linked the royal family to that of the Welsh Princes through marriage agreements. Edward was distantly related to those marriages and agreements and used that to legitimize his rule. Like the myth of Macsen Wledig, Edward was a foreigner but linked to the Welsh Princes through marriage and he intended to rule from the great castle in Caernarfon. So, Edward I used the Castles and their walled towns to subjugate the Welsh but also attempted to gain their acceptance through the use of imagery and legends linking him to shared mythology.

#2 Conwy Castle

Conwy Castle was also built by King Edward I (also known as Edward Longshanks/ Hammer of the Scots) after his conquest of Wales in order to maintain control and project power. It was built in an astounding four years between 1283-1287 and is my favorite castle so far even though it is somewhat smaller than Caernarfon Castle. The royal chambers are relatively well preserved allowing a glimpse into the layout and structure of medieval royal living quarters. It is also possible to climb up each of the first and second level towers for a spectacular view of the castle, town, and also Conwy River.

#3 Llyn Idwal, Snowdonia National Park

There is a relatively short but beautiful 3 mile hike around Llyn Idwal lake and the glacial valley in the Glyderau mountains in Snowdonia. The weather can change extremely rapidly and it may be very windy at times so make sure you are prepared even though the hike itself is not very challenging. During our outing, the weather changed from windy and misty to a violent hailstorm in a matter of minutes.

The views are wonderful and, if you feel more adventurous, you can take a further hike up into the mountains.

#4 LLangenneth Beach

I surfed LLangenneth Beach between February 2nd and 5th and rented a surfboard and wetsuite/gloves/hood/boots from PJ’s Surf Shop. The shop is the only one that rents equipment in the winter and is run by Pete ‘PJ’ Jones who is a former European, British as well as eight times Welsh surfing champion. His son was the one who helped out with my rental and was very friendly and helpful and I believe is also a competitive surfer. The rental costs were reasonable and the equipment was good even if the selection was limited.

The main beach on the Gower Peninsula is LLangenneth which is an enormously long beach that is very wide at low tide and short at high tide when the water nearly reaches the grassy hills. At low tide, the wide swaths of sand make for a relatively long walk to the water but at high tide, the waves are up against the dunes and the top of the beach is mostly medium sized pebbles vs. sand. The beach is not as well kept as the beaches down south and there is trash tossed amongst the grass and in the carpark which is sad and detracts from the natural beauty of the place.

The first day had 2-3ft waves and the onshore winds meant sloppy conditions with choppy, muddy waters. However, I actually had a good surf session and caught about 10 waves on the big fish 7ft board I rented. The second day was too flat to surf at all. On the third day, the swell picked up with 5ft waves but 21 mph onshore winds so still very messy. Again, I had a pretty good session even with the poor conditions and caught 8 decent waves. On the last morning, I tried to surf early but the waves were around 6-7ft with around 25mph onshore winds and the ocean looked violent with lots of close out waves and very short periods between them. The waves broke both close to shore and relatively far out and I found it very difficult to paddle out. I was the only one in the water and ended up paddling around for about an hour in the wild conditions while only catching 2 mediocre waves. Still, it was good to give it a go. While the conditions were fairly poor during my visit, I could see the potential of the place and it was great to surf with no crowds.

Note: One of the days, I also checked Langland Bay which is closer to Swansea and gets nice waves when LLangenneth is too big and blown out. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite big enough to surf when I was there but I could tell it would be nice when the swell was sufficient. I also learned it only works during mid-tide so you have to try and time it right. Here are some photos of Langland Bay at sunrise.

#5 Aber Falls, Snowdonia National Park

Aber Falls is a 120 foot waterfall in the Carneddau Mountain Range. The hike is a pleasant 2.6 mile round trip stroll through a valley filled with grazing sheep and moss covered trees. The waterfall is impressive and plunges from the mountains into a pool of cold water which feeds into a rushing stream running through the meadows. It is definitely a wonderful little outing.