Dan-yr-ogof Caves

We visited the National Showcaves centre in Dan-yr-ogof. They claim to be the most spectacular caves in Northern Europe and of course have a great Welsh name!
It's hard to capture the caves in a photo but the largest cave - Cathedral Cave was quite impressive. It wasn't discovered until the 1950's. They hold wedding ceremonies in the cave!

Brecon Beacons

Here are some photos from the weekend. The pub is where we had Sunday lunch - traditional roast with Yorkshire pudding. The stone hut is an old pigsty - at the Museum of Welsh Life which was really interesting. The red farmhouse was also at the museum which was a collection of original buildings etc all set in lovely gardens and surrounds.

Horse riding - Brecon Beacons

Last weekend we went to the Brecon Beacons a national park in mid-Wales. We met up with our friends Ben & Corinne from Australia. We went on a ''pony trek'' which is a horse ride for beginners. As you can see Anthony was given a large shire horse! he was about 17hh, and I was given a fat pony! We saw some great scenery on the ride but wasn't allowed to carry a camera while riding. Next time I think we'll upgrade from the pony trek as Anthony is ready for a gallop!

LlanfairPG

The town with the longest name in Britain:

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

"St Mary's Church in the hollow of white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of St Tysilio near the red cave"

There isn't much to see here but a great example of Welsh language!

Caenarfon Castle

Caenarfon Castle is world heritage listed and very important in Welsh history. It was quite interesting and had a museum of Welsh military history inside. We are quite sick of castles now but this one is worth the visit.
From the top of the castle you can see out to the bay and to Anglesey.

We were so sore from the hike up Mt Snowdon that after a walk around the castle we had to head back to Betws-y-coed for lunch and a hot spa!

Snowdonia & Betws-y-Coed

In the first photo Olivia is standing on the summit of Mt Snowdon - proof that we made it to the top! Next you can seen the train climbing the mountain.The old stone building is The Royal Oak Hotel where we stayed in a gorgeous little village called Betws-y-Coed. There are sheep everywhere in the district and the one in the photo was jut over the road from the hotel.

The castle is Caenarfon castle which is one of Wales most important castles, it had a museum of Welsh military inside.

Mt Snowdon

This weekend was a Bank holiday long weekend. We travelled to Snowdonia National Park in North Wales (4hr drive from Bridgend). We climbed Mt Snowdon - the highest peak in England and Wales. These photos are taken from the summit. The 14 km hike took 5 hours, 2.5 hours of uphill climbing to get to the top, it nearly killed us!

The weather was great, we actually got sunburnt! The following day it rained so we were very glad to have made the summit when we did. There is also a train that takes you up the mountain if you aren't up for the walk, it has been running since the 1800's!