“No, my son is also named Borth!” We left Stratford-Upon-Avon a couple days ago and headed into western/northern Wales. After a long train ride, we arrived in a small town called Borth, overlooking the ocean. We checked in at the hostel and headed down the road to a local pub called “Danny’s”. After a few drinks, we befriended the bartender and patrons at the pub and told stories, shared jokes, and exchanged information. It was a jolly ol’ time. Did you know that a single ‘F’ in Welsh makes a ‘V’ sound? It takes a double ‘F’ to make the ‘F’ sound. The more you know! We stumbled back to our hostel later that night… Sean took a slight tumble off the board walk along the way back.

The next morning we headed north into the mountains of Wales, into Snowdonia National Park. After a roller-coaster of a bus ride to Penn-y-pass from Porthmadog, we began a rather ridiculous hike up Snowdon mountain (the tallest spot in Wales). Along the way up, we encountered many sheep, some rather sharp wind gusts and an injured lady who was being rescued via helicopter after falling. Of course, due to the winds, the helicopter could not land, so they sent a rescue team up the mountain to get her. We reached the very top after 3 hours. Of course, the train that takes people to the top was now closed… Sigh. We headed down the other side of the mountain towards Snowdon Ranger Hostel to find it was full. Luckily, we met a group of guys who were headed back to Penn-y-pass and we all shared a cab. We stayed the night at a hostel in Penn-y-pass.

The next day we caught the first bus to Betsw-y-Coed where we caught a later train which eventually connected us to Manchester, England. We are now tired and sore, but resting up at Jim’s (distant relative of Sean’s) for the next couple days before heading into York and Newcastle.