A Day In Llandudno

To take advantage of the good weather we've been having so late in to Summer we spent this Sunday in Llandudno. It seemed lots of other people had the same idea as it was quite busy.

We headed to the pier first of all then walked up to Happy Valley gardens. On a previous visit we walked past the park but have never wandered in. 

The views of the sea are amazing due to the park being on a slope.
Dotted about the town are wooden carvings of Alice In Wonderland characters. This is because Llandudno has links to a girl named Alice who is thought to be the inspiration for the character. The carvings are numbered and you can follow a trail to find them all. We didn't do this but found some in the park.

The caterpillar,

white rabbit

and a table ready for the mad hatters tea party.

A brass band began to play and we noticed even the band stand was decorated with characters.
Little L was a bit disappointed that we didn't manage a paddle in the sea because we headed for home earlier than we normally would due to school the next day. 

As we were leaving Llandudno we spotted this old building and stopped to take some photos.

 At first we did think that it was derelict but after looking more closely noticed that the doors weren't too shabby and bins around the back looked pretty new. A man appeared and began tidying up some litter as I was taking photos so I asked about the building and was told it was still in use for music events three times a week. I'm glad it's still in use and not like so many old buildings that I've seen which have just left to rot away.

Conwy Pirate Weekend

Last Saturday we braved the bad weather and went to the Conwy Pirate Weekend. One of my friends told me about the event and had invited us to grab a tent and camp (they have a caravan and stay the weekend) but a babysitter for the weekend can be a bit difficult so she suggested coming with the children. Little L is Pirates of the Caribbean mad so as soon as I mentioned it (in March I think) she has not stopped asking about it. My friend told us that lots of children go and love it. Both her and her husband dress up for the event. She makes the costumes herself which are brilliant and has won best dressed pirate woman for the past two years.

When we arrived Little L was becoming really excited seeing lots of other children also dressed as pirates heading towards the quayside. There were plenty of things to keep children busy, craft activities, pirate lessons, bouncy castles,etc. as well as stalls selling food and crafts, a stage with live music, pirate circus and magic act.

Little L spotted someone dressed as her favourite pirate, Captain Jack Sparrow. She couldn't keep her eyes off him. He did stop and high five her a couple of times and was kind enough to stop for a photo. It made her day.

We watched as the ship Vilma sailed into the quay with some nasty pirates on board. Cannons were fired from the quayside to ward them off. Having never been around cannons being set off before I wasn't prepared for what it feels like when standing near by. I wasn't even that close and I felt the boom of it going off through my body. My husband has said its because of this, that and the other, trying to give me a quick science lesson. All I know is that I didn't like it.

A mermaid made an appearance which the children seemed to love but I did hear two little boys say 'ew, gross' when they took a look.

Just before we left Conwy I spied some owls which were brought along to the event by Cymru Falconry Friends. We were allowed to pet them and most didn't seem bothered in the slightest by all the attention.

This one made a grab for Little L twice which she found funny. She did think that it was a baby and said it was a little cutie.

This one was my favourite. I don't know what kind it is but I loved the colour.
Llandudno is only about 5 miles away from Conwy so we decided to nip there before going home. 

When we arrived there was a Punch and Judy show on and Little L wanted to watch. She thought it was hilarious but we only stayed until the rain got too heavy to stand in the open then took shelter in an arcade.

The rain had been on and off all day and it was definitely a lot cooler on the pier. There were warnings of patchy fog posted at intervals along the road driving in to Wales in the morning.

Views of Little Orme and Great Orme taken from the pier.

Walking off the pier we grabbed a bag of warm doughnuts. I never bother with them at any other time, its my seaside food. When we reached the end of the pier I felt something hit me on the head. It was a seagull after my doughnut. I couldn't believe it. I have seen it happen to another person a few years ago in Llandudno (the gulls are terrible there) but it was a first for me. They don't do it lightly either. My husband and children were cracked up laughing. I heard 'did you see that women get hit on the head' so it must have been pretty amusing to people nearby as well. Well at least it didn't get my doughnut.

A Nice Little Break - Llandudno Pt 2

On our second day in Llandudno the first thing we did was a bit of shopping in the town where I managed to bag some bargains in the sales.

Next we went to the Great Orme.

We traveled to the top by tram. 

It was the first time either of us had been in one.The views were great and there were some lovely quaint cottages along the way. I kept my eyes open for the Kashmiri goats which roam the Great Orme but only managed to see a few from a distance.

When we reached the top we saw that the queues to return to the bottom by cable car were quite lengthy. Now even though I'm really scared of heights I did have a bit of a think whether to travel back by cable car or not but it would turn in to one of my ' seems a good idea at the time ' times. I've never been on one before that is why I even contemplated the idea in the first place but then I got to thinking once I was actually on one I might cry, scream, pee my pants or all three so I gave it a miss even though my husband was saying it won't be that bad and I wouldn't have to hang off one like James Bond.

I've seen some great photos taken from the top but the day we were there it was a bit overcast so my pics aren't so good. We walked down to Saint Tudno's Church which was kind of hard going because I was wearing flip flops. I was doing a lot of oohing and trying not to slip and knock my husbands legs from under him like a skittle. When we had almost reached the church my legs began to feel jellified and wobbly. I was telling my husband this and started to say that I felt like .... he piped up ' what a geriatric ?' ( such a charmer, isn't he ).. what I was going to say is a jelly baby or Mr Soft (from the old soft mint ad). 

I love the architecture of churches and the carving on old tombstones but graveyards give me the heebie jeebies. I have never be keen on the places but when I was little I was in a graveyard to put flowers on a relative's grave and some of the old graves covered in gravel had started to crack and cave in. One of my uncles who I was with at the time turned and said ' Hey up, someone tried to get out last night '. 

So when my husband said,' safety from what exactly ?' regarding this sign on the church yard gate that set my jitters off which doesn't take much coupled with my lively imagination and the fact I'm reading Zombie Apocalypse at the moment.

Never seen one of these before. It is where outdoor sermons are held.
After scaring myself enough for one day which was helped considerably by my lovely husband comparing all the jackdaws (and there were loads of them ) to the ravens in the film 'The Omen' , I was ready to move sharpish.

Looking back to the summit I didn't fancy attempting the climb back up in flip flops just to get a tram back down. My legs and slopes are not the best of friends and I had visions of me grabbing little tufts of grass just to drag myself up it so I suggested to walk down.

We walked down till we reached the Marine Drive road. It was a nice walk along the coast where I stopped now and again to take photos of flowers and my husband seemed to be being attacked by some red flying ant type bug. He was wearing a white top so I think that was attracting them. Whilst walking along the path now and again he would tell me to look up at a bird or plant and it made me go all woozy. I started swaying on the spot and as we were on a cliff edge with what I would say is a short wall, I told him to not tell me to look at anything as my jelly legs and weird woozy head would make me take a nose dive onto to the rocks below.

When we were almost on flat ground we walked through the edge of Happy Valley. We didn't explore it but my in laws have been to the gardens and say there are some lovely wooden carvings depicting Alice In Wonderland characters.
Anyway that was enough trekking about for me for one day and I think I did well considering my footwear.  I did comment to my hubbie that maybe I should invest in some rambling boots for our next excursion as its not the first time with him that I have walked a hill / mountain in flip flops. The last time he took me traipsing up and down a hill / mountain wearing the same unsuitable footwear, the path was littering with signs 'WARNING - Be Ware Of Adders'
Home the next day and back to the kiddies who I missed enormously.  

A Nice Little Break - Llandudno Pt 1

This weekend my husband and I enjoyed a nice kiddie free couple of days in Llandudno, North Wales. This happens very rarely and we know that the children are safe, sound and probably being spoilt rotten by both sets of grandparents so we love it when the opportunity arises to get away. We traveled by train and stayed in a lovely Victorian B & B.

I love this porch on the front of one of the houses on the way to our B & B with all the little nik nak's and plants on display 

Our first stop was the pier which is the longest in Wales. I love piers, the ornate ironwork and buildings, the sounds coming from the arcades and smell of foods that I associate with the seaside. Having said that I also have a little niggling fear that they will collapse the moment I step on them ( I'm the same with bridges ) and I found out this afternoon that my mum in law feels the same, must be a pretty common irrational fear then.

Back to the pier and seaside food. I have a couple of things which I only eat when I'm at the seaside even though they are readily available in any supermarket (or fishmongers for one of my seaside favs ) . The first one is cockles and can you believe there was nowhere selling seafood, at this seafront ?. I just think that is really odd. My other seaside food is doughnuts and this is because I think they are tasty hot, still have to knock about a bag of sugar off them as I don't  like sugar but they are still scrummy.





The weather was sweltering in the afternoon and the pier busy which means more food around and more of these things - the flying rats.

They were everywhere, swooping low and snatching peoples food. Actually I don't know if I was more scared of one pinching my hotdog or unloading on me, I wasn't keen on them all the same.

After the pier we headed towards the town centre where I took photos of this column. 

Made from steel, stone and bronze. 

All the designs depict scenes from Llandudno's history.

Then to the beach for a stroll in the sunset.

 Ok maybe in my case it was more like trying to work my way through an obstacle course. Its a pebbly beach so I was giggling away slipping and sliding every time I moved.

The arcades next which meant back to the pier. The only machines we ever go on are the soft toy grabbing ones and we came home with 2 cuddlies .

Next it was fish and chips on the promenade ( keeping one eye on watch for the flying rats because the things never seem to sleep ) where we could see there was still a small group of children paddling, with parents near by I should say as it was 11:30pm by now then we heading to our bed for the night.