Tracy-Shane-Trips

Good day, friends, and greetings from Holyhead, Wales. This was my view from the balcony this morning. It was chilly today and overcast, but the sun did peep through by the afternoon, and we had a lovely day. Here’s another shot of the harbor and the village of Holyhead with many sailing ships.

Today, Shane and I took the coach to the little community of Beaumaris on the Isle of Anglesey in Wales. At the 2021 UK Census, the population of the Beaumaris community was only 1,614 residents. On the way there, we saw some interesting sites. Everywhere you look, Welsh comes first, then English. This makes sense since they are part of the UK, but there is a lot of pride in the Welsh language. They require kids to learn it in school from age 4 to 16.

Our main purpose for going to Beaumaris was to see the Beaumaris Castle (Castell Biwmares), which is famous as the “greatest castle never built.” Today, the castle has UNESCO status, and it is part of the Castles and Town Walls of King Edward I in Gwynedd World Heritage Site. Construction was halted in the 1300s due to depleted funds and the king shifting his priorities—and treasury—toward his military campaigns in Scotland.

The castle was very beautiful; we were able to walk all around, and we even climbed the ramparts.

We saw the chapel. They have replaced the damaged stained glass with new glass that depicts the map of the castle. While we were in there, our guide, Garreth, sang us the Welsh national anthem. I didn’t record it all because of the size.

After the castle tour, we walked through town and peeped at the shops and old buildings. The right one is The Bulkeley Hotel, which was built in 1832 by landowner Sir Richard Bulkeley to accommodate a royal visit from the 13-year-old Princess Victoria (later Queen Victoria)

We left at 4:15 pm to make it back to the ship by 5. On the way back, I noticed those low stone walls along every roadway. I guess it’s a UK thing because you always see those in period movies.

Also, along the road home, we drove through a town with the longest name in Wales and the longest town name in the world: “Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch” (58 letters), which translates to: “St. Mary’s Church in the hollow of white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of St. Tysilio near the red cave”.

Fun Fact: The longest name in the world is the name of a “hill” in New Zealand, “Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu” (85 letters), which translates to: “The summit where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, the slider, climber of mountains, the land-swallower who traveled about, played his nose flute to his loved one.”

Needless to say, it was a fun and funny day with lots of twists and turns, but the sights were amazing, and sometime in the future I would like to go back to Wales and spend some time there instead of just buzzing through.

Here’s the view from my balcony as the port patrol guided us out of the harbor. You see the lighthouse there at the breakwater. Tomorrow is Liverpool, and we will be communing with the memory of the Beatles. See you then. Tracy