13 Sep. - Betws-Y-Coed

Image: Afon Llugwy from the Pont-Y-Pair in Betws-Y-Coed

A train through Stephenson's iron tube + along the Conwy valley - broad, muddy estuary to meandering river to bubbling rapids +, at Betws, crashing falls + whirling pools ... Then placid stream beside lawn + willow + high-pitch-roofed, tall stone homes.

'Y-Coed' ... 'In the wood' ... The steep valley surrounded by the forest, pressing from all sides but no longer feared?
Paths, roads, bridges + ruins abound.
Mines, farmsteads, lakes (llyn) + ancient tombs.

Tomorrow we explore this foreign land ... Foreign in our experience, but foreign also because now, at last, more so than Scotland or Orkney, we hear an ancient, yet living, language ... And it's glorious + proud.

Notes: Overhearing locals conversing in fluent Welsh brought joy to my heart. I purchased a Welsh in your pocket guide to Welsh language basics and words and practised with words from signs, stores, books and brochures ... With limited success!