Welsh wet weekend
Headed into town (I say town but more like a single high street) for some food and settled for the Royal Oak Hotel for their Llugwy River restaurant. The Welsh belly pork topped with scallops was amazing whilst Kerry's main course of Welsh lamb was so good the chef was asked to take a bow (not quite but he did get thanked in person). No room for dessert and an early night for our hike up Snowdon the next day.
Snowdon and the PYG track
Our cooked breakfast was perfect at the Courthouse and set us up nicely for the day. The B& B was full with an American family, a Frenchman and a couple of guys. Our hosts were very helpful with a local weather report and even lent us some maps and advice. The warning of the parking fees (£10 at the start of the PYG track) helped soften the blow. However, when we arrived to the car park at 9:30am it was already full and had to drive a further 3 miles to use the park and ride. It was cheaper at £4 parking and £1 for the single bus ticket.
The hike itself was quite hard going though enjoyable before the rain. Views around the horseshoe shaped mountain were impressive looking down at the lakes below. The top wasn't visible due to the low clouds though on other peaks you could spot the odd nutter scaling the tougher routes. The PYG or Pen-y-Gwryd hiking track was very uneven in places and you would need concrete ankles if you went for the trainer option. There were some sections when climbing up was the only option. After about 90 minutes it started to rain. With no shelter, there was no option but to carry on. I had to improvise tearing a carrier bag to cover my backpack which helped protect my camera for some time at least. It was pretty hard going after that depleting our motivation until someone on the way down told us we only had another 30 minutes to go. Visibility was also a problem as we couldn't even see the railway track until almost standing on it!
The final peak itself looked as though it had been built to add another 5 metres and there was a queue of people waiting to scale it for their final accomplishment photo. The general wettness and cold of the situation meant I couldn't be bothered and all I could care for was to get under shelter and eat lunch. I had to smile at seeing another seagull mocking us like Nelson from the Simpsons (ha ha). It was rammed inside the visitors centre feeling like an evacuee campsite with no seating or even elbow room. After our packed lunch (nice little service provided by Courthouse B&B though would've anything other than cheese and onion crisps though it came with a flask of coffee for £4.50 each) we tried drying off our coats in the toilets. Like the posh restaurants they only had the Dyson turbo dryers - great for drying hands, rubbish for drying clothes.
The return journey started off rain-free but after 30 minutes it persisted down again. We'd hoped to match the 2.5 hours walk but the rough and wet track meant our knees were aching and there were a couple of slippages along the way. I couldn't wait to see civilisation and the car park.
After some rest back at the Courthouse we headed out to see James and Emma's campsite and brought them back to Betws-y-coed for a evening meal. Every restaurant we tried was fully booked or a waiting time of 30 minutes. So we waited for a table in the Grill restaurant within the Royal Oak hotel to become available. Food was nearly as good as the previous night except they needed to downsize their starters as it nearly ruined the main course.
Portmeirion - A Prisoner's home
This has been on my to do list ever since I watched the Prisoner (the original not the confusing, bland 2009 version). Portmeirion is a like an architecture mash-up of Mediterranean seaside towns with a Welsh twist and its where they filmed the weird weather balloon chasing spy TV series starring No. 6 actor, Patrick McGoohan who insisted he was a free man. As soon as we entered the gates the theme tune filled our minds. I thought I was going to be disappointed but every view just took me away to a good memory of the TV programme. The inland beach is a natural wonder in itself which stretched almost beyond the horizon. Luckily the tide was out and was dry enough to walk on. Beside the beach and quaint mini-town there's an impressive forest and garden walk to get away from it all.
A quick visit in the Prisoner shop for some new No. 6 drinks coasters then back on the road for the long journey home. After the horrendous journey on Friday night we were blessed with a stress-free drive back.
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