On the coast

Talysarn is surrounded by slate tailings. I took some photos but they didn't come out too well. I started my last day in Wales with a drive to Criccieth, a lovely seaside town. I had a look at Criccieth Castle then headed down a coastal path, with Porthmadog as my destination. This photo looks back at Criccieth with the castle just a dot on the hill.

From there I walked past Black Rocks beach.

My hiking group is doing this same hike later today, but I had to get an early start because I have to catch a train to London. Criccieth still in the distance.

Without my guide, I followed a road for more than half the way. For one thing, I had the wrong shoes on and didn’t want to get into a bog—easily done on Welsh trails. And for another, I had no trail map and the trails weren’t signposted. I like hiking with a guide because I don’t have to worry about getting lost. At which I excel.

Because of the slate quarries and mines, Wales is criss-crossed with trains. After calling David to check the schedule, I took the train from Porthmadog back to Criccieth. I only just caught it so didn’t have time to explore Porthmadog. Upon return to Criccieth, I had lunch at Cadwallader’s ice cream store and tried its famous ice cream. Then I drove back to Caernarvon, where I explored the castle.

I was pretty tired from my brisk walk to Porthmadog. At Caernarvon, I walked up spiral stone stair cases in multiple towers and was quite glad to get back to my car and have a seat for a 1 hour 40 minute drive.

I drove to Liverpool airport, where I got a taxi to the South Parkway railway station, where I took a train to  Crewe, where I got another train to Euston Station, where I took the underground to Old Street, from where I walked to my friendly Air BnB in Bethnal Green. Everything off without a hitch due to hours of planning before I left. Which is not to say I wasn't stressed out about getting lost or missing the train. I didn't pass a petrol station on the way to the car rental place so had to retrace my steps to find one and fill up. Luckily I had allowed plenty of time, but travel still takes a lot out of me

May 1