Pat's Kitchen: Re-discovering Wales in a Weekend

Saturday, June 6, 2015

Re-discovering Wales in a Weekend - Part 1 Llundudno

Llundudno Pier and the Grand Hotel

After almost 30 years of living in the UK, I have finally been able to spend some quality time in Wales! The only other time I have had the pleasure of visiting this beautiful country was in 1986, pre-kids! My Mom and Step-Father, Alan and I travelled all over England for about a week, which included one overnight stay with a friend of Alan's at Pontypridd and a quick visit to Cardiff Castle. Ever since then, I have wanted to come back, but it has taken a while. I guess you could say life gets in the way.

However, it was well worth the wait!

Where should we go?

The funny thing is that until we got in the car and drove about an hour, we were not certain of our destination! And even before that, we were headed up to the Highlands of Scotland. We changed our minds about this due to weather, and from what I hear, they have had gale force winds and it has been horrendous. I think we made the right choice!

When we reached our destination of the day, both of us were not prepared for the beauty and peace of Llundudno! We had no idea it had a pier or that the way it is set out reminds me of what Paris would look like if Paris were a beach resort!

We passed by the Grand Hotel, which is virtually attached to the pier and never expected to be staying there that night. In days gone by, Alan and I used to jump in the car and just arrive at places - no advance plans or reservations. Have not done this in years, until this weekend. I forgot how fun it is. But also am impressed with how technology has helped. Previously, I would have to knock on the doors of bed and breakfasts to find out if they had a room and how they charged and then decide if we wanted to stay there. Nowadays, you just get out your phone, tap into Booking.com or some other service and locate where you want to stay. Sitting in the pier car park, we booked the Grand Hotel - didn't even have to move our car!

We spent the remainder of the day wandering the beaches, pier and interesting little streets all over Llundudno. We have absolutely fallen in love with this place and are plotting our next return visit!

Here area few of the many photos I took of Llundudno. One of the wonderful things about visiting this time of year, hardly any tourists! After living 10 years in Florida, I do have an idea how crowded these wonderful beach towns will be when school is out. In England and Wales, that won't be until August! So anyone wanting to visit, should do it before then! Or wait til schools go back!