Wales Day 2, Part II - Conwy

My dad and I left Caernarfon by public bus to Conwy at about 1:15. We had purchased day tickets in Llandudno costing £6.50 for unlimited travel on the public buses operated by Arriva in northern Wales. For three hours of total bus riding in the course of the day I'd say not bad! Bus service is frequent and efficient, but I have to give Arriva poor marks for its website - you can't make heads or tails of the fee structure and the travel zones, so we were at the mercy of the driver to charge us the correct price.

OK, back to castle talk! Conwy castle was built during the reign of Edward I, just like Caernarfon, toward the end of the 13th century. It, too, is built near to the sea and inside the town - both Caernarfon and Conwy are walled towns, and large portions of the medieval town walls still exist. The next two pictures are actually of portions of the town wall in Caernarfon. The third wall picture is from Conwy.
 

Conwy Castle is nearer to square than Caernarfon - or any other castle we've seen on this trip. You could also walk almost the entire way around on the battlements. 

Because I know you like it, here's a really brief video clip from atop the battlements. Reminder, surf to www.vacaken.com to access the clip if you can't access it from the email summary!


Cool, huh? We climbed in and out of little rooms and passageways within the castle walls and towers. The circular staircases were steep and a bit dizzying, but at least the stair treads in Conwy had been widened a bit - the treads in Caernarfon were likely the originals and were probably less than 9" wide at the widest part!  You can see why the caretakers of the castles posted nicely-worded "pass at your own risk" signs. 


 
 

We spent a couple hours or so enjoying the castle and the cute town of Conwy. We caught a bus back to the old-folks town at about 4:45, and we arrived back at the hotel by 5:30. We made dinner reservations at an Italian place, Mama Rosa's, that was highly recommended by the staff at our B&B and by the community on TripAdvisor. The food and service were awesome, and the recommendations were well-deserved. 
Tomorrow we take our last train of our journey, back to England and the northern industrial town of Manchester! Check back later for more!!