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there is something interesting about this castle beyond the fact that it was a target of the revolution and that it was the seat of power of the English colonialists in Ireland. It was one large seat of occupation that was not destroyed during the Civil War or after. It’s good to walk through to get an idea what it meant to be an English overlord.
since I’ve been to Genova, Torino, Milano and some other big cities in the north of Italy I decided to take some time in the smaller cities. They aren’t crowded, everything is much cheaper and people are extremely friendly and they are very safe and fun to walk around.
this is the first major stop on the train from France and it’s a cute little town. There’s not too much to do here but it’s by the ocean and the beaches are very nice and so it’s just a relaxing place to be for a couple days.
Cuneo
This is the center of the province with the same name. They seem to have quite a few interesting things going on especially the fair which was set up well I was there to promote local agriculture
there’s not much to see in Heysham. It just happened to be where the ferry from the Manx Isle of Man comes in on certain days. But Liverpool is well known for a number of things, not only the Beatles but also for the port where many people left to go to Canada, the US Australia and New Zealand. Many of those people were from Ireland and Scotland. Scotland had the clearance and Ireland had the attempt to eliminate The Catholic population. But of all the three cities I found Shrewsbury to be the most intricate and interesting because of the buildings, the history and the beauty. You might spend a day or two in Liverpool but in Shrewsbury it would be nice to stay for three days and just wander around and enjoy the environment. It’s a good walking city and very charming.
Liverpool
Heysham
Shrewsbury
this is a very cute and interesting town where you should spend a couple days, maybe three. It’s very walkable, very pretty and quiet and it’s a great place to just calm down and enjoy the river and scenery and hopefully a Guinness
Bangor
this is a good place in the west of Wales to stay and visit very touristy places not far from Bangor. Don’t below you will see the hotel, pub, restaurant I stayed in. The great thing as the owner is Thai, she is a very accomplished artist and a good cook. If you ask her to make the food as she would for Thai people she will do it. Otherwise she tends to adapt the food to local flavors which means almost no red Peppers.
Hollyhead
Rhyl
Llanberis
you must visit this place since it is an entrance to Snowden, the national park that has such extensive beauty, places to hike and scenery that is world famous.
Rhuddlan
The purpose for visiting this place was to see the castle which has a very interesting history and I recommend if you are interested in ancient Welsh history
Denbigh
The areas of Wales which are close To these two towns are extremely beautiful, interesting and definitely worth visiting. Caernarfon to Aberystwyth Provides two cities which are fun to walk around and give you quite a bit to do.
Caernarfon
this castle is where the Investiture of the Prince of Wales happens. In 1969 Charles was invested in Carnarvon. It would be good to spend a couple days here. The city is a little bit expensive so you might want to stay outside in another little town and commute by bus which I did.
Betws-y-Coed
you really need to visit this Village and spend the day going up and coming back. The trip up is really very beautiful as well.
Betws-Y-Coed
Llanberis
this town provides a beautiful entrance to the Snowden areas, a great lake and interesting views of the slate mines
Aberystwyth
It’s easy Touring Toulon. Unlike Marseille which is very spread out, Toulon is fairly compact and a nice little Port town to be walking around in. What you will see is not only a port for private yachts and boats but also for some smaller cruise ships, fairies which will take you to Corsica and some military ships as well. The seafood here was very good. In fact all of the food was very good so just spend time walking around and enjoying the southern France ambience. This town is not far from Marseille.
The Isle of Man is a financial Haven, a tourist destination for the British or over 100 years and it shows. The infrastructure is very good, the promenade in the main town of Douglas is several kilometers long with giant buildings ( England resort style) and some interesting landmarks including the old theater which they still use. In a way it’s kept a lot of of its 1920s charms with the old Steam and electric trains supplemented on the promenade with a horse drawn tram. You can buy a ticket for a few days unlimited rides on those old forms of transport which I really recommend. It’s so much fun going on a steam train or an old electric on the old tracks.
Douglas to Snaefell
from Douglas you can start your trip to the summit with a horse drawn tram, Clydesdales included. You can continue on the Douglas electric train to Ramsey or you can get off halfway at Laxey and go up to the summit, snaefell.
Laxey to Ramsey
the first thing you will see below is the money which is created for the Isle of Man. This money has the three legs of man on the front and the denomination. These pounds are equivalent to the pounds of England. You can use the England money in the Isle of Man but you cannot use the Isle of Man money in England so make sure you change it somewhere before you leave or use it all up. I have been told that you can take these notes to a bank in England and exchange them for England pounds. Scotland has their own notes as well and that is why I say “England“ pounds. This Scotland pound also is not usable in England. You will also notice some coins which have the emblem of the Isle of Man and people on the island have explained legally these are not usable in England but they are the exact same dimensions as the England coins so there’s a very good chance people in England will not notice if you use them.
again, traveling around it’s a good day deal if you get the pass that gives you unlimited travel on transport on the island if you’re going to be there for three or four days or if you plan to make three or more train trips.
something else to note is the north of Douglas is the departure of the electric train which goes to the junction for the Summit train and then ends up in Ramsey. That train is on the north of Douglas quite a distance from the Steam train which starts on the south end of Douglas going to the port of Erin. There used to be a horse drawn tram going from the north to the south of Douglas so along the promenade, connecting the two train systems. However, they redid the road to make it easier for pedestrians so the horse-drawn tram only goes halfway from the north, the electric train terminal to the south along the promenade. That promenade is a few kilometers long so get out your walking shoes.
Douglas to Peel
to get to peel from Douglas you take a bus
Peel to Ramsey
take another bus from Peel to Ramsey, relax and take the sites
Ramsey
Douglas to Erin buy steam locomotive
there are many ways to get around the Isle of man. You have a steam train, some electric trains and bus. I recommend a three day stay so that you can use all of them to see all the sites. You can buy a single ticket which will take you on all of the transports so find that pass and use it. It will be much cheaper if you take three or four train rides
Blaenau Ffestiniog
Wales is a very beautiful place and it takes some time to visit the Small villages and countryside areas so plan on a minimum of one week but better too budget two or more weeks to really get to enjoy the people in the sites and the history. I stayed in Criccieth since it seemed to be a hub to wander off by public bus to places Close to Criccieth
Beddgelert
for me this cute little town is in the top three in Wales. Of course everybody has their own things they want to see but the hills, the nature and the little village here is just so picturesque and quiet even though there are quite a few tourists
OK, so this is the story of the dog that gave his name to this town. About 15 years ago I heard a story from my brother who rescued greyhounds after they had retired from racing. His story was about a Lord in England who had a greyhound and blah blah blah. It’s exactly the same story. It turns out, sorry to ruin the story, that, according to the information desk in town after I explained my brother’s exact same story, there is another story. Hundreds of years ago a shop owner in a small little village without a name started to lose business due to the reduction of customers and decided to create an interesting story to bring people back. He had a dog named Gelert who had died (I think I remember it correctly) and he made up the story about Llewelen, the famous unifier of the land owners of Wales in the 1200s, and his dog. So this is a real story but it’s a story. It brought back customers to the store and now it is a very famous place partly because of the story. But it is one of the top three beautiful little towns I visited in Wales so it really is a must visit place.
Criccieth
this is a cute little town where you might want to spend the day. They have a couple very nice coffee shops and the castle is pretty significant historically so it’s worth a visit.
