Lovely Llyn

29 May 2023

An artistic shot of a beach, from a high angle. Golden sand and deep blue water form curved shapes. A single person and a dog are centre-frame, tiny against the landscape

Went to north Wales, stayed in Pwllheli on the Llyn peninsula. Walked along the coast to Llanbedrog, where we watched this magnificent beach appear as the tide went out. You get good views from the nearby rocky outcrop, Mynydd Tir-y-cwmwd. Excellent lunch at the (also excellent) Plas Glyn-y-Weddw art gallery.
Took the steam train from Portmadog to Blaenau Ffestiniog; out of school holidays, it was full of grey haired pensioners. And us. Ahem.

Pub on the beach

Lovely evening at Ty Coch Inn, a pub on the beach at the tiny hamlet of Porthdinllaen. Let's build a village on the beach, they said. It'll need a pub, they said. Obviously. You have to walk through a golf course to get there, which is odd, but the destination is worth it. Good fish and chips from Ty Cod in the village down the road.

View of Criccieth from the castle

Good outings to Criccieth, Caernarfon, Conwy (walking the walls), and Bodnant garden (which was spectacular).
This part of north Wales has some really old (Cambrian, Pre-Cambrian) rocks, especially at the far end of the peninsula and on Anglesey. You look at them and they're just rocks but still; I look at them and reach my hand out and ponder how long they've been there. People think I'm mad, staring at and touching rocks. That mad old man. Loony.

Mountains in the background

Ice creams every afternoon. Always mountains in view, Snowdonia lurking above everything. That's what mountains do.