Snowdonia

Yesterday we went on our first field trip of the semester. It was incredible! It rained the entire time but that didn't stop us from seeing the sights. We first stopped in a town called Llandudno. It is a tourist town along the coast between two peninsulas: Great Orme and Little Orme (Viking names!). We walked out on the pier and got to see some of the coolest views of the ocean and shoreline. After that we ate at the town Betws-Y-Coed and then started making our way to the mountains in Snowdonia National Park. Before we could go to the mountains, we stopped at this enormous waterfall and a little cottage called Ty Hyll (The Ugly House). Northern Wales has gotten an incredibly large amount of rain the last couple days so Swallow Falls was fast and powerful. There is a platform that goes right down to a "calmer" part of the falls. The river was so full that water would splash up over the platform and soak our feet. The Ugly House is an small house built the 15th century. I personally thought it was more cute than ugly so I'm not sure why it was named that. According to our director Tecwyn, this crude house is an example from the 15th and 16th century when a person could claim land by building a house under 24 hours so that smoke would rise out of the chimney. If they could do this, they were allowed whatever land was within range of throwing an axe.

In the afternoon we drove through beautiful Snowdonia. We passed gorgeous mountains that reminded me of the Blue Ridge Mountains and drove by Llyn Ogwen (Llyn means lake in Welsh) which is thought to be the resting place for Excalibur. The rain let up enough that we could walk up to Llyn Idwal (picture above). The path consisted of slippery, uneven stones, and it was hard to look around because we had to watch our step. But reaching the lake was worth it. The water was clean and calm and it sat at the bottom of a tall mountain. Many Welsh stories are associated with this lake. Another name for the area is the Devil's Kitchen because from the ocean, it appears as if dark clouds are rising out of this area. There is also supposedly a sea monster living in Llyn Idwal and that birds will never fly directly over this particular lake. The last story about this lake is how it got the name Llyn Idwal. During the 12th century, Prince Owain of Gwynedd gave Nefydd Hardd responsibility of taking care of his son, Idwal. Nefydd did not like Idwal because he was better than his own son Dunawd. Dunawd, one day, decides to push Idwal into this lake so he would drown, and Prince Owain was so furious he banished Nefydd from Gwynedd and named the lake after his son.

Unfortunately, we had to postpone seeing Dolwyddelan Castle until the next day because of the rain. I love history and folklore though so hearing about and seeing Llyn Idwal was awesome!