Tag: Wales

Mawwdach Trail Circular


I recently spent a few days with some friends in a cabin near Lake Bala in Wales.  It is a truly beautiful area.  We are so lucky in the UK to have such a variety of gorgeous country side on such a small island.  We found this lovely walk beside the Mawddach estuary between Barmouth and Dollgelau.  You can do a complete circuit of the estuary from Barmouth or Dollgellau along this trail which is both a cycleway and a walkway.  This is 9.5 miles and I wish now we had done that – but another time.  We opted for a slightly shorter route off piste so to speak!  Unfortunately this meant walking along the road for a mile or so at the end.  We went back the next day and walked from the same car park at Arthog into Barmouth across the estuary bridge.

 Below is the official trail map.
mawddach_trail_map 

CARDIFF JAUNT

A friend and I got a deal to Cardiff for a few days this February.  Its one city in the UK that I’ve never visited, even though I’ve been to South Wales for holidays a number of times.  I was really impressed.  I’ve always thought that nowhere beats Leeds for shopping, apart from London – Manchester comes in close – but Cardiff was brilliant.  There a fantastic array of places to eat and drink.  I reckon it has more lovely arcades than Leeds too.  The photos below show the city centre and the dock area, which has been regenerated and where where the Welsh Assembly resides.

The first six are in the city centre.  The seventh photo is of a building in the dock area that reminded me of some of the buildings I saw in New York.  The rest are down on the docks and the  the Welsh Assembly buildings.