Yesterday we went to Conwy, Wales. The bus left Edge Hill at about 8 a.m. and we began the two hour ride. I fell asleep for a lot of it, but near the end when I woke up I was looking out the windows and saw about three castles in ten minutes. There is something so magical about seeing that kind of stuff that I still haven't gotten used to.

When we got to Conwy the first thing we did was tour the castle, since it is obviously the main attraction of the town. It is big and imposing, towering over the lake and the little houses. Much of it has been eroded and lots of pieces have crumbled off, but the effect is still so majestic it's easy to imagine how gorgeous it must have been in its prime. We all had a great time roaming through the grounds and the dark tunnels and climbing up the tallest towers. A few of the rooms have been restored to try and recreate what it might have really been like, and the chapel was one such room. There was a big stained-glass window and the whole room was lit up from the sun outside.

After we were done in the castle, we left to explore the town. All the signs were written in English and Welsh, so it was fun to see that and try to pronounce common things like street signs in another language. The town is tiny, enclosed in the castle wall that almost completely encircles it, but it was busy. We got some lunch, walked around and went into the little shops, stopped at a bakery for some treats, and managed to miss the ten minute rain shower. We also went down to the waters edge and saw the smallest house in Britain, which is a tiny red building squeezed in between two others. It was only a pound to go inside, so we did, and it was squished with me, Jocelyn, Ashley and Jill in there. The place was fully functional, with a stove and living room and a bedroom upstairs. We could all touch the ceiling easily and didn't see how a six foot fisherman could have comfortably lived there his whole life, much less the couple that lived there later.

Afterwards, we went for a walk along the wall. I couldn't get over the fact that we were walking right past the windows of houses that people actually live in. It just seems like Conwy is this little place from a fairytale, I can't believe people wake up there every day, look out their window and see a castle.

Another fun place we went to was this store right across from the castle that had a suit of armor out front. They sold all kinds of swords and weapons and were able to look up your surname to see your coat of arms and history of your family name. We all tried ours, and were pretty successful. They didn't have my Italian last name, but they had my Irish one, and it was the only one out of the four of us that had a family motto, "The spoils of honor." I really liked that, now I have a cool little family fun fact. Jill ended up getting both of her coats of arms printed out on really nice scrolls to bring back for her parents. All in all, it was a fun day and I'm very glad we got to go to Wales--such a nice surprise.