BRITTOUR 2001: WALES

The AMA UK/Isle of Man Tour (25 Aug - 6 Sep)

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Our second target was a small town in north Wales named Llangollen. The Welsh pronounce this as something like HLangoHlan where the HL combo is like the sound you make when you clear your throat. Welsh seems to be vowel-deprived language but there's been a revival of it since the early 1990s. One town west of Llangollen was called llanfairpwllgwyngyll but now goes by it's traditional name, llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. More and more kids learn the Welsh language in schools but you can still get around in English (at least, we had no more problems than usual on one one day there - just understanding the Brits can sometimes be hard).

I had my first mishap on A483 near Welshpool, Wales. I stopped for a photo, didn't like the setup, and when I tried to move my bike backward to a more photogenic position, I slipped on the grass and dropped the Kawa on its side - my saddlebag kept it from going all the way over but it was too close to a curb for me to get under it and have enough leverage to lift it upright.� Fortunately, three Brits on Harleys (oh, the shame!) stopped and helped me get the bike upright.� They took off before I could offer to buy them drinks or get their names. Good on yah, mates! The first row of the next table shows a bad photo of the Welsh border and some shots of A483 as it runs north along the England/Wales border.� The first photo in the next row shows my "angels" heading away and the photos I wanted to take.
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Llangollen is a cute little town along the Dee River in northern Wales.� The photos in the next table show some views of the town.� A steam train runs along the river through the low hills.� We were there on Britain's "Bank Holiday" - like Labor Day in the US, the last holiday before school starts.� There were a number of, well, "squids" (crotch-rocker drivers) in town, plus a LOT of traffic.� After dinner, BrucenBrenda took us up the road to another hotel's pub for a treat.� Every Monday night, a group of Welshmen gather there to sing (we were told that every town has its own men's choir).� The choir wasn't there (holiday) but a bunch of its members were and they sang traditional Welsh songs for us.� They even coaxed our "country songbird" (Patti) into singing some American country and western tunes.� (It was an interesting evening but it doesn't compare with a good Irish pub.)� The last photo shows the menu (fairly typical) in much of the UK.� Cod and Prawn Pie??� Tuna pizzas?
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The last three photos show an attraction outside Llangollen - Horseshoe Pass. From our hotel, we crossed the little bridge (above table, top row, right) and headed north, and just out of town, we began climbing to the Pass. As the photos show, the pass has a great view, livestock and bikers! What more could you want?

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