Who would ever have thought that Wales would be an interesting country to visit? Traditionally known for its coal mines and slate quarries, not much more seemed attractive about this region of Britain. But I found it to be really enchanting in sight and sound.
The Welsh language is very strange to hear. Derived from Gaelic (Celtic language), it sounds extremely difficult to speak and is even more difficult to read. Some of the cities are named: Betwsycoed; Llandudno, Caerdydd, Afon Dyfrdwy and more. Llandudno is a resort city on the coast of the Irish Sea. Our visit there coincided with a great street carnival that extended nearly 5 city blocks. It seemed that people from all over Britain were there to enjoy the fun. I decided to buy a soft ice cream which cost me £1 (about $2). I learned that for an extra 20 pence I could have a "flake" which turned out to be a chocolate cookie stuck in the side of the cone. Walking along a very large pier with a cafe latte, I was interested to see little children baiting crab quite successfully!
Another stop was to Mount Snowdon. The mountains looks pretty similar to our own Sierra Nevada except that millions of tons of slate are derived from that range. This slate is exported throughout the world for use as roofs, flooring and outdoor landscaping. Since it was a "Banker's Holiday" (3-day weekend for workers), hundreds of people could be seen hiking and mountain climbing. Looking up, we were all surprised to see the sky filled with hang-gliders. I counted at least 50 gliders all swirling around the mountain top!
Our final stop was to Caernarfon where a large castle sits prominently in the center of the city. This castle was built by the English to subdue the people of that region centuries ago. Today, the castle can be toured except for a large apartment or "flat" inside the castle that is used by Prince Charles (Prince of Wales) when he is vacationing in the area.
One other interesting thing about Wales is its national flag portraying a large red dragon and the word CYMRU (Welsh for Wales). According to Legend, King Arthur had a vision of two dragons fighting. The red dragon (Wales) defeated the white dragon (England). Today Wales is still one of the principalities of Britain but independence is a subject that can still draw an excited response from this unique and colorful people.
Fr. Perry
