Chapter Selection Menu: P 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 E Next>>
Mission Visits the UK - England & Wales, May 2013
Chapter 2nd: Colwyn Bay
Chapter 2nd:
The Lime Street Station in Liverpool
An awful lot of information about traveling from hither to yon in the UK with some specific information about yon and a restaurant there called The Toad. Ha ha. The Toad. I love that. (You pirate purists are probably going to want to give this entire chapter a miss and just go on to the next one. Although it does have the grace of being fairly short since it doesn't have much to do with the alleged purpose of this Journal.)
This morning began with a train ride. I had actually taken several on Thursday – one from the airport to Liverpool, one from there to the station near Lee's house and another back. But I didn't really get into that yesterday so here it is.
I bring this up because someone on my PSJ Facebook page asked me 
Photo - Borrowed - Toby the Tram by a Windmill
(The Windmill will soon be slightly relevant.)
(Unrecognizability Rating: 35% Unless you
have children, then it's 2%. If that.)
if all the trains had faces. I am sad to report that they do not. However, as I explained on-line, I can see how Thomas and friends would be popular in this country given the prevalence of trains as a way of travel. I also begin to understand why those folks in the US who cry and moan about mass transit do so – it's a heck of a lot more convenient than renting a car, especially for a tourist. However, things are also much closer together here and the rail system has been working for a long time (unlike ours, which was dismantled by Cloverleaf Industries), so I can also see how this would be expensive and difficult to do state-side. Still...trains. I do so love trains.
One thing I found interesting about the trains is that people will sit right next to you even if there are other empty seats elsewhere in the train. By the second day, I even found myself doing this (so I could keep an eye on my luggage in the little area at the front of the train.) Give me a month here and I might even figure out roundabouts. (Or perhaps not.)
Speaking of driving, I rented a car today in preparation for the rest of this Journal which wanders far and wide across the
My Trusty Vauxhall Steed Parked at Brynn Holcombe - My B&B
countryside. (Say, that rhymes too.) My first stop was to be a seaside town by the name of Colwyn Bay, which is close to Conwy where the pirate festival was going to be. I must confess, I was a bit nervous about this because they drive on the other side of the road and they have all those roundabouts. (You can argue with me all day about how great roundabouts are, but in the end, you will be wrong. They're confusing. When they're busy, they're stupid confusing.)
One thing I did learn about my driving is that I often look at the lines in the road to position my car in the lane. I learned this every time I started driving on the rumble strips embedded in the left had side of the highway. (See, when you're driving on the right side of the car and you judge your position from the right side line, you tend to drift off to the left. Well, I do.) I also learned that two things are well worth their weight in gold when driving here – an automatic shifter (Anyone in the States want to shift with your left hand while trying to figure out everything else about UK driving? I thought not.) and a GPS system. I rented a TomTom GPS. Fortunately the girl inside of it understands roundabouts and can explain them to me better than anyone else I've met so far.
Being newly arrived in Colwyn Bay, I decided to take leave of my Bed & Breakfast - which incidentally had one of the largest B&B rooms I saw on this trip - and see what was to be seen. Colwyn Bay is a somewhat sleepy little resort town on the sea, so there was actually not a whole lot to be seen. I noticed that there were giant windmills off shore, so I decided to toddle on down to the beach and snap some photos of that and the surrounding shore. This amused me for about two minutes, so I turned around and found the real treasure of this side trip: The Toad.
 A view of Colwyn Bay - Beach Left |
 The Windmills (You can ALMOST see them.) |
 A view of Colwyn Bay - Beach Right |
And what to my wondering eyes should appear?
The Toad
The Toad was a charming British Pub – you know the type - Dark wood furniture with sturdy chairs, a large bar with a mirror backing it and an eclectic menu. Your vegetarian surgeon had a two course meal featuring portobello mushrooms stuffed with red onions and Stilton cheese topped with garlic mayonnaise and salatting (er, salad, Sorry, I was trying to be all period and stuff here. Didn't work, did it?) This was followed by a vegetarian puff pastry with Mediterranean vegetables, glazed Brie and basil pesto seated atop new potatoes. I followed this with an 'American' (by which they means 'super strong') coffee.
If that menu didn't sound good, they had plain ol' bangers and mash or fish and chips. But you know me... interesting food appeals. (Gee, now I'm all hungry again. Why is it that I can't remember the name of the person I chatted with for half an hour without writing it down, but I can tell you every detail of some food dish? I ask 
Attack of the Giant Killer Menu... in the Toad.
you...) Of course, the reason I chose it had nothing whatsoever to do with the place or the menu, it had to do with the name – The Toad. I simply had to eat a place with the name like that.
After that, I ambled about the town of Colwyn Bay, taking photos of near random things, only a few of which I will post here, mostly to pad this very short chapter. (I promise not to do this TOO often in this journal. Next thing you know I'll be putting together a slide show of every random thing I took a photo of and going, "And this is um... I don't remember. Is that a gerbil? Hmm. Next slide!")
 Colwyn Bay Street Scene (I took several photos like this. Be glad I only put one in here.) Next slide! |
 For reasons I can't explain, the pic at left reminded me of the Pepe Le Pew Cartoon Two Scent's Worth |
 Everything here is labeled Welsh/English |
 A Shop Featuring Pirate Stuff in a Window You Can't See Into. Next slide! |
 I thought the first line was funny. 'Polite Notice' (Yep, I'm American...) |
 Someone's front yard. I put this in here for my friend John, who doesn't read these. Next Slide! |
Now, all kidding aside, I hope you're paying attention to these city street scene photos. There will be a test. (You've been warned.)