HTB Leadership Conference

 Clockwise from top left: Caught in the wind and rain; We lost count of the number of compliments that Monique received for her colour coordinated outfit; the Royal Albert Hall

Inside the Royal Albert Hall

One of the absolute highlights of our time in London so far was being lucky enough to attend the HTB Leadership Conference. We had wanted to attend last year, but being relatively new to the church, we didn’t get organized in time. Following the success and popularity of last year’s conference, this years tickets sold out while we were back in Australia, and so we missed out. We were pretty disappointed.

Until….

Snowdonia National Park

 Northern Snowdonia, Nant Gwyant valley

Northern Snowdonia, Nant Gwyant valley

Clockwise from top left: a random spot in Snowdonia; walking down to the 'Fairy Glen'; the beginning of a path to climb Snowdon

A spot between Beddgelert and Capel Curig

Clockwise from top left: The front view of our dream home; The Dolmelynllyn estate - a National Trust property in Southern Snowdonia; A spot between Beddgelert and Capel Curig

We spent the next couple of days meandering through Snowdonia National Park.

While assessing the relative beauty of a place is obviously inherently subjective, we think that Snowdonia has to be one of the most striking places of natural beauty in the world. It has certainly rocketed up our list of most beautiful places.

The scenery was dramatic, rugged and enchanting. We had such a wonderfully relaxing time exploring the area, rambling through fields and soaking in some truly awe inspiring views.

One small highlight was finding our dream house. It was a grey-stone cottage perched on a hill overlooking a dramatic valley; a creek gently babbling past the front with a quaint stone bridge crossing over for access to the front door. Out the back is a dramatic waterfall that crashes down into the valley below. To the side is an old ruin which serves as the patio. Sheep were scattered throughout the surrounding fields, and there wasn’t another house within sight. If we could transport this house, location and atmosphere somewhere that had better whether and closer to friends and family (and we won a the lottery), we’d buy it!

Castles, Britain's smallest house, and the world's longest town name

 

Clockwise from top left: Conwy Castle; Caernarfon Castle; Caernarfon Castle

Clockwise from top left: The world's longest town name; Monique imitating previous tourists; inside the UK's smallest house 

Our second day in Wales was quite diverse. We saw…

Castles…

Wales certainly had some impressive ruined castles. We have quite a thing for ruins…we love imagining what life would have been like for those that called the ruin home. The two castles that we saw (Caernarfon Castle and Conwy Castle) would have been incredibly imposing back in their day. Conwy Castle was particularly interesting, as the town that it was would have protected back in the day was still in the same location, and still surrounded by much of the original town wall. 

Britain’s smallest house…

A quaint little feature (pardon the pun) of the town attached to Conwy Castle was that it featured Britain’s smallest house. Condemned for human inhabitation in the early 1900s, the house’s former inhabitants were a married couple(!), and a 6 ft 3 inch fisherman. The fisherman was the last person to live in the house, and upon being evicted, set about travelling the UK measuring small houses to confirm that his was indeed the smallest in Britain. Monique and I have come to to think that living in studio flat can be testing at times…so the married couple must have been very patient!

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch …

Yes….we know it’s a super cheesy tourist attraction…but how could we be in the area and not drop in (along with all the other coaches full of tourists) to take a photo? Don’t ask us to try and pronounce it, but apparently it means ‘The church of Mary in the hollow of the white hazel near the fierce whirlpool and the church of tysilio by the red cave’. 

Twenty countries in twenty months

Clockwise from top left: Bodant Gardens; The kitchen of Erddig Manor; Bodnant Gardens Manor House

Bodnant Gardens

Clockwise from top left: Llandudno promenade; The 'Victorian Extravaganza'; A selfie in Bodnant Gardens 

After an epically long 5 week wait between holidays, we were most excited to be heading up to Wales for the first of two bank holiday long-weekends in May. Monique has become a holiday-planning super hero, and so true to form, did a phenomenal job finding super cheap train tickets. Winning!

Following on from Northern Ireland, we took great pleasure in rolling out our National Trust membership cards as we (along with several hundred holidaying geriatrics) visited Erddig Manor – an old estate featuring some of the best kept servants quarters and records in the UK, and Bodnant Gardens – renowned as being the most beautiful gardens in the UK. We were quite content strolling through the immaculate gardens, which proved to be a nice introduction to Wales, and a great way to come down from the intensity of London life.

We finished our first day at a slightly tired but pleasant seaside town called Llandudno, where the locals were enjoying their annual ‘Victorian Extravaganza’…which was basically just a modern day fair with standard rides, amusement stalls and Miranda teddy bears.

Spring is in the air

View from our Notting Hill flat after a spring rainstorm  

Highgate Cemetery 

Inspirational London Marathon runners; Our new old bikes

Finally, after the longest and coldest winter in 50 years, spring is starting to descend on London. Birds are singing, flowers are blooming, and the British are lying in parks with their tops off.

What a relief.

Over the years we have heard people talk about getting a bit down in the dumps towards the end of a long London winter. We’d always thought that such types would be well served by swallowing a block of concrete and hardening up.

We need to eat a good dose of humble pie on that front. Had the cold lasted a day longer, we would have caught a flight home.

To celebrate the return of double-digit temperatures,

Ruins, rope bridges, and wind

 Dunluce Castle

The Rope Bridge. Monique holding on for dear life. 

Clockwise from top left: The Mussenden Temple; Daniel standing in a four hundred year old fireplace at Dunluce Castle; The Downhill Demesne 

The Causeway Coastal route really was a sensational place to spend a long weekend. Being in the Irish countryside really is good for the soul…getting stuck behind tractors is par for the course, and real men wear gumboots (as opposed to London, where they’re now the height of fashion for gents as they go for a weekend stroll through boutique shops).

Some other highlights included…

> Braving a rope bridge that connected a small island with the mainland in howling wind. It was genuinely nerve racking as the narrow, flimsy bridge swayed wildly from side to side in the howling gale. We did our best not to look down to the jagged rocks and pounding waves below. Monique didn’t cope so well, having inherited several generations worth of acrophobia.   

> Seeing the ruined Dunluce Castle perched precariously on a rocky outcrop. It made for quite a spectacular scene. It was fun to imagine Northern Ireland’s elite living in what would have been an incredibly opulent castle.

> The Mussenden Temple – a small circular building perched on a cliff  was built by a Bishop to be his personal library. We were surprised that the Bishop's home - the Downhill Demesne - had deteriorated so quickly, having only been abandoned in the 1940s.

We would like this as our driveway...

One of the more unique and enchanting places that we’ve been lucky enough to visit is the Dark Hedges. The stunning avenue of beech trees was planted around two hundred years ago by a local family trying to create an impressive driveway to their home (mansion). We think they succeeded!