Where in Wales?

Penny_Farthing_2

pollypenny wrote: »

I agree,Penny. Perhaps you can guess where I'm from!

( Sometimes it depends what the middle-aged man, in his deep voice, is saying! :j

They can be reciting a shopping list for all the attention I pay - I just listen to the music!!:D

dobbie82

greenface wrote: »

not agree sorry

Sunday night you will find places closing at tea time anywhere but there are still plenty of places open I live in Caernarfon in the summer and every weekend through spring and autumn.Pwllheli too Bangor aswell maybe you were looking for places that were closed so you can moan about it. I do that sometimes with chocolate bars i look for what they havent got.

Cinik (sorry blind cinik)

+1

I think pretty much most cafe's shut about 5-5.30 in most towns anyhow? I am a north Walian but lived in Swansea for a few years and also in the tourist driven lake district.

Unusual for a restaurant to shut at 6.30 though. In the evenings most tourists tend to have Bar meals or make a restaurant reservation? Though August was a terrible month tourists wise was pretty quiet everywhere we went so maybe they felt it not worth opening on sunday nights?


Back to the OP:

around some parts Gwynedd something like 75% of people are able to speak Welsh, in places like BALA its higher, and most speak it as a first language. Dolgellau is another very welsh town, as is Machynlleth. You will hear Welsh in every paper shop, cafe etc.

p.s Cynic

pollypenny

Toshtec, you need to try North East Wales. Flintshire and Denbighshire can be beautiful, with great walks in lovely scenery. There is an excellent theatre in Mold and there is a good choice of restaurants and pubs with super food in the area.

The Glasfryn in Mold, The Corn Barn in Llangollen and Pen y Bryn in Colwyn Bay, belong to a small group. All offer an imaginative menu. There are loads more, too many to name.

Mely

pollypenny wrote: »

If you want beaches, go to the Gower, near Swansea. There you'll hear what you think of as a Welsh accent.

For mountains, and some beaches, with lots of castles, try North Wales. In all areas you'll hear Welsh spoken, with more as you go further west. The Clwydian range is a beautiful range of hills and well-worth considering (stay in Ruthin, Mold or even Chester)
I agree with TJ27 about the choirs, although there are choirs in the North, too. Log on to the Pavilion theatre Rhyl site or Venue Cymru in Llandudno for events.
No where is very far from anywhere else. A real treat could be Portmeirion.
Pol

I agree with the above post. I live in the area and i can highly recommend it for a visit. Llangollen would be a nice place to stay,or Ruthin, and you can get to Chester easily or go down the coast to Llandudno or Conwy from there. Also The Ruthin castle hotel is superb, and i have stayed there a few times to treat myself! Thats situated in Ruthin, as you might have guessed!
The accents do vary quite a bit in North Wales and dont sound at all like they do in South Wales, although Welsh is quite widely spoken.
As for Male voice choirs there is the 'Froncysyllte male voice choir', www.fronchoir.com They are situated 5 miles from Llangollen and are quite famous. They sang 'Two little boys' with Rolf Harris, and had a best selling album which got into the top 10 albums(2006). I think you can watch them rehearse twice a week and details are on the website.
I hope this is helpfull for you. Have a nice time wherever you go!

Mely

toshtec wrote: »

The trouble with North Wales is that it is closed.

I am from the South and thought well I have been all over the place how about we do north Wales.

Great so booked a holiday in August mind you should have plenty of places to go and stop for a coffee my wife are addicts.

Sunday night went into Caernarfon found a nice looking pub with a meals sign outside just alongside the castle went in and asked for the restaurant and asked where it was reply sorry but we are closing amazed I looked at my thinking it had stopped but no it genuinly was just 6.30pm we thought ho hum lets look at other places then in the town and found the same thing the restaurants were closing for the night.

Ok lets head for the chippy we saw coming in it was about 7.00 by this time got there and found that too was closing for the night, I headed out of caernarfon on the coast road east towards England stopping at various pubs along the way they were to my amazement ALL closing eventually I found a Harvesters that was still open.

It did not end there another day we headed west towards Pwllheli thinking Butlins BIG place august must be open fabalous promenade pity about all the cafe's they were shut this at 5.30pm no I am not exagerating I travelled all over looking for a decent coffee we could have sitting in the open with a bit of a view and enjoy the evening.

Eventually we found one it was in Criccieth the one cafe that saved our holiday evenings was the "BLUE CHINA TEA ROOM" lets hear it for them.

There was I think in Bangor an extremely long pier that went out into the straits with a sign on it cafe open at end of pier this now at 5.00pm we walked out on this extremely long pier to find the open cafe closed up tight it wqas a beutifull summers day not a cloud in the sky and the jolly place was closed.

Call me a cinik but would you agree with me and my comment in light of my experience that North wales is closed.

Now I live in Neath a small market town down south I can in this town get a cup of coffee at 10.00pm in winter

I can go to Mumbles in swansea a tiny seaside resort like a scratch on a rino's rear in comparason to Pwlleli there they have 2 lovely places right on the water I like to visit, one is Verdi's and the other Castella Mara winter time on weekends Verdi is oopen till 10pm and castella Mara 11.0pm. weekends and during the week

So for views yes perhaps North wales if you like rugged mountains but if you prefer hospitality then you cannot beat South Wales plus you definately cannot beat the Gower, or any of the Choirs you are interested in.

Im really sorry that you didnt enjoy the hospitality in North Wales. I dont know why they all closed early. Its a shame the cafe on the pier in Bangor was shut too, as its a nice little place. I personally dont care for Caernarfon as i find it a bit rough. I still think that although the cafes you mentioned had closed, North Wales is still a great place to visit.

Mely

greenface wrote: »

back to the op have a look for bryn-fest between Caernarfon and Bangor.Good concerts around August bank holiday at the Faenol Festival one night (sunday normally)(thats when the whole of north wales closes)The festival celebrates all things Welsh. Great weekend great location other nights are good also look it up not sure who is on this year but sometimes big names on fri/sat

Oh i love the Faenol festival..what a fantastic evening i had there with a picnic on the grass, listening to the wonderfull music in a magical setting:D

greenface

Mely wrote: »

Im really sorry that you didnt enjoy the hospitality in North Wales. I dont know why they all closed early. Its a shame the cafe on the pier in Bangor was shut too, as its a nice little place. I personally dont care for Caernarfon as i find it a bit rough. I still think that although the cafes you mentioned had closed, North Wales is still a great place to visit.

I agree caernarfon is a bit rough but thats because people dont care about it ... It has good points and nice places

hcar

I think South Wales is where you will find more of the accent, I lived in both Swansea and Cardiff and now live north Wales border, where I am now is the least sounding Welsh accent, it sounds more soft scouse. But Swansea had a welsher sound to it then Cardiff. But I think to an outsider it will sound very much the same. Hope you enjoy whichever part you go to though

Swans1912

pick Swansea! You can go to the Gower which some posters have already mentioned which is particularly lovely. Swansea city for shopping and a nice day out (to Port Talbot area) would be in Margam Park which is a country park around the corner from me which ive yet to hear a negative comment about.

xx_Jo_xx

I dont know a lot of Wales, but I live here. I am originally Scottish so can hopefully give you a perspective of what I know from s Scottish point of view! Ive only lived here a short while and havent ventured into the deepest darkest corners and couldnt claime to be any expert..... I can only tell you what I've found.....

I live in South Wales, just outside Newport and currently work in Cardiff and spend my weekends navigating around theses areas and all the bits in between.

Other than the choirs, you dont state much of what you and your nan would be interested in, so its kinda hard to say but here goes!

Cardiff has the widest genre of interests and would no doubt have something you would both be interested in. Cardiff airport isnt actually in Cardiff and is really outside Barry. You can get a regular bus from the airport for a few pounds each (£2 or £3, I think) which will bring you into Cardiff City Centre, or you can get a taxi which will cost you about £20.

Its like flying into Glasgow Airport and living in East Kilbride - or Greenock.

In South Wales, there are a host of places to visit. Cardiff itself has the Castle, and other various points of interest. Of course the shopping in the City Centre is pretty good if you are interested and lots of shopping centres along the way with little cafes & tearooms if you need one - i.e. the St Davids Shopping Centre, Capital One Shopping Centre.

There is also the Millenium Centre, situated down Cardiff Bay alongside the Red Dragon Centre. There is a multitude of shops, bars, restaurants along the way and hopefully you can book the millenium centre at the right time for the choir! There are also theatres in Cardiff which have a good reputations for very good shows should your Nan be interested in any of those. Some of the theatres are close to Queen Street, which is where the main Shopping thoroughfare and the castle are.....so around that area may suit you. But may be a bit fast-paced for your nan!

Newport itself has a theatre etc, but I havent known any of the main choirs to put on a performace there. There of course is the world famous Celtic Manor if either of you are golfers, but also some fabulous local courses at a fraction of the cost!

There are lots of historic Roman Villages around and quaint places to go, which you wouldnt know where there unless you look off the beaten track!

In the surrounding areas, are some other terrific areas of interest and like the others recommend, you should visit the website for visitwales.

You will like it, as will your nan, but its just finding which part you want to go to that will suit you.

If you have any questions or want me to look into anything from this end, please PM me. Am happy to help.

Jo x