England, Wales and Scotland

Recently I've realised that I've seen more of the UK in less than 2 years than I've seen of my own country in 24. The reasons are numerous and easy to understand, but it's still something I'm ashamed of. And I intend to fix this at some point in my life. I still consider Romania's landscape more spectacular in its variety and pure beauty, but I know now that a great vacation it’s a little more than that.
However, I cannot consider myself extremly lucky for having the opportunity of seeing Wales and Scotland, destinations I can heartily recommend now to whoever is interested.

I live in England so this is the largest area we've explored until now.
The seaside is beautiful; my only regret is that it is always to cold to enjoy the beaches, at least for me. Brighton will always remain my dearest town, right after Pitesti, of course. It was my first contact with “the outside world” and I had to deal with it on my own.
Our 5 day Easter journey began with Wales. First stop - Stonehenge

What I like about this place is that no one knows exactly what happened there, but they have so many stories and legends that everyone can create their own scenario.
The we stopped a little in Brecon Beacons not only for the beauty of the lake, but also for reasons more human and less noble. The weather was genuinely British.

While driving to the hotel situated in Caernarfon (I still have no idea about the right pronunciation of this name) we encountered an “unidentified jumpy little orange thing”, just to quote the best English definition I’ve ever heard. for a creature that we concluded to be an ornithorhynchus (what an impossible spelling!). After such a consuming debate we got very hungry and stopped at this amazing inn (or guest house which I totally forgot the name of and the exact location). We ate the cook’s specialty: pork ribs in a sweet sauce with peas, carrots and corn on the hob. Delicious dish, delicious people, delicious place.

We arrived in Caernarfon around midnight and we slept at Travelodge, a little too plain, but a clean hotel and cheap as well. It didn’t have a terrace which for me was the major defect because we couldn’t smoke. And outside it was freezing!
The next day we woke up and saw the Ocean and the seagulls which made the lack of sleep a little easier to bear. We ate at the Black Boy Inn, a “full English breakfast”, which included fried egg, beans, ham, sausage (which personally I hate because they're tasteless compared to the sausages I know), half of grilled tomato and mushrooms. Very good, overall.

The Caernarfon Castle was our next objective.
Incredibly well conserved, amazing structure and architecture, it truly is one of the most beautiful uninhabited castles in the UK. A lot of history within these walls whose construction begun around 1280.
After the check out we headed to Llanberis and stopped here for half a day, a sunny, warm day; quite unusual weather for Wales this time of year. I like to believe that we had something to do with this…

The major attraction of this town is mount Snowdon (1,085 metres), the tallest in Wales. Obviously, not an impressive altitude, but what really is overwhelming is its surroundings and its mountain railway which goes all the way to the top. Unfortunately,the full journey is available only in the summer, but the one that we took, probably ¾ was totally wrth it. We’ve met the happiest sheep and its family.
Continuing our journey to Lake District, one of the places I’ve been meaning to go to since the first time I came here, I saw the perfect mixture between mountains and lakes, sky, clouds and timid sun. After a tea break at a Tea Garden in the middle of nowhere, I decided that this is where I’ll come when I’ll be writing my first novel.
Next, we stopped at Aira Force, a very friendly waterfall.
And here we are in Edinburgh (again, a very difficult pronunciation) the Scots capital.

Fascinating history, great figures with amazing connections to the masons and their myths (the Hungarian Princess Margret was escorted to Scotland by the first of the Saint Claire’s who established the Rosslyn Chapel and Roselin village), amazing lives, such as the one of Mary, Queen of Scots (born exactly 441 years before I). Hollyrood Castle is another must be seen objective, not as much for the castle itself, but for its gardens and surroundings and for the ruins of the Abbey where Mendelssohn's Scottish symphony was born.

A lot of places for having fun too. The World’s End is one of them. Those really courageous amongst us tried their haggis and their whiskey fume (which are both looking and smelling totally unappealing).
The next day, and the last of our trip, we went to Rosslyn Chapel, where no pictures where aloud, and which was under huge restoring works. But it’s the place which astonished me the most. It’s beyond words and for sure beyond the current explanations the real meaning of this place. Is as special at they say and much more…
We will go back!