Day 8 - Mt. Snowdon and Another GREAT Castle

We woke to a rainy and windy day so plans to climb to the top of Mt. Snowdon when down the storm drain along with all that water.  Bobbie did some research and we headed off to the mountain anyway, in search of a little steam engine that could.  We reached the lake below the mountain and viewed this massive quarry for slate mining.

 The view of the mountain from the pass descending down to the lake.

 Bobbie found this steam engine pulling passenger cars and we enjoyed a two hour ride around the lake in the rain.

This little girl and her twin siblings were playing "jambo" with us all on the train.

The views of the lake were stunning, even in the rain...and the flowers!!!

 We got off at the National Slate Museum.  This was a plus surprise.  It was a great way to learn about the industry that brought Wales into the 19th century as an industrial giant.  The displays were awesome.

 These cottages were moved here and rebuilt.  Each on represented a time in the life of a slate miner  1840, 1902, 1950.

The entire factory was run by water power.  A giant water wheel made the power that ran a series of belted wheels and gears that provided power to the entire system of machines.  Green energy before it has a name.

Still pouring, we headed back to the city and toured Caernefon Castle.  This is where the Princes of Wales get "coronated."  The last one being Charles.  The castle is huge and it took us a few hours to climb up and down all of those steps.

The military museum within the castle.  There was an "interesting" piece on the American War.

Emperor Roman Magnus - 235 AD was fixated on the spirit of an ancient god roaming this region of Wales and Edward I who built this castle was too.  This was an interesting display about the legend.  The models, especially in the dark light and seen through the winding passageways was quite eerie.

 They had a great film shown on a concave screen that was about 20' in diameter.

 Afterward we wandered the streets within the city walls.

 We did our daily grocery stop with Chinese in mind before settling in for the night in our really, really nice English Garden apartment.