Off to Explore Great Britain #unexpectedGB

Greetings,

I’m writing this from a plane on my way to London to start a very cool trip through the countryside of Great Britain. I’m excited for a few reasons but one of the major ones is that I’m going to get to spend a little more time in Wales… Wales is a small country in the United Kingdom which is filled with history, character and characters. It’s also the only country left in Britain that I haven’t had the pleasure of sharing with you yet on this blog.

To be honest, it goes deeper than just that really. You see, my father is from a small town outside Newport in southern Wales so it’s also a chance to get back to my roots. When he was a young man he set out to see the world and succeeded. On one divine day in Bermuda he met a beautiful lady on the beach who later became my mother and the rest is history….

Growing up I visited Wales many times but I’ve never been back as an adult. Wales is a beautiful place from the moors to the mountains and everything in between. It’s also got a history which dates back as far as any other in the region, its own language with some insanely long words and castles, lots and lots of castle; I love castles.

Most of my time will be spent in the north of Wales which is nice as it’s an area I’ve never visited but heard good things about. The trip starts with a day in London where besides other things I’m going to get to see the view from The Shard which is a popular attraction and able to boast being the tallest building in Western Europe.

The next day I’m off to visit Chester which is a city that rests on the River Dee and close to the border with Wales. It’s an ancient city which has had Roman soldiers marching through to war, Viking Raiders and is home to the largest Roman Amphitheater and oldest racecourse in Britain. It also has a host of other things but we’ll get to that later, I assure you.

Following that it’s off to Wales (flag above) where I’ll be visiting places such as Llangollen, Ruthin, Conwy, Llandudno and several other spots which you’ll have to come back to read about. I’m quite excited that not only will I be seeing lots of castles but also sleeping in one! I’m going to spend a night in Ruthin Castle Hotel which was once owned by various royals including King Henry VIII himself.

Apart from that I’m going to be eating lots of good food, sampling countless quality ales and hopefully get some incredibly good weather. I will also be doing a bike tour in Snowdonia , visiting Bounce Below which is Llechwedd Slate Caverns in Bleanau Ffestiniog and finally do some zip lining at Zip World Velocity. I’ve done a few zip lines before but this is the longest in Europe and the fastest in the world; indeed.

If your schedule permits, join us tomorrow aka November 15th for a twitter chat all about traveling in Great Britain at 5 PM GMT or 12 PM EST. Simply follow the hashtag #unexpectedGB and join the conversation. I’d go on about this itinerary but I need to leave some surprises, yes?

Stay tuned for frequent updates here on this blog and follow the hashtag #unexpectedGB on Facebook, Google +, Instagram and Twitter for more from the trip in real-time. If you follow the hashtag you’ll also get access to all the updates from my colleagues Rachelle and Kirsten who will be exploring Scotland and England respectively.

Tips hat,