The People of Conwy

Last night was quite an experience. For my last night in Conwy I decided to get some pub grub and a beer in town. I had already picked a pub and guess what? It was trivia night. I thought, no way will I ever have as much fun at a trivia night as I did in Bath, but I knew I would at least enjoy myself. I walked in and said to the bartender, "Does anyone need and extra player for trivia because I'd like to join a team?" The bartender looked around the bar and said, "I'm sure you can find one, ahh hell, just join our team". Turns out that the employees (and friends of) the bar had their own team. Everyone was quiet at first, but once the game started it would be nothing but conversation from there on out. My team-mates were Tracy (Bartender), Terri (Bartender), Steve (Young guy about my age who works at Iceland down the road), Colin (Tracy's Brother), and John (An older man with a wild sense of humor). With the exception of John and Steven everyone else was in their late 30's. All were very nice and you could tell that they were all very close, but you would expect that from a small town. John was the only one who wasn't Welsh. He was born in London, but had been living in Wales for 35-years. John and I hit it off really well because the man was just FUNNY! He reminded me of one of those stereotypical Irishmen who answers every question with a joke and laughs out load while he repeatedly hits the bar with his hand. He did exactly that! It got to the point where I was just asking him questions just to hear his responses to them. Kind of like Bill Cosby with "Kids Say the Darndest Things" and also what you might personally do to a family member who just came back from having their wisdom teeth pulled, but I digress. So many funny things were said between all of us that I can't remember half of them. It was too much! However, one thing John said really stuck in my head. The guy asking the trivia questions said, "Okay, next question: Which one of Noah's sons had an edible name?" John writes down "Ham" on the paper. I didn't know the answer, but John was correct. Well, John pipes up and says, "Not a bad guess for an achiest!" (Laughs as he hits the bar) "But, I sure wouldn't expect anyone who's Jewish to get this answer" (Laughs as he hits the bar). Well, maybe his jokes weren't THAT funny, but his personality and gestures had a lot to do with how funny they were. At one point John mentioned the Masons because "stone" was the answer to a question. I turned to John (in an effort to get silly answers out of him) and said, "You're not a mason, are you John?" He looks at me, grins, and says "Does it look like I know any funny handshakes" as he laughs and hits the bar repeatedly. We had a lot of fun joking around and laughing with each other. At half-time they provided us with snacks, finger foods mostly, but I did really enjoy one thing called, "sausage rolls". It's basically ground sausage stuffed in flaky pastry dough. Very good and even better with "Brown Sauce" which is all over the place around here. It's a thick brown sauce that is used like ketchup. I'll need to see if I can find some. Anyway, we returned to the game. In Conwy when you are done with your beer they just fill it right back up. They don't even ask if you want another. They still expect you to pay though. I didn't really want a lot of beer, but I just let them do their thing and I observed. I only had three, but by the 3rd beer I had caught on and nursed it so I didn't have to drink anymore. I had to be up early. Well, when the game ended they announced the scores and my team came in 4th. Not bad! They had a raffle and Steven won a bottle of whiskey. All the proceeds of the night went to the Conwy Sea and Air Rescue. After the raffle a man by the name of Gareth got up to the mic and began a very sentimental and touching speech. He thanked everyone for coming out and for their support. He tried to hold back his tears as he spoke while playing with some puddy in his hand that he used as a stress ball. The mood in the bar went quiet and calm. When Gareth was done he sat down. Moments later I turned to John and said, "Do you mind if I ask what happened?" John went serious. He told me that about 2-weeks ago that Gareth's partner Justin was out drinking. He was more drunk than usual, but being drunk isn't uncommon in such a small town with nothing to do. John continued to say that Justin was drunker than he had ever seen him. This was about 11pm at night and John saw Justin stumble down along the wharf alone. Justin was never seen by anyone since. Days later the Sea and Air Rescue found a laced up boot floating in the bay. The story, they way John told it to me, was very sad and very personal. John then said a little joke and then chuckled softly, but he was obviously holding back tears and emotions. Gradually the conversation continued back to a more up-beat mood. Colin asked where I was from and it hadn't occurred to me that I had never said anything. I said, "California" and he lit up. He told me all about his trip to Disney World and wanted to talk about the Super Bowl and why I was traveling. I asked John if he had ever been to the US. John joked, "I was once in British Columbia and I had to pee really bad, but thankfully I was able to hold it in until I crossed the border. I wanted to pee on American soil." He laughs and hits the table repeatedly. By this time the bar was cleared out except for my group. Garreth comes over and thanks everyone for coming and supporting the Conwy Sea and Air Rescue. Colin got serious and offered support for Gareth saying that he was happy to come support him any time. Gareth, you could tell, was grateful for his support group of friends, but was still shook-up from his frequent and nervous fiddling of the puddy. He said, "I feel like the past 14 days has been one long day." At this point Steven opened up his bottle of whiskey that he won in the raffle. Tracey grabbed some glasses from under the bar. We toasted; "To Justin!" we said while clinking our glasses and we shot down the whiskey. After some more conversation I said my goodbye and they wished me luck on my journey. I walked back up the hill to the hostel thinking about the experience I just had. Even in my writing it is hard to articulate the mood and emotions of last night. All I can say is that it was real: real people, real stories, real humor, real conversation, and real experiences. I was the only outsider in that bar, but by the end of the night I felt as though I one of the group. They brought me into their life and made me feel like a regular. While it's not clear what happened to Justin they remain hopefully that they will see their friend again. Justin was 28-years old.
When I reached the hostel the building looked abandoned. The lights in the front were off. All the rooms are on the upper levels and even those lights were off. I pulled on the door....no budge. I pushed on the door....no budge. I pulled and pushed harder.....no budge. I've heard of hostels having curfews and it occurred to me that I might have been locked out. I walked around the building as far as I could, but no doors. I looked in my pocket and read that the hostel had 24-hour access and they offered me a code for the door. I looked around for a box type a code in....nothing. I peered through the doors I pulled and pushed on and I saw a code box on the inside where there was another set of doors. I said, "This can't be right!" I checked the doors again....they still didn't budge. I held the door and slammed into it hard with my shoulder....it budged a little. I did it again and it opened. I typed in my code and gained access. Well, that scared the shit out of me for a moment.
I woke up this morning at 6am to shower, pack, and catch the 8:15am train across the river at the station I arrived in. It was nice early morning walk. I also took the opportunity to walk around the city wall again before leaving. That is fun! I took the train to a town called, "Holyhead". The train ride was gorgeous!!! My plan was to find a way to get on a boat to Dublin. When I got off the train it lead straight to the boat dock where I could buy my ticket. "That was easy", I thought to myself. I had some time before my boat departed so I took a quick look around town. Ehh, I was done in less than 20-minutes. Not much in Holyhead. I found a coffee shop and had some breakfast with my Latte. It was then I remembered, "I have never been on a boat in the ocean before....another first". I got on the boat and then realized, "I have no idea if I get seasick".

View from Train 1

View from Train 2