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destination,
Wales offers some of the best food in the U.K. as well as its own
distinct music, art, history, and language. Rarely noted is the superb
variety of unspoiled scenery of Wales, including three distinct regions
worthy of national park status, the highest mountains south of Scotland,
and cozy, undiscovered villages.
Wales is
closest to England geographically. Perhaps because of this proximity the
Welsh are the most nationalistic and culturally separatist of all the
British. The Welsh identity is tied to its history as a Celtic
population under siege by their neighbors in England. These original
Britons were forced into hiding by invading waves of Angles, Saxons,
Vikings, and Normans. They retreated into the rugged, mystical mountains
and vales that dominate the Welsh landscape.
Today the Welsh
variety of Gaelic is alive and growing while most other Gaelic languages
are disappearing. Welsh cuisine, custom, religion, music,
and mentality all can be said to be more than just dialectical versions of their English,
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A
AUTUMN IN SNOWDONIA:
THE LLANRWST BRIDGE
OVER THE RIVER CONWY.
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