When we arrived in the resort town of Llandudno on the north coast of Wales we were surprised to be greeted at the train station by a statue of Alice in Wonderland. We learned that Alice Lidell, the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's book, vacationed in Llandudno with her family for many years. Lewis Carroll also vacationed in Llandudno, and local lore has it that part of "Alice in Wonderland" was written here. For the 150th anniversary of the book, in 2014, Llamdudno commissioned a number of statues to be put around town. It's fun to see them pop up in unexpected places, such as on the ocean promenade.
The name Llandudno is a little hard to say. As best as I can tell, you start of with a tight smile and clear your throat while saying the letter L. The letter U is pronounced like an I. Phonetically it would sound like " hrkfgh-lan-DID-no."
"Llan" is a Welsh word that means something like "a community around a church." That sounds like a village to me, but I think it's something even smaller. Many towns have grown up from such origins and so have names that start with Llan. (By the way, the English words "land" and "lawn" come from "Llan.") The second part of the name refers to a particular patron saint. St. Tudno is a rather obscure saint who lived in the 6th century. He was one of seven sons of a Welsh king whose drunken incompetence caused his kingdom to be lost. This son lived a life of penance and established a church in this area.
I will let the Queen of Hearts have the last word. "Off with her head!"
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