A Rather Belated Holiday Blog: Wales

This is a post I partly wrote while I was off on my Welsh sojourn (May 14th - 19th) and have partly written today, Sunday May 25th, having wanted to get on with enjoying my holiday rather than spending my time writing about it! 

Oh. My. Word. Wales is absolutely stunning! And specifically, North Wales. I've never visited this part of Wales before and have been bowled over by its absolute stunningness. Right now I'm sitting in a field [near Machynlleth], bird song all around, the wind in my hair, trees, greenery and hills as far as I can see and only the occasional dwelling. Stunning.

During my childhood I spent quite some time in South Wales and wasn't quite ready for what a difference there is between the two ends of Wales. Or, indeed, the middle! I'd also had a couple of brief visits to the North Wales coast, but travelling en voiture really does make a massive difference, especially in terms of impromptu diversions (one of which later in the week ended up with me getting my car locked into a sailing club car park! Thankfully it was on a combination lock and the chap who answered the sailing club phone number was very understanding and helpful).

I was incredibly lucky on the weather front - I think there was some occasional precipitation during the week, but I basically had sunshine and dry weather, which was awesome. That's not to say there wasn't some pretty impressive wind at times (I live in Morecambe. I understand wind. And I also am completely in love with my waterproof & walking boots - a decent set of those two makes for much more enjoyment, and much less cold / misery!) but wind when the sun is shining I can cope with.

Having started just near Rhyl (where I came across a pawn shop in a church - talk about money makers in the Temple) I made my way along to Llandudno and spend a wonderful couple of hours eating a very comprehensive cooked breakfast in a gorgeous little coffee shop / restaurant called Kava. I had been walking along the sea front enjoying the sunshine but getting VERY blown about (after the disappointing lack of wind in Hastings when I was there last November, Llandudno rather made up for it) and really wanting somewhere to pause. I was the first customer of the morning and took a table right in front of their huge plate glass window with the sunshine streaming in - warm, sunny, protected from the wind, and I even managed to get a wifi connection to catch up on some bits and bobs. The staff were lovely and I'd definitely go back.

Walking back to my car through the centre of Llandudno (having come out along the front) I was struck by the amazing Victorian (I think) buildings - old glass signage on the frontages and many buildings looking like they hadn't been altered (simply maintained) since they were first constructed. I find Llandudno quite fascinating but have never felt like I've got below the surface - but I had a very enjoyable time skimming the surface again on this visit!

As I started heading South my first stop was Bodnant Garden. One of the things I love most about my National Trust membership is that I'm never quite sure what I'll find when I arrive. The book of all the NT locations I get each year gives a brief description but given most locations have their own book, the write up in the summary book is but a taster. And my, is Bodnant Garden a beauty! I happened to be there on one of their late-opening days (which just meant I didn't need to hurry towards the end of the evening) but even mid-week in May they had a fair number of visitors. There number of blooms and blossoms throughout the gardens seemed innumerable, there was some high-octane gardening going on (at the end of ropes on a rather steep bank) and I found myself a sunny meadow-type area to lie in while I plotted various exciting possibilities with a friend. 

I had originally thought I'd spend a couple of hours at Bodnant then head on to some other stop off points in Snowdonia but having got completely entranced by Bodnant I simply enjoyed Snowdonia from the road as I meandered down to Machynlleth. What an area of the country! And, indeed, what an area of the country not to have explored yet! 

I knew I'd get on well with my host in Machynlleth when I discovered I'd be staying out in the wilds and we were having chips for tea on the first night! As well as some wonderful walks, I experienced my first Zumba class (not something I'll necessarily seek out again, but worth a try), spent a couple of hours at CAT and did lots of reading. Brilliant.

From there it was destination: Wedding! A good friend was getting married at the gorgeous Glan Usk Estate in the Brecon Beacons. Although I was staying in hostel-type accommodation above a pub in the centre of the local town, Crickhowell, I'd scouted out a hotel spa on the outskirts which did a rather reasonable day-pass rate, so Friday evening saw me indulging in some swimming and lounging about. Rest assured there was more lounging than swimming, but the set up they had was very much to my liking - pool, loungers, jacuzzi, plus decent sized sauna and steam. The following morning dawned incredibly sunny and with the wedding festivities not kicking off until lunchtime I went for a stomp up a local hill - I'm still not sure how much I was following footpaths or not on my ascent but I didn't get shot at, which is always a bonus. The craziest part of that particular walk was gazing around at the rolling hills and thinking "Well, they're nice, but they're not Snowdonia..." - I had clearly been VERY spoilt in my week of wandering around Wales! Unfortunately my occasional hayfever decided to kick in so after quick trip to get some anti-histamines and get changed, it was off to celebrate two friends getting married in gorgeous weather, in gorgeous surrounds, with a gaggle of friends and family to celebrate them doing so. It was a brilliant wedding but the over-riding memory for me (as is only right!) is of the happy couple being incredibly happy to BE the happy couple. Marvellous.

More sunshine on Sunday morning found me off up and out again fairly early and heading to The Weir, another National Trust garden. A beautiful garden but I must confess - the location that I spent most of my time in was the meadow by the river, having a bit of a snooze! I hadn't come as prepared as usual and caught the sun a little, but it was a lovely way to round off my adventures before heading back up the M6 and home.