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Published: July 29th 2009
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Sunday 26th July
The 3 R’s of Bridgend
Bridgend is well known to Kiwis for at least 2 things that begin with R.
The most important being RUGBY and Bridgend from my recollection was the scene of a game between the AB’s and the local club(in the days when the AB’s used to do full tours of the UK)which turned out to be a bloodbath(not the result but the blood that was split as the Welsh club battled away and came close to beating the AB’s).
The second R standing for RAIN,and today was going to be no exception from the sight that greeted us as we awoke for the day.Most of the AB games I seem to recall watching screened from Wales were played in rain.
The third R which today stands for RETAIL may be a lifesaver to our sanity given the inclement weather that was outside our window.Because adjacent to the area which the hotel was in was a huge retail park of discount shops and if the weather doesn’t improve a walk around the shops will be on the cards.
The alternative and what we had hoped to do was to take a leisurely drive to the
west towards Pembrokeshire or at least as far as Carmarthen Bay where the even more famous rugby town, to the AB’s ,of Llanelli and Stradey Park was located.
We thought we would give it until 11.30am to see if the weather improved to allow us to do driving.But when it didn’t we headed off to the shops for some retail therapy.
The mall was mostly under cover which made it more pleasant to get about than ducking between shops in the rain.
There were some very good discounts on offer and after getting around the whole mall Gretchen ended up buying 3 new cotton t shirts and two pairs of linen type trousers from Cotton Traders who have a reputation for good quality clothing.
After an hour and a half we were ready for lunch and so went back to the hotel and ate our already prepared rolls(we were going to take them on the drive with us) and waited a bit more for the weather to clear.
At 3pm we felt we needed to at least see some of the area even if it was through the windscreen wipers!!
With the weather still rather wet we took the A48 and headed west for Swansea and the outer seaside suburb called Mumbles.
The restaurants ,shops and pubs at the beach looked like they would be interesting places to stroll through but the rain was still coming down so we limited ourselves to a couple of quick pictures and then back into RR and home to the hotel.
The day had been a washout but for the hour and a half of retail therapy and we just hope that the rain clears overnight for the drive back into England.
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Chris
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Rain
Rain!!!!!!!!! In Wales!!!!!!!!! Never!!!!!!!! How unexpected.