the entry that I thought I'd published!

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Hello from grey and rainy Wales
Weather is drizzly - they don't have all these green fields and verdent countryside because the sun shines non stop! Went for a walk in the local countryside recently and landed up in Llantrisant - William Price came from here and was the first Welshman to cremate someome-his son. He was a druid and now his statue stands in the square. Freeman come from here and to be a freeman you have to be the son of one - and you get to 'beat the bounds' once every seven years to stop those Englishman taking back the land. Llantrisant itself has great small shops and a coffee shop worth the walk. Sandwiches served with crisps and an apple sitting surrounded by Emma Bridgewater crockery. As we walked through the common we saw the wild horses that graze there and cattle belonging to local freeman farmers allowed to graze them there.There is a ruined castle and the view from the town (on a hill) is magnificent. So if you are in the area it is worth a visit.
The Wales Japan rugby union game was good. Lots of noise and quite a few Japanese supporters. Two welsh men in those blow up fat costumes. We sat right behind the goal posts which was a great spot for the second half when Wales was coming our way.
Pub life is alive and thriving in Wales. There are some lovely pubs around - showcases for country pubs. Apparently the beers not bad either - otherwise there are a lot of people sampling and still trying to make up their minds!
Got caught out on the local buses - jumped on one we hadn't seen before and paid too much - and then trying to get home after being told they ran half hourly we sat for 40mins watching the opposition services 4 buses fly past until we finally asked and they run hourly . The friendly Welsh driver of the local service let us on his bus and we had a great ride through the country lanes as it was a special bus that does the back streets. How do they get through these lanes with full sized buses?? They really know their bus sizes - with a solid stone wall one side and a stream of traffic the other they get through without a scratch. We were breathing in!!
Don't think I told you about the bus ride home from the Wales Australia game - great atmosphere with people chatting to each other. Then some one pipes up with 'Kevin needs a pee' (Not our Kevin) So then there is some banter about how he will have to get off next stop because he's about to pop. Anyway he presses the buzzer to stop the bus and they all ask the bus driver to wait!! The bus driver waited til Kevin nipped round the corner had a pee and then got back on the bus !! Then they all sang songs about 'we love the driverr etc' Hilarious.
We leave for Italy - Rome, Florence,Venice and Chinque terre on Wednesday. 10 days of pasta, good coffee and a phrase book!!
So lovely chatting again and look forward to any feedback - love to you all - Jayne and Kevin

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