Day 8 - just follow the unnamed lane….

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After our early night last night we got a pretty good sleep despite the stag and stagette parties roaming the streets. The church bells counting the quarter hour all night were both reassuring (it’s only 2:00 am - no need to get up) and distracting (why are the bells ringing at 2:00 am?).

We learned that we have too much luggage so spent some time repack if so we only need to haul one bag in for the next couple of night. We wanted to hit the road early so we could get to our stop tonight to enjoy the facilities.

We took a brief bypass down the coast to see saint govan’s chapel. It’s a 13th century chapel built in honour of a 6th century hermit who may have been a knight of the round table or a thief. No one really knows. It’s down 52 steps in a crevice on the sea wall.

From there, we went over to Pembroke castle. It was built by the Normans in the 11th century to help squash the Welsh rebellion against the invasion. It looks like castles from the movies. It has a 5 story keep - although the floors have long since rotted out - where you can imagine many people working. Today it’s also a wedding venue.

From there, we started our trek north through all of wales. We used google maps which took us on some questionable “short cuts” down four different one lane, unnamed roads. We saw even more sheep and lots of small villages.

We had a traditional Sunday lunch at a place called The Stubborn Duckling. It was amazingly good for someplace google randomly recommended as a 2 minute detour.

Don is definitely getting the hang of driving. No bumps today and I only had to yell “curb” two or three times. He even parallel parked in one shot between two cars.

We have arrived at Portmeirion where we are staying at the penthouse of the Castle Deudraeth. Dinner is include at the castle so we are sitting on our turret deck enjoying a glass of wine before heading downstairs.

Tomorrow we’ll explore the village before getting back on the road.

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Photos

Pembroke keep.
The holes in the walls were for the support beams for each floor.