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Published: October 25th 2007
Hay on Wye Castle
Honesty Bookshop...we almost bought the 1989 Goat Herd Statistics at a bargain price!Well we've now been working for a total of 12 weeks (Kirstyn) and 13 weeks (Jason)...not that we're counting! Work is going well - as well as work can ever be - and we are enjoying watching the bank balance build in readiness for more travels. We are really missing having the freedom to travel wherever and whenever we want but have enjoyed getting out and about on weekends to see some of the glorious Wales countryside.We have put aside the tent and have now resorted to staying in Bed and Breakfasts due to the impending winter. What a new experience that is for us. For those of you who travelled with us on our honeymoon you will appreciate that our experience of B&Bs has not been entirely uplifting! B&Bs seem to be the way to stay here in the UK and we are enjoying meeting new people, trying to guess their names before we meet them (Karen in the lead so far but Mick is holding out for Agnes and Daffydd), and
loving the fresh cooked breakfasts! Here's a summary of some of our Wales Weekenders:
Castle Coch (or Castell Coch)
This little Castle set amongst the hills above
Taffs Well is close to Caerphilly and is the cutest and most princess-like castle we have seen so far. The last owner was the famous Mr Bourges who is well known in the Cardiff area having also previously owned Cardiff Castle. It is now just a tourist attraction and lots of fun to explore.
The Big Pit museum at Blaenovan
Went for a lovely Sunday drive about one hour north of Cardiff to visit the Big Pit coal mining museum. The museum itself was very well done and free entry!! (the Welsh Assembly Government has funded several national museums to allow free entry - a great initiative). Went on a tour of one of the old coal mines with a crazy old Welsh miner who used to work down the pit. He loved a chat and told many interesting stories about the mining days (not sure how many were true). It must have been such hard work for the men down there. Wales as a country really led the industrial revolution and boasted a huge coal mining industry in the early 1900s. Mines such as the one at Blaenavon were progressively scaled down leaving many of the
workers in the valleys with no job, facing the rest of their lives on welfare. It's no wonder the socio-economic status of the Welsh living in the valleys is so much lower than in other areas.
Merthry Mawr Sand Dunes and Porthcawl
These dunes are supposed to boast the highest Dune system in Europe and is where the movie Laurence of Arabia was shot. We went here on a day trip with Mick who was feeling lonely as Karen was living it up in Italy. Mick tried his hand at sand sledding but failed to move much faster than a slow crawl. Maybe we should be back when the sand is not so wet! We visited the coastal town of Porthcawl - a little town which boasts the Elvis Festival each year where all of Wales comes to compete for the 'Best Welsh Elvis'. Unfortunately we missed this event but still enjoyed the little town for it's restuarants and pubs and retired folk!
Brecon
Spent a weekend up in mid Wales in the town of Brecon which is situated on the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park. A very cute little village with - you guessed it
Castle Coch
The princess Castle - a castle in the middle! We managed to arrive on the weekend that Brecon was hosting a food festival so enjoyed some great cooking displays and sampling Welsh produce including Beers, Cider and yummy local cheeses. Found ourselves a pub to watch the tragic Australia v England game and treated ourselves to many commiseration pints afterwards with the locals.
St David's
What a little paradise this town is. Situated on the West Pembrokshire coast it is supposedly the smallest city in the UK (the term 'city' applies to a town which has a Cathedral in UK terms). We drove up here on a Friday night after work, meeting Karen and Mick at our B&B that night. The town itself is very small with lots of B&Bs and great restaurants. It is a very touristy town and we were glad to experience it in the colder months as it would be a different place in summer. We did a section of the coastal path on the Saturday from Porthgain back to St David's. The walk followed the coastline for most of the way with spectacular scenery. We got there at just the right time to see lots
Browsing the books
Hay On Wye's Castle honesty bookshop of cute little seal pups laying around on the rocks. Even got to see one up close which was great. St David's also hosts thousands of Puffins in the summer months so we may have to return to see these next year. Had a great Italian meal on the Saturday night followed by beers and more watching rugby...this time in our room as the local pub was filled to the rafters with locals watching the England v France game. Most going for France as the Welsh tend to go for whoever isn't England (we were going for France too!). Spent the Sunday morning exploring the Cathedral and Bishop's Palace. The Cathedral is still in use hence we weren't able to get a look inside as there were services going on.
Hay On Wye
Headed up to Hay on Wye with Karen and Mick for a weekend. Hay on Wye is a little town on the border of Wales and England (still in Wales although we had to convince some of the English visitors of this at the pub - they though they were still in England!). It boasts over 30 bookstores and has the highest number of bookstores
for any area in the World.
It is a very cute little town on the edge of the Black Mountains with a great atmosphere. We stayed at a great B&B here and managed to
book ourselves front row seats at the pub to watch the Rubgy World Cup final (Go the boks, or more correctly unlucky Poms!). Had lots of fun exploring the bookstores and buying books as that's what you do in Hay on Wye! There were lots of lovely little boutiques as well which tempted Karen and Kirstyn's wallets on more than one occasion.
Only 8 wks till we finish work and head up to Scotland for xmas and new years followed by a few more adventures!
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