Diolch yn fawr am eich geiriau caredig.

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So it's kind of nice to have this school group here in the hostel; they're all really friendly and we get on pretty well.

And it's REALLY nice to have the bus stop directly in front of the house.

It's not so nice to miss a step while getting off the bus and nearly fall on your face, while the aforementioned school group, gathered in the front room for a project, witnesses the whole thing.

You know, hypothetically. And then when they're all really polite and no one says anything? That's embarrassing too. I mean, it would be. You know. If that happened.

Anyway.

Aberdyfi (pronounced and sometimes spelled "Aberdovey") is a small town on the coast, where the river Dyfi (or Dovey) meets the ocean. Everything I know about it, I learned from the fifth and last book in the Dark is Rising series, called "Silver on the Tree".



Back in the day, it used to be a shipping port, so I'm told. Everyone here is really friendly, as usual in Wales. There are a lot of older English couples on holiday here. They still pronounce everything better than I do, though.

On the ridge above the town is something called the "panorama walk", a narrow paved road tracing the edge of a valley.



It's called "Cwm Maethlon" or "Happy Valley."

Scenes in the early chapters of "Silver on the Tree" start here and visit bunch of other nearby landmarks, so I was actually able to use the book as a guide in parts, which was massively cool, especially for a fantasy series. Although the books were written in the 70's, virtually nothing has changed and many of these places are exactly the way Cooper described them. Literary dorks will understand me when I say it was worth coming out to this tiny town in remote Wales just for that.

They were on the rim of a magnificent valley. At their feet the hillside dropped away in a sweep of waving green bracken, where a few sheep precariously grazed on patches of grass. Far, far below, among the green and golden fields of the valley floor, a road ran like a wavering thread, past a toy church and a tiny farm. And across the valley, beyond its further side patched blue with cloud-shadows and dark with close-planted fir, there rolled in line after line the massing ancient hills of Wales.

The weather was pretty clear but a bit hazy, which is a cool effect in person but not so much on camera.

Once you get to a certain part of the track, there is a parking lot and a footpath taking you to a beautiful lake called "Llyn Barfog" or "The Bearded Lake." On the way, I met a few of these older English couples. One woman went on for a long time about how she got her degree in Elocution and now teaches music. At one point, she even imitated an American friend of hers (her accent wasn't half-bad considering it was on the spot like that).

"As you can see," she told me. "I'm a very good performer."



Supposedly King Arthur's horse made footprints here when Arthur cast a monster out of Llyn Barfog. I don't know what they used to make horseshoes back then, but they must have been rocket-powered or something for him to make footmarks in solid rock like that.



It's called "The Bearded Lake" because of the reeds that grow around it. Alternatively, because the monster Arthur fought was really hairy (no I did not make that up).

See that sort-of-triangle of rippled water in the middle of the lake? Cooper's description even includes THAT. Following her descriptions at times has been more accurate than following Let's Go or Lonely Planet.

In the book, the cast-out monster reappears. It's an illusion, but a terrifying one. Luckily he didn't see the point in coming back for us.

I was rereading the scene by the side of the lake (yes, I know, don't say it) and one of the characters mentions in passing that Arthur had sent the creature OUT of this lake and INTO Llyn Cau. (Remember Llyn Cau?)

It's only mentioned once, and briefly, so I had missed that connection before, which I am SO GLAD about. I know that it's myth and fiction, but it doesn't matter. If I had known that yesterday, the planes and the rumbling and the isolation and the paranoia would have been 3295 times worse.




The Dyfi Estuary from the panorama walk. Legend has it that there used to be a town or some kind of civilization in the area, but thousands of years ago it was washed away by the ocean. It's a sort of Welsh Atlantis.

So this was my last full day in this wonderful country. Following this was the trip to Aberystwyth, which produced some melancholy writing but no great pictures to speak of, a brief stay in London and a relatively event-less plane ride back to Boston.

So that's it. Two of the most incredible weeks, and here I am. It's been tough to write this entry with the same kind of energy and snark I put into the other ones, when I'm sitting in my work clothes in Cambridge, Massachusetts. But before I put this thing on another two-year hiatus, I just wanted to say thanks.

THANK YOU to my parents for the FF miles. Best. Christmas present. Ever.

THANK YOU to everyone who housed me for a night or two or five, for the meager price of a tiny bottle (or two) of Vermont maple syrup. You rock and are welcome in Cambridge at any time.

THANK YOU to Welsh weather for holding out when I needed it most.

THANK YOU to the airlines for losing the shoulder strap to my duffle bag on the way over ...my arms are probably the strongest they've ever been after this.

THANK YOU to the National Rail network for being awesome.

THANK YOU to everyone at Braich Goch (pronounced BRAYCCKKKSCCH GAWCCHKXSSCH) for being friendly and helpful and fun.

THANK YOU to Erin and Julia for returning my room to the state it was when I left, despite everything you did to it while I was away.

And most importantly THANK YOU to everyone who bothers to read this thing. THANK YOU readers and THANK YOU commenters. Knowing that I made you laugh or feel a little bit not-bored is almost like pretending to be a travel writer, in a world where there's no market for it. I love doing this and with your permission, I'll do it again sometime. So THANK YOU guys for making this as fun as it has been. You all rock.

Till next time...

Peacock

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Comments

[wendy]

the end???
Your writing and the pictures will have me running to my library in the morning to grab Cooper's books. Delightful, insightful and completely entertaining. I hope I get to see lots more of your writing! Love, W

[millie]

Thank you!
Am just re-reading the Cooper series. I'm a huge Google Earth user. Have always wanted to spend time in the UK, but likely never will now. Delighted to find your lovely photos of the very scenes am reading about right now! Thank you so much--from Montana.