Wales

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Day 10: Cardiff

His side – We headed to South Wales with great anticipation and eagerness. To be honest, most of the eagerness related to staying in a hotel. Georgia and I, with our relatively weak Australian immune systems had developed a bit of a small cold, so we were looking forward to staying in a hotel. In particular, I was looking forward to staying in Wales and seeing what it could offer. Ever since I found it Rhys was a Welsh name, I have felt an affinity with the area, which has been expounded upon when I began to find out some Welsh history. The Welsh it seems really didn’t like being invaded by the Romans, and then the Normans, and attempted to make a point of letting them know. Ironically, Welsh seemed to be the only nation/ethnicity I have no heritage from in the British Isles. This just goes to show my mother’s delightful taste in names. Georgia and I arrived in Cardiff, and after a restful and reinvigorating sleep, we got up to tackle the day. Upon arrival we spoke to the owner of the bed and breakfast we were staying, while this was a beautiful and quaint B&B; the hotel owner was a most peculiar hostess. She routinely seemed to laugh hysterically at the most inane stories (of her own making) and had a particular distaste for the Polish community, and immigrants at large. But she had vegemite on offer for breakfast, so my conscience was conflicted. Our first stop was St Fagans National Museum of History. It was free, relatively clean, but full of children. As a natural museum, its shtick seemed to involve a lot of buildings depicting how life would have been like in that period. From Iron Age, to medieval, to the Victorian era – it had it all. It was for free, so I can’t gripe, but if you don’t have a car that can take you out of Cardiff to the museum it isn’t worth the stress figuring out public transport there. We then headed back and walked into the city. By then Georgia was coughing up some serious nasty phlegm. Like serious phlegm. So nasty. So we got some cold and flu medication. We explored the city centre, ignored the over priced castle (it looks pretty but apart from the Norman keep, all of it was built a 100 years ago in a period I affectionately call – neo-gothic orgy). We managed to fit in a stroll to Cardiff Bay, which was enjoyable. However, in the fashion of a person hailing from this island, everyone went berserk at the 20-degree weather. Shirt off, ice cream in hand: it seemed everyone thought this was the sunniest day ever. Cardiff bay was nice, and worth exploring, I’d recommend eating dinner here if you have the time, as restaurants are a plenty. Don’t mistake that Georgia and I made, and assume that the Roadl Dahl Plass has anything to do with Roald Dahl - it’s a plaza. I left Georgia at the B&B at night to get drunk with the locals.

Her side: Cardiff was a really beautiful city; it was a beautiful day so we spent time at Cardiff Bay. On the recommendation of the lady who ran the B&B we went to St Fagans National Museum of History. They tried to have an immersive experience, which gave the visitor a glimpse at rural life from the Middle Ages to the 1800’s, but really it was like a run down and not as fun version of ‘Old Sydney Town’ (if those of you playing at home remember that where everyone was made to go for Primary School excursions). It wasn’t really worth the drive, maybe kids would enjoy it, but we really didn’t. I decided to spend the night in watching crappy TV (my favourite pastime) while Rhys went out to mingle with the locals for a beer.

Day 11: Cardiff > Brecon Beacons > Swansea

His side – Today was about exploring the Brecon Beacons on our way to Swansea. Due to my, ahem, enjoyable night before we had a leisurely exit from the B&B the next morning. We drove out to Brecon Beacons, not entirely sure where to go. It was a beautiful set of mountains, and many sheep delighted in clinging to the slopes. We settled on driving to the information centre, and as usual I proceeded to get involved in my convoluted conversations with the assistant. As she asked if I wanted to go walking or driving, and I responded “a bit of both”, this lead to a confused exchange. Fortunately, Georgia with daggers in her eyes was there to tell me - we were under no certain terms going for a walk. Alas for Georgia, the assistant convinced us to go for a stroll around the information centre. It was bliss. The views were nice, the mud was thick, and the grass was green. We then got back into our car and drove around the mountain range before heading to Swansea.

Her side: We spent the morning walking/hiking again (but not far as I had the shits). The best part of my day was looking at the sheep. Driving through the countryside in the UK during spring, looking at all of the lambs and calves has been my absolute favourite thing. Because sometimes I am actually about 8 years old I point out every farm animal we go past to Rhys and usually make the appropriate farm animal sound, to which without fail he either gives me an ‘are you serious you weirdo’ look or simply rolls his eyes.

Day 12: Swansea

His side – Swansea is a quiet and solemn little place. I’m sure it doesn’t aim to be solemn, but to a casual observer this very much seems the case. The streets were quiet, and many shops were closed. It had a bit of a run down feel to be perfectly frank. The hotel we stayed at was perfectly fine. Not great, not wonderful - but a great chance to rest. I’m a big Dylan Thomas fan, so we wandered down to the waterfront to go the museum about him. Even if you aren’t a big lover of poetry I feel this is a good museum as it’s interactive and interesting. Georgia and I had a wander around the city, enjoyed listening to the locals and drove to Mumbles for lunch. Mumbles is like a little bay on the outskirts of Swansea that has some nice cafes and restaurants. Georgia and I saw some football (soccer) golf that looked fun, so we went to get tickets. Georgia however chickened out due to the cold wind so we drove back to Swansea and had a quiet night in.

Her side: Swansea was surprisingly quiet for the 2^nd largest city in Wales. We visited a few museums, the Dylan Thomas Centre and went to visit the little seaside town of Mumbles. This was really a recuperation stop for us; we have both had a terrible cold (because would it really be a Rhys and Georgia holiday if we weren’t sick?) so it was great to have some down time.

Day 13: Swansea > Snowdonia National Park

His side – Jeez I’m starting to get bored of Georgia and I rabbiting on (well after reading through hers, it seems that I am the verbose one – call it a hangover from University days, where I needed to drag it on in essays to reach that magical word count). Anyways, I’ll try and become succinct. Georgia and I were leaving Swansea with a little sigh of relief; sorry Swansea you had a certain lingering decay. We drove past Pembrose castle on our way to Snowdonia National Park. I was really excited to visit North Wales, and Pembrose castle was a nice stop on the way. There was some really interesting exhibits and the castle was running ‘how to be a knight’ class for little kiddies. Georgia really enjoyed watching the Knight School for the children on school holidays, so there was less tugging on my arm and I could linger in the castle for a bit longer. Europe is the land of castles and cathedrals, and Wales is in my humble opinion, the centre of castle-land (for a history lesson Google Edward I of England on reasons for this.) So I was really excited to wander through some relatively intact medieval castles with fascinating history. After the castle we drove to Snowdonia National Park region and stayed in a caravan park, where I felt the owners could have spent a little less time smoking weed and a little more time cleaning the bathrooms. I’d recommend eating a little pub call the Brandanw Arms in Penrhyndeudraeth (yes you read that right, this is Wales we are talking about) the food was delicious and the beers were a treat.

Her side: Finally a castle which I enjoyed! Pembrose castle was fantastic - it was so interactive (it’s currently school holidays in the UK and there was a ‘Knight School’ which was so cute – my little brother back in Australia would have loved it!) We spent a few hours here before heading into Snowdonia National Park- the weather was really clear, whilst we didn’t do any walking today, it was a beautiful drive.

Day 14: Snowdonia National Park > Caenarfon

His side – We drove to Harlech as I wanted to look at a castle there. Castles, castles, castles! My lovely girlfriend was full of pep for another castle. Driving around Snowdonia was beautiful, low mountain ranges (it’s not Switzerland guys) and taking in the small country roads while driving has to be one of my favourite things to do. I put on some classic rock music to counteract Georgia’s playlist of Katy Perry and Taylor Swift from yesterday. Harlech was a lovely little town, and I’d recommend staying here if you have money to fork out on a B&B. Unfortunately for Georgia and I, no such luxury could be afforded for these frivolous things. Harlech castle started promising, as there was a cool video exhibition. However, apart from this the castle wasn’t as good as Pembroke. It looked wonderful from the outside and was built on the grounds of an ancient Welsh myth. This was that a Welsh giant king who requested his head be taken to this site after he died in battle, and he feasted for a year as just a head before actually dying. When Edward I conquered Wales he chose sites like these, not just for strategic importance - but for cultural domination as well (turns out Edward I was a bit of a dickhead). We then drove to a place called Portmeiron, which was meant to a beautifully designed little village on the edge of a lake, based on Italian villages on the coast and was built by an architect in the 1920s. It was the set of a show called Prisoners, which I’ve never watched. It’s a private village that charged 10 pounds entry! Bugger that! How about go to Italy if you want beautiful little villages. For free. And you’re in Italy. We drove to Snowden in the afternoon and caught a train up the mountain; it’s apparently the highest mountain on this island south of the Scottish Highlands. The weather was rubbish and all we saw is some fog.

Her side: After spending the night at a small town in the National Park we went to - you guessed it another castle. That afternoon we took the train up one of the tall mountains at Snowden – it was so cold and so foggy that we couldn’t see a thing!





Day 15: Caernarfon > Conwy > Llandudno

His side – This was a big day and we wanted to try and fit a lot in, starting our way in Caernarfon and working our way through Conwy/Colwyn Bay. Driving around North Wales is truly picturesque and the scenery is attractive. Farms nestled among hills, rivers and mountains; with sheep dotted along the countryside was a joy to behold. We tried some Welsh rarebit for breakfast, which is basically some melted cheese on toast with mustard, and I would say it isn’t worth the time to eat it unless you’re really curious about it. Caernarfon is another town that Edward I built with a castle to subdue and conquer the Welsh. He refused to let the Welsh live there and instead brought in English to live in the walled town. Caernarfon is a small town with small medieval streets to wander down, there are some really cool pubs, museums, and old Roman forts. Of course, as well there is the true draw card – the best castle in Wales! Well in my opinion. It was the site of many pitched battles, had links to the legend of King Arthur (seriously that bloke seems to be everywhere), and the first Prince of Wales that was a non-native was born here (Edward II). Most of the subsequent princes have been crowned with this title here too. This castle was massive, with several cool exhibitions on the Welsh. This place definitely is worth checking out. We had initial plans to drive to a farm for Georgia to feed some lambs, but she wasn’t feeling up to it, so we headed to the longest named train station in the world. It was a bit touristy, and had some tacky shops but is worth it if you can get there just for the lame photo-op. I’m not going to bother to name the train station – it’s just too long to type, so Google the longest train station name. I continued to annoy Georgia with ease and we drove onto Conwy. We thought we’d stay in a B&B, as we were tired of being in the car, however most of the B&Bs were grossly overpriced so Georgia found somewhere online outside of the town. Conwy is another walled town, with a castle built by…. Yep you guessed it Edward I. The castle was good and the town was worth exploring. Georgia and I ate some chips and feeling quite satisfied, yet exceptionally tired, we drove to our B&B. I had the joy of lugging our massive suitcase to the top flight of the house where our room was located and flopped onto the bed. Sleepy time ensued.

Her side: Can you believe it – another castle which I actually enjoyed!?! This was a really fun morning at Caernarfon, the castle had great exhibits- my favourite bit of Welsh history I’ve learnt is that Royal Welsh regiment of the army has a goat who actually serves as a member in the battalion- not a mascot, an actual legitimate recruit – in the past the goats have been demoted for ‘inappropriate behaviour’ during the Queen’s Birthday celebrations, eating Princess Margaret’s flowers and trying to bite Prince Phillip’s fingers- hilarious!

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