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Day 18 (part 2) – Llandrillo, Snowdonia and Portmeirion
After farewelling mum, we headed off to Portmeirion, the seaside locale where weird and strange building features go to retire. Bizarre features, out of place architecture, statues that would otherwise be considered grotesque, and random hanging sheep signs are the norm here. So far, so weird. The place’s cool credentials come from being the location where The Prisoner, that fabulous piece of 1960s British SF starring Patrick McGoohan, was filmed. This allows the bizarre and grotesque to also be strangely familiar. It’s a cool, if strangely bizarre place, with groovy The Prisoner merchandise. From there it was a fairly easy drive back to the TL. L has insisted on driving,…
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Day 18 (part 1) – Goodbye Mum
We left our intrepid travellers at a restaurant with rooms, a weird, pokey old rabbit warren of a house boasting a pretty impressive kitchen. The water pressure in the shower/bath is not great, but the water does come in hot and cold so that’s pretty good as outside it’s a little brisk, aiming for a maximum temperature of 9. Back into the restaurant for breakfast, a bit of a fruit, juice and yogurt buffet with a full breakfast menu that really takes the cake. There are choices, choices and more choices. It’s easy for L, they had a yummy offering of smoked salmon and scrambled eggs practically calling out her…
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Day 17 – Bath – Llandrillo
With L’s Jane Austen habit temporarily sated, it’s time to head into the wilds of Wales. With sat nav coordinates a little too much like lost (LL21 0ST or something like that) it was looking like an opportunity to disappear into the valleys, or a coal mine somewhere. It was awesome to cross the Severn bridge into Wales, as it isn’t everyday a West Aussie gets to drive across a national border (even if it is a toll bridge). We then found it quite funny when the satnav took us almost straight out of Wales, into Herefordshire. It’s interesting to see that there is in many places a marked geographical…
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Day 16 – Bath
What’s more challenging than typing in a car hurtling through the High Atlas mountains? Typing in a car going along the A5 and associated roads in Wales, where they’re having a goodly amount of rain, some potholes, and curves that might trouble a Moroccan or two. Still, I’m geting a little behind on this blog so will try to catch up. At some point I’d like to get the creative juices flowing and write a little behind the scenes and about the whys and wherefores of travel blogging. How it’s hard to write about the past when the present is full of the most amazing scenery, and when you’re travelling…
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Day 15 – Charlton Horethorne – Bath, Boxing Day
After a light breakfast of tea and toast, and a pause to round up the troops, we were inviteed to take part in a tradition, the Boxing Day walk. By all accounts this tradition can involve being confronted by angry horses, cows, and other mishaps. While these aren’t guaranteed, they are not unexpected, either. Given the time it was a short walk, just up the nearby Cadbury Castle, an alleged site of Camelot. The path up is quite precarious and muddy, but no one slipped over. At the top are the remains of mud fortifications, an iron age hill fort. These made for a wonderful path to walk around and…
