TRAVEL ALPHABET

The A- Z of My Favourite Travel Destinations — Wales

I’ve been to Wales three times

My first taste of Wales

I enjoyed my first taste of Wales in 2006 — a day trip from Cheltenham to Raglan Castle — my first ever castle! I was hooked! It started my obsession with castles. People say you get sick of castles but I never have — they’re all so different. I went crazy buying postcards, fridge magnets, T-shirts and a book on the history of the castle all for less than £20 — bargain!

Then off to Abergavenny — market day! This song kept playing in my head.

My sister and niece decided to go on a tour down a coal mine — no, thank you! I found an op shop and went crazy again. I bought a thick beige jumper to wear in Scotland and a gorgeous pair of black pants with a velvet ribbon tie. They were brand new but a size too small but I decided they’d fit when I lost a bit of weight. I never did. I kept them for years but finally faced the fact that they would never fit me and gave them away - brand new still!

My sister texted me so I scurried down alleys and through churchyards and even climbed down a 4-foot wall to get back to the van. I did not want to be last. We set off to Tintern Abbey — mostly in ruins but still fascinating. I loved it! I bought a book of Welsh proverbs which entertained us on the drive back to Cheltenham via the Forest of Dean and the Severn River bridge.

The second meal of Wales

Out first taste of Wales was only a day trip but I loved it all. On our return trip, we spent a few days driving through Wales from north to south. We started from Heathrow and after a 5-hour drive, we easily reached the little town of Conwy which we were expecting to be huge since it had major signposting almost all the way, even on the road in huge letters!

Conwy

A little more difficult to locate was our hotel, but asking for directions actually worked, and we soon settled into our cosy rooms. I chose the attic room — I have always wanted to live in an attic — and this one was perfect. The sound of the wind whooshing around me on three sides gave me a connection to nature and was very calming. I looked forward to a good night’s sleep.

I headed off to walk the old stone walls of the town which were built in the thirteenth century and are still very well-preserved. They have added handrails where the parapet has collapsed which was just as well because there was an almost gale-force wind blowing. I think it was blowing directly from the North Pole because it was cold — very cold.

I had worked up an appetite and we agreed on dinner at the Castle Hotel. Wow! The lounge had a warm friendly ambience. The floors were covered with a rich, thick tartan carpet with paisley-covered comfortable armchairs, which we thankfully sank into for the rest of the afternoon until we toddled on down to the restaurant for dinner.

I ordered honey parsnip soup, lamb steak and pannacotta for dessert. When I decided I could not fit in another mouthful, I trudged back to my welcoming attic room at the Castlebank Hotel. I fell asleep to the sounds of the wind and the moaning of the trees and slept for almost 12 hours!

The aromas wafting up to my room of a full Welsh Breakfast of eggs, bacon, black sausage (locally produced and the best black sausage ever!), tomatoes, mushrooms and sausages plus cereal, fruit, juice, toast and coffee. It had become colder and windier overnight so I spent most of the day holed up in my delightful attic room.

After a wonderful night’s sleep in the arms of the wind outside, I was startled awake by my alarm at 7 am. We’re on the road to Llandeilo. (I think I have the spelling correct, but I haven’t a clue of its correct pronunciation.)

Driving over hills and through the greenest of valleys, we couldn’t fail to spot the sheep; thousands of them dotted on every hillside and in every field.

Through rain and wind we drove until we reached the village of Rhayader close to the English border where we stopped for a bite to eat. The weather continued to deteriorate with rain increasing and the wind gathering strength and becoming bitingly cold. It blew through all of my clothes and I was pleased we were parked only a very short distance away.

Llandeilo

We reached Llandeilo soon after — it was not nearly as far as I had imagined and we had driven all the way from the north coast of Wales to near the southern coast in a few hours. Wales really is a small country.

On arrival, the White Hart Inn’s manager escorted us to our rooms. We were even given a choice of rooms! How’s that for service? I chose Room 1 and this was my view…

For dinner, I had decided on seafood: cockles and bacon for entrée, and scampi for mains. I’d never had cockles before — they were tiny but scrumptious! Although I was no longer hungry, I couldn’t resist the bread and butter pudding. It was the best bread and butter pudding I have ever had! It was hot, creamy and pure heaven. I savoured every mouthful. Our waitress was delightful — probably the first Welsh person we’ve met — there are a lot of English living in Wales these days, and who could blame them, it’s a beautiful country.

We all slept in with the view of having a late breakfast before heading off to Cardiff. Breakfast was the full Welsh variety, which is enough food to last me all day. We headed off to Cardiff in misty, rainy weather with visibility down to just a few metres at times. Thank God I wasn’t driving — I couldn’t see a thing! I was dropped off at St Fagan’s Farm, Castle and Village. This is what I wanted to do for my last day in Wales. I was not interested in shopping at the after-Christmas sales in Cardiff.

A third taste of Wales

The third time I visited Wales was 2 day trips to a completely different part of the country. I was staying in a little Wenglish village — it is now part of England but had been part of Wales many times in history — within a stone’s throw to the border.

On the first day, we set off towards Chirk. We saw the Llangollen Canal and the Chirk Aqueduct constructed by Thomas Telford in 1801. We walked all the way across. How Green Was My Valley came to mind as I took in the wide vistas over the green fields and colourful autumn trees. Black-faced sheep were grazing far below.

Onward and upward to Horseshoe Pass named for the shape of the road climbing to it. On the top of the pass was a café and a B&B named the Ponderosa where we stopped for a coffee and cake. I chose a slice of Lumpy Bumpy Chocolate Cake with fresh cream. The café was situated to take advantage of the expansive views, but I decided I’d get better photos from outside. And I did, but almost froze to death in the process! Gees, that wind was cold. Better get my gloves back on and quick before I suffer frostbite!

Back down to Llangollen and the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, another of Thomas Telford’s designs, completed in 1805. The upper parts of the aqueduct are made of steel. It’s the tallest navigable aqueduct in the world. At 39 metres above the ground, it was very high!

On my last day, I met a wonderful lady with whom I’d played online scrabble. She drove me to Chirk where I had seen the Chirk Aqueduct on my first day here, but not Chirk Castle. Feeling hungry, we stopped into the Castle Bistro where I ordered a halloumi burger. We both ordered a smoothie without spinach, but got the spinach anyway! (We both ended up with food poisoning so the smoothie is the suspect.)

On reaching the Castle and seeing that the gates closed at 7pm, we thought we’d be in time, but no, the last time you can access the Castle is 3.30pm and it was a £13.50 entry. It was 10 past three, with a fair hike up to the castle, but they were still prepared to take our money. We didn’t pay. We were told we were not allowed to walk up to the castle, but I was here now so thought I’d wander up to take some photos so we walked up. No-one stopped us. We nonchalantly entered the castle courtyard, the chapel, the servants’ dining room and the knights’ room. My scrabble friend knew all about it as she used to work as a guide for school groups. And we got all this for free!

And the gardens! The topiaries were amazing and I can only imagine the flowerbeds would be beautiful in spring. The lawns were very wet and spongy and I thought it strange that there were no “Keep off the Grass” signs. We wandered some more, taking photos and admiring the topiaries — it would take a whole team of gardeners to keep them trimmed in summer.

I didn’t want to walk down to the bottom of the garden as we would have still had to walk all the way back to the car! As we exited the gardens, we saw the sign saying, “Stay off the lawns, and don’t touch the topiaries.”

I had used one of the topiaries to pull myself up the slippery grass slope!

If you enjoyed my A-Z story, you may like these great stories by other Globetrotters: Darren Weir, Jillian Amatt, and Michael Rhodes.