Wales Road Trip
Mood:  happy
Topic: Elisabeth's Entries
Yes, I will blog today. Although my neck & shoulders are still tense and my hands are sore from gripping the steering wheel so hard.

What our trip boils down to was an uneventful drive through southern and mid-Wales as well as a bit of the Cotswolds. We couldn't see more because I became too stressed out/fried/ exhausted from driving so much, so intensely after such a long period of time not driving at all (5 years!). The most I had driven in a lesson was 2 hours...but that was just jolly country roads or villages/towns. Much of the driving on this road trip was on narrow, winding country roads where the speed limit was 60mph, and most of the turns only allowed for a 40mph velocity. So it required a lot of concentration, which eventually burned me out.

I used to drive long distances between Virginia and Toronto/Montreal, but there was little chance of getting lost, and little confusion over which way to go. This is not true of my experience driving in England, and I'm afraid it doesn't come naturally to me to just go with the flow of whatever happens. Instead I worry and get tense. Bad to be that way, but good to know about myself!

All this to say, we didn't bicker with each other...very much. Instead I just took lots of scenic breaks (see pictures below) and rest stops for mochas and crisps.

With that preamble, we left Woking on Fri. morning around 10:30 and made it to Swansea by around 18:00. We couldn't have asked for better weather: sunny, fairly cloudless, cool breeze...and it stayed this way all weekend! In between, we drove to Tintern Abbey (beautiful location, but we couldn't stop...no parking...too many people!), drove to White Castle (Y Castell Gwyn) which was in the middle of nowhere up the smallest one-lane farming road I'd ever been on. We then drove through some beautiful mountains to Swansea where we found a Tesco parking lot to leave the car while we looked for a B&B. However, it was Easter Bank Holiday weekend, and of course...no vacancies. The guide book recommended Mumbles, a small village just down the coast, as a charming place to visit. So we took off & became embroiled in bank holiday madness! This little one-street village was overrun like ants on melted ice cream. It took a lot of driving back & forth to finally find a parking spot...only to find there were no vacancies in town. By this time the sun was setting and my nerves were very shot!

We decided to try the Marriott at Swansea or else head towards Cardiff. We should always be able to find something there!

No vacancies at the Marriott---goodbye Swansea...you looked interesting, but not to be. Finally I saw a rest-stop with a "bed" icon indicating a roadside hotel...and viola the blessed Days Inn came to our rescue just outside of Bridgend. This being Stephen's birthday-we had had no lunch or dinner...just snacks in the car. So I convinced Stephen there would be at least a sandwich or even a slice of pizza at the rest stop. All that awaited the hopeful was a cold cheese and onion pasty. Which we ate on the hotel bed watching The Bodyguard. Not exactly what we had in mind!

Saturday morning, I felt refreshed (as could be) and after a coffee and Cinnamon swirl at the rest-stop, we headed north to see how far we could go. We got as far as Dolgellau, which is just inside the Snowdonia National Park. We ate lunch at a lovely pub (I had a fish & chips---my vegetarianism has been broken only to include fish when deemed important enough). Then at 14:30 we had a choice to push on north to two places we had wanted to see: Harlech castle (supposedly the most perfect example of a castle in Briton) and Portmeirion, an eclectic town filled with imported buildings of all styles. Basically, an architect running wild on the coast of Wales. Both of these were also listed in Rough Guide's "35 Things Not to Miss" in Britain. However, Stephen pointed out, correctly, that in three hours, when we'd finished seeing these, it would be 17:30 and we'd have to drive to a place to spend the night. Would there be accommodation, and where would we eat? Plus, my nerves were testy, so how did I feel about night driving and possibly another night at a rest stop?

The trade off began, and we headed direct to Shrewsbury in Shropshire (England). We got there in just enough time to catch the Visitors Center still open, paid the 2 pound commission for finding us a B&B accommodation, and we thankfully parked the car, freshened up, and walked into Shrewsbury for a pint at the Loggerhead (a pub so old it is being closed down for repairs in 2 weeks, as it is "falling into the street"). Then we searched for dinner...most everything was booked up, but after some coercion, I had Stephen agree to Thai food. Which was a winner. Tempura vegetables, spring roles, jasmine rice, green curried veggies with coconut milk, sweet & sour vegetables (with Pinneapple). And a bottle of rose. The town itself was full of half-timbered buildings, craggy alleys, old churchs, bridges...but then a few ugly modern cement buildings and high street stores. However, the feel of the town is quite pleasing as there is a lot of independent shops for food and crafts. Seems to have a good mix of music, art, museum, history etc...and a "stumpy redstone mass" of an Abbey. The River Severn loops around the town, and its history is of an old Roman post, as well as a staging post, and thriving market town. Mostly we were happy to casually stumble across a town so easy to accommodate the last-minute traveler and pleasing to be in.

Sunday, Easter, we woke up and enjoyed a scrumptious vegetarian breakfast at the B&B breakfast room. It was a little like fawlty towers in that a husband and wife shared all the duties of checkin/checkout as well as cooking and serving breakfast. They were very efficient, but I could imagine if someone rang the desk bell demanding to check out during breakfast--all hell could break loose!

We decided to spend the day leisurely driving back to Woking via the Cotswolds and Vale of White Horse. However, my body was not to have it. After about an hour of driving, I told Stephen I was feeling the first signs of stressing out, and wasn't sure how much I could do today. We decided the smart and safe thing to do (also in interest of avoiding unnecessary arguments) was to drive directly back to Woking via the motorways. Four hours later we were home. And a good choice too..I sprawled out on the bed, arms outstretched, numb.

However, we saw a lot, and hopefully once it's all absorbed, we'll have some more in depth observations to make.

In the meantime, some pictures---

Stephen at the White Castle

White castle

Elisabeth thought she'd be safe in White castle...

White castle and Welsh countryside on a beautiful sunny day...

The happy Birthday boy

Somewhere along the road in mid-Wales

Again...somewhere along the road...

Stephen didn't realize the gate wasn't lock.

A beautiful portrait of a 31 year old.

A beautiful portrait of a 25 year old.

Same place...it really did warrent all these pictures!

Dolgellau, had a lovely pub lunch. Beautiful stone village.

Somewhere by the road in mid-Wales

A quirky hardware store in Shrewsbury.

A bridge in Shrewsbury, over the River Severn.

The abbey in Shrewsbury.

A shop sign in Shrewsbury.

The Thai restaurant in Shrewsbury.

Yes, we've stopped again...

This is now by the side of the road in the Cotswolds.