Wales

Well, as I said, I've been away, hence my recent quietness and lack of writing. And as my regular readers will know I went to Wales! I had a fabulous time, and coming back to London was a bit of a comedown by contrast, although I did of course miss my hubbie who didn't accompany me, so I couldn't really stay away forever. And fortunately I came back in one piece and wasn't eaten by the Welsh, as Minge surmised.

Incidentally thanks to those of you who commented on my Gridlock post and sorry I never got a chance to properly reply...lots of good responses there guys, ta muchly.

Anyway, I went to stay with my lovely friend Mary who lives very close to the town of Machynlleth, in Powys, North Wales. And a very pretty place it is too, with a rather striking clock tower for example:

And lovely timber frame buildings like this:

And oh my goodness! I've just discovered that actor Emrys James, who played vampire Aukon in the Tom Baker Dr Who story "State of Decay", comes from Machynlleth! Read the Wikipedia link above and see for yourself!! Oh my giddy aunt!! Oh! Erm - okay. This is very sad and most people will probably not be desperately impressed by this "fact". Zip it, Simone.

Anyway. Mary was kind enough to put me up for a few days and we did lots of nice touristy things. The kind of things you only do when you have friends or visitors to stay - when you're on your own you often can't be arsed - I know I'm like that in London anyway.

And here's what we got up to...

On my first "full" day, we went on the Mawddach Trail, a cycle route/footpath that runs for about 8 miles to the Welsh coast. We walked rather than cycled but must have done a good number of miles in the process.

Here's the start of the Trail with Mary and her little dog in the distance...

Some nice Welsh countryside.

Stopping for a bite to eat...someone's hungry...

My turn to munch and lunch...that's a big, long one I'm sitting on isn't it? A first for me, then.

Pretty lake (kind of reminds me of Swallows and Amazons, or something like that).

Toll bridge - drivers have to pay 60p to cross it!

Old signals (the majority of the trail is actually a disused railway line, hence the signal box in the distance and station-like building on the right).

Someone's contemplating a swim - or joining the canoists...

A hobbit house in Wales?

Another nice view...

Someone's thirsty...

Posing in the countryside....

Real Welsh lambs. Awww! And I saw a lot of them! (Mint sauce, anyone?)

Next day, a trip to picturesque Aberystwyth...a charming little seaside town!

All the best seaside towns have piers.

I love the promenade...such quaint houses, darling!

Approaching Constitution Hill, at the end of the promenade.

Halfway up Constitution Hill, via the Electric Cliff Railway...

Right at the top. What a view, eh?

Torch thingy...

Another view in the opposite direction. It was a glorious, warm day as you can probably tell...I sat up top and had a cappucino, drinking in the air...mmmm.

Me posing again. My coat and bag look a bit silly though. Honestly!

What's the Pharos Project doing in Aberystwyth?

A genuine Welsh seagull.

Some genuine Welsh flowers.

Later we had lunch in a posh restaurant called Le Vignoble. Food and service were excellent.

Mary tucking in.

My turn.

Yummy starter. Mackarel I think.

Even yummier main course.

After lunch, a stroll round the ruined castle in Aber.

A big, thrusting tower. I have nothing further to say.

The following day we went to King Arthur's Labyrinth, situated in some old slate mines near Corris. The labyrinth itself was quite atmospheric and spooky and seemed to run on for ages, so much so that we could have got lost, had it not been for our enigmatic guide (a guy dressed in Jedi style robes and hood). However it was marred slightly by some tacky Madame Tussauds style waxworks and tape recordings of stories which were rather distorted and hard to follow. Rather naff. There was a nice craft centre to visit as well though.

Mary leads the way...into the labyrinth. Such a confident girl...

The aforementioned guide, taking us on a boat trip through the labyrinth. He looks very Obi Wan Kenobi doesn't he? Or should that be a Jawa?

A watery underworld...

Do I make a convincing construction worker?

Could it be...Excalibur?

Welsh flags and tacky waxworks.

More tacky waxworks.

And then some! Are those real doggies?

Saints alive! It's a dry-ice breathing dragon! Oooh Blodwyn!

And there you have it. A pictorial history of my visit. And a great time I had too. Go you must!