Saturday, September 16, 2006

UK Trip! Fri Aug 25/06

Gather 'round, children, as I tell you the tale of Going To Wales.

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin...

So we got up relatively early, maybe around 8:30, and packed up our luggage into the rented car and set off. Now, there were three ladies in the car, so T knew he'd have to make plenty of stops along the way.

Our first stop was a washroom break when we'd barely left Brighton - at a golf course! R felt no shyness about going through the lobby of this posh and exclusive place to get to the washroom (go you!) so she did that while MS was turning the car around. This, of course, took way longer than R's washroom trip, as it seems that people who frequent posh golf courses don't know how to park properly, and left such tiny spaces between cars that MS had to do something like a 40-point turn to get us out again! Serves 'em right to have people only there for the washrooms!

We made a stop or two more on our way, availing ourselves of the roadside Marks & Sparks outlets at the petrol stations. And, oh my, they have some fabulous sandwiches! Oh, and chocolate desserts too, of the most decadent kind. Man, when we had M&S in Toronto, they sucked! Why can't they have been like this!

So anyway, when we got to Tintern Abbey we got out and stretched, and I took Plushtoy Cthulhu and my camera and stand and headed into the site. Good lord, it was fantastic. Sooooo old - built in the early 1100s, we just don't get that over here. Huge arches and pillars, leafy imbellishments... I could just feel the age oozing out of the stonework. I spent over an hour I think, just moving around the space and taking photos. Cthulhu got in on the act of course, MS helped me there *grin* I bought the guide book for the place and a few postcards, so pretty.

Fair warning, lads: I think my love of old, crumbly places might be turning into a fetish. I'm not kidding, if there'd been any cute, available boys there, they'd have been in SERIOUS trouble! The vibe there was just so amazing.

So okay, we left there, and went on to Swansea. R and J* managed to nap, so I was helping MS by navigating from the back seat - we were fine until we actually got into Swansea, at which point we went the wrong way THREE TIMES! However, we got to the Bed & Breakfast on Mansel Street eventually, MS dragged my suitcase up the stairs for me, and J* and I went into our room... which was TINY. And, because we needed an ensuite room, there was a shower stall, right there, beside my bed, and a teeny room behind my bed containing the toilet and sink! But really, I suppose that was the only way to organize it, right? Anyway, we dropped our stuff, freshened up a bit, and then went on to W's house. And went way past it again. That's what, four times we went the wrong way in the same town? *grin*

We finally found W's place - after calling him a couple of times (his directions included "turn right when you get to the incredibly hideous protestant church" or something like that), and were welcomed in like old friends, aw, bless. He and Mrs W made us a wonderful dinner of homemade lasagna and bread from scratch, and W didn't stop bounding around the whole time we were there - I think he was just so excited to have talked people into visiting Swansea! We chatted and listened to music and played with Baby W until late in the evening, while W planned his deejay set for the following evening's meetup, and then W drove J* and I back to the bed & breakfast (MS&R stayed at W's place while we were in town) around midnight . So a long, full day!

pix from Tintern Abbey and Swansea can be found on my Flickr page...

2 comments:

  1. Marvellous entry. I suppose because I live in the UK, I forget how unusual old buildings must be to people from North America. I think that if I experienced some of those huge trees you have over there, my eyes would be out on stalks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. eeew, that's a gross image... *grin*

    ReplyDelete

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