25 Dec
This Christmas we set off on a four day road trip through Wales with some kiwi friends who go to our church. Leaving after a big Christmas brunch we all (Hannah & James, Katy and Andre) jumped into our hire car, a nice 2009 Vauxhall Insignia (a surprise upgrade from the type of car we thought we were getting). The day was mostly travelling since we were heading to Pembroke in Southwest Wales for our first overnight stay in a hotel. James had driving duties for the whole of the trip because the other couple had both had their licenses stolen. Motorways are pretty fast over here, usually with 3+ lanes in each direction and most drivers seemed to choose their own speeds, so our top speed of 100mph felt like about 100kph back home. But it wasn’t all motorways, we set our SatNav to take us through some scenic areas around Brecon Beacons National Park. But what looked like scenic on our maps was actually a narrow single laned winding road with hedges either side providing barely enough room for our vehicle to get through without scratches. And the scenery… very black since it was dark outside by the time we were driving through!
It was great to check into the very pleasant hotel at the end of the day and spend some time relaxing with our friends and playing cards.
26 Dec
We started the day with a fantastic complimentary breakfast at the hotel restaurant. We made this our main meal of the day each having platefuls of eggs, bacon, sausages, potato, cereal, fruit, yogurt mmmm yum!
The country side around Southwest Wales is very nice, lots of green and gentle rolling hills – oh and castles. Yes, castles. Casually driving along the road Hannah spotted a giant stone castle in the distance so we took a detour to check it out up close and take some photos. This was the first of many Welsh medieval building we got to see. It really transports you back in time and is a real privilege to experience.
We visited the coastal town of Tenby. Every Welsh town has a ton of history and this was one of the many walled-towns where you can still see the giant stone defensive walls that are now just part of the city centre. Lots of lovely pastel coloured buildings overlooking the sea, and quaint stores with interesting shop windows and displays. Caldey Island is just off the coast and has been inhabited by monks for hundreds of years and still has an active monastery there.
Next we followed the coastal road up to St Davids near the western-most tip of Britain, stopping again along the way to photograph two more lovely castles! We made a scoring system where you got points if you spotted a castle before anyone else – Andre got both of these!
St Davids was a fantastic stop. David is the patron saint of Wales and found this small city around 550ad! The main site includes a giant old cathedral and a ruined stone palace. It was a famous site of religious pilgrimages and the complex has numerous defences with walls and lookout towers. Pope Calixtus II decreed that two pilgrimages to St David’s were equivalent to one to Rome!
Our next hotel stopover was many miles away in Ruthin, North Wales. This drive took us through parts of Snowdonia National Park, again with fantastic scenery until the evening darkness made it difficult to see. The sun sets soon after 4pm at this time of year!
27 Dec
The hotel in Ruthin was called “Ye Olde Anchor Inn”, built in 1742. It was a tad cold, but the character and charm of the place made us feel very Welsh!
After another huge breakfast we jumped in the car again to explore the various sights of Snowdonia, Angelsey and Conway in the Northwest part of Wales. Snowdonia was fantastic with rugged mountain regions. Despite its name, there wasn’t a huge amount of snow around, but we did stop to snap a few shots of the distant snow capped peaks.
On the Isle of Angelsey we checked out the Menai Bridge, the Beaumaris Castle and Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch. Yes, that right … Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch the disputed longest place name in the world. See if you can say it in under 4.5 seconds – James’ fastest time. Translated as “The church of St. Mary in the hollow of white hazel trees near the rapid whirlpool by St. Tysilio’s of the red cave”. We never did find the rapid whirlpool.
Next stop was Conwy, and the jaw-dropping Conwy Castle. We paid a few quid to get inside this one and it was fantastic. It was commissioned by King Edward I during a conquest of Wales, built in 1289. The castle was only overtaken once, but not by siege or frontal assault but by spies working on the inside. It is absolutely huge (pretty scary to stand at the top of in fact), and is built on a rock protrusion next to the River Conway with strategic views for miles in every direction. It’s a pity James forget to bring his mace, kite shield and chain mail armour!
After Conwy we drove down to Cardiff for our last evening in Wales.
28 Dec
No complimentary breakfast this time. We had a bit of a sleep-in then headed into Cardiff, the largest city and capital of Wales. It actually reminded us a little bit of Christchurch in its size and street layout. We walked around, briefly visiting the Cardiff Castle, Millennium Stadium, and a marketplace. The welsh cakes we bought from the market were nice – kind of a cross between pikelets, raisin sponge cake and crumbly shortbread. We didn’t stay too long in Cardiff, soon getting back on the motorways to London.
We made one final detour to a small cemetery in Newnham where we’d been told James’ great great great great great grandfather was buried. We spent a long time searching around trying to read the weathered tombstones, and did eventually find a Thorne (and a few Evanses)!
Then it was back to London, back home, and back to some much needed sleep!
Between Christmas fairs, streets decorated in Christmas lights and every shop decorated for the big day it is hard not to get caught up in the fun of it all. We certainly weren’t resisting last Thursday as we went iceskating at an open air skating rink.
