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I bet you guys thought I was done with the travel reports to Wales, didn't you? Well surprise! Not by a long shot. I just got super-busy at work, and then was getting the kids back into school, then I went through a period of longing for Wales/Nick wherein I just wasn't in the mood to look at the pictures and talk about them because I would just get sad, you know?
But back on even keel again, I think (though the longing remains, always).
So, this post will continue talking about our travels all over Wales.
I believe I mentioned in a previous post that the night before this road trip, Nick had decided we should hop in the car and go on a ten hour trip. Or something like that. I whined about this plan as I was still not very comfortable driving that car. Literally, every time I got behind the wheel I steeled myself, took deep breaths, lit a few mental candles and tossed coins to the gods that I would not make any mistakes and wreck the darn thing. It all worked, apparently, as we got through the week unscathed.
Nick, being Nick (which may or may not have anything to do with his being German--more like it seems to run in his actual family) planned out pretty well where he wanted to go. It would take most of the day, and ended up just over 6 hours in the end.
Knowing we could not count on zipping through McDonald's and such, we tucked away yet another super-duper hearty Ty Rosa breakfast (oh Paul and Stuart, I miss those breakfasts so!) with plans to stop at a Tesco for some munchies later. Really, those breakfasts are HUGE and pretty much one stays full for a long time. Eat breakfast like a king and all that--we did, every morning.
First destination? Down the street! LOL. Actually, first destination was to be Port Talbot.
Here's the map if you'd like to take another look. If it doesn't come up right, look on the left column, the bottom section "Did you mean" and click on the Clive Street address, it will bring up everything correctly.
Road Trip One's Map
It was a little bit rainy that morning as we started out, but honestly it never got really bad. Still, we had a bit of an adventure just getting to the M4, partly my fault I believe, partly the cold hard fact that there is a serious shortage of street signage in this country. Serious shortage. The Supreme Navigator, however, got us going the right direction--which led us to cross the M4 via Llantrisant Road, aka the A4119. (The numbering makes little sense there, either, btw). Got to practice several turnabouts during this part of the trip--by the time the day was over, I think I had hit twenty of them. Really, they are rather awesome.
At last, we were on the M4 (after driving through what turned out to be the worst of the day's rain) and headed Northwest-ish. This also turned out to be the most boring. So much beauty ahead! And so much green! (and so many B roads!)
But first, Port Talbot. Port Talbot is, as you can guess, a port town. Or rather maybe, village. We were cold, we were still without our luggage, and Nick wanted a coat, dammit. I was okay--it didn't bother me as much (not until Swansea anyway) as I had longer sleeves on, but Nick was miserable. It was drizzly, and Port Talbot beckoned us to stop. So we did.
Parking our car (still an adventure for me--did I mention I never did get parking to the right down well?) in a car lot, we paid our pound or so, and headed for what looked like the town centre. I made Nick take a picture of me (don't forget to clicky on it for bigger pictures):
I took a picture of this mini roundabout for some reason:
Then we headed through the mall-like shopping area. While I eyed all the delicious places to eat (sigh, we stopped at none of these, to my regret later) Nick was looking at coat places. We did see a pharmacy and dove in--he always sleeps with ear plugs and wanted some (remember the Arizona-bound luggage? Yeah, they were there). Our room wasn't TOO noisy, but he's a creature of habit and likes his ear plugs. The person who helped us was, as all the people in Wales we encountered, friendly and helpful.
We continued on our walk and saw a Tesco and decided to dive in. That night would be the first episode of CoE and we HAD to have Pimms and Lemonade, so we trotted in and purchased both. We also had an amusing conversation with our check-out lady--a wee bit of a challenge understanding her, I seem to remember. LOL.
The store was right across a river, with a lovely church opposite. So of course, picture time!
A couple more:
Unfortunately, we struck out re: the coat, so it was on to Swansea. Back on the M4 we went!
Nick just called me to see what I was doing, and I told him I was about to write about Swansea.
"Maybe it is a nice city, but I just don't get it," Nick said to me.
We both have not-as-fond-as-the-rest-of-Wales-except-Newport-because-it-sucks memories of Swansea. On a better day it would be, well, better I am sure. Perhaps.
Anyway!
Swansea greeted us with the promise of the first beach of the day. But first, coat! Our goal then was to drive into the city and of course find the city centre. Except, well, we couldn't find it.
Injecting a reminder here that my confidence in driving in the UK was still somewhat low. I was nervous still, learning the signs as I went along, Nick said go this way and that way and I did and then I didn't and then I was up on a hill and we were going who knows where! Drove through a few streets, turny-roundy oy, and finally Nick got us BACK down close to the coastline.
Now I have to say something here about the UK and its signage. According to Nick, they seem to combine a little of what the US does, a little of what Germany does, and alot of whatever else. It was in Swansea that I learned a sign that was quite useless there in Swansea.
First, what I am used to here in the US:
Quite clearly, this is a dead end sign. That means 'do not go down this street if you are trying to get through it, because frankly m'dear, you shall fail.'
Needless to say, while attempting to find a place to park, I managed to take us down one of those dead end streets. And into another, all while Nick was trying to tell me 'dead end! dead end! dead end! DON'T YOU SEE THE SIGN? WHY DID YOU GO THAT?'
'I am just trying to get the hell out of here and get you a damn coat! And me a freaking SANDWICH! And see the freaking COASTLINE! OMG!' (where is McDonald's when you need it?)
I had no idea what he was talking about, in other words, until he vigorously gestured toward this mysterious sign:
'THAT is a dead end sign?' I exclaimed in confusion.
Apparently so.
Somehow we'd driven into a bizarre neighborhood of tiny flats, one story, cars on both sides (no rules there btw about parking only the side of the street you are on, and facing the correct direction). I felt like a rat in a maze. A hungry tired grumpy, grumbly whiny rat. But I finally 'got it' -- sigh.
We finally found a place to park (where lol I could not manage to park the car turning into the right, so we had to go to a different spot where I could turn to the left).
This will give you an idea of this area and our path:
We finally made it to the freakin' beach! And nearly got blown away!!!!
Here I am trying to figure out how to take videos and keep the blowing sand out of my camera.
And a simple picture of the sandy beach:
No, there isn't a picture of Nick because he was grumpy. Couldn't see his face anyway; his hair was all over the place (which was amusing). He was also turning into a popsicle. It truly was amazing how cold that wind blew in July. Just cold enough to get into your bones. I do not want to be on that beach in the winter, thanks!
I made a short video of the sand blowing--can see it best right at the end:
And last, something that I hoped would make us remember Swansea with SOME sort of fondness:
After escaping the beach (and longing for the sunny warmth of Sully's beach) we followed a couple through the maze-like streets as they seemed to know how to get to the Tesco which was our destination. They held hands, we held hands. I wonder if they realized we were following them. LOL.
We finally made our way safely through the busy streets and dove into the Tesco--this was a much nicer one than at Port Talbot. Big! And much to our excitement--they had a nice mens section, and several different coats! Nick got a really nice coat (really, it is quite delicious on him) and we picked out some other stuff. Some candy, some goodies, some I don't know what--oh heck what were those that he liked alot from the bakery (he will read this and remember I am sure) and so we got some of those whatevers...we headed round to the cafe, and got some hot tea...I went to the loo...everything paid for we headed back to the car to eat. And halfway there, we realized we'd forgotten to get sandwiches.
I am pretty sure we were both snarling by then but laughing too, firmly set dead-against liking poor Swansea, but at least he had a coat, right? So we got to the car to eat what we had. It felt good in the car, quite warm, and we planned our next destination which would be Cardigan. First though we needed to reach Caerfyrddin (Carmarthen in English) where the signage flip-flopped--Welsh no longer under the English, but on top of it. We both loved seeing that.
We just KNEW we'd run into someone speaking Welsh then! Uh, no. Sadly disappointed am afraid.
On the map it doesn't look far to Cardigan, does it. Just straight up from Swansea, through Caerfyrddin, then a little bit of a veer to the West and up toward our ultimate destination, Gwbert, the Northwest corner of Wales Nick had chosen for us to see.
That part of the trip, Cardigan and Gwbert and beyond, deserve their own entry however, as that all was my favorite part of the day. So until then, thanks for reading! I promise the wait for the next, best part won't take long (I promised Nick).
But back on even keel again, I think (though the longing remains, always).
So, this post will continue talking about our travels all over Wales.
I believe I mentioned in a previous post that the night before this road trip, Nick had decided we should hop in the car and go on a ten hour trip. Or something like that. I whined about this plan as I was still not very comfortable driving that car. Literally, every time I got behind the wheel I steeled myself, took deep breaths, lit a few mental candles and tossed coins to the gods that I would not make any mistakes and wreck the darn thing. It all worked, apparently, as we got through the week unscathed.
Nick, being Nick (which may or may not have anything to do with his being German--more like it seems to run in his actual family) planned out pretty well where he wanted to go. It would take most of the day, and ended up just over 6 hours in the end.
Knowing we could not count on zipping through McDonald's and such, we tucked away yet another super-duper hearty Ty Rosa breakfast (oh Paul and Stuart, I miss those breakfasts so!) with plans to stop at a Tesco for some munchies later. Really, those breakfasts are HUGE and pretty much one stays full for a long time. Eat breakfast like a king and all that--we did, every morning.
First destination? Down the street! LOL. Actually, first destination was to be Port Talbot.
Here's the map if you'd like to take another look. If it doesn't come up right, look on the left column, the bottom section "Did you mean" and click on the Clive Street address, it will bring up everything correctly.
Road Trip One's Map
It was a little bit rainy that morning as we started out, but honestly it never got really bad. Still, we had a bit of an adventure just getting to the M4, partly my fault I believe, partly the cold hard fact that there is a serious shortage of street signage in this country. Serious shortage. The Supreme Navigator, however, got us going the right direction--which led us to cross the M4 via Llantrisant Road, aka the A4119. (The numbering makes little sense there, either, btw). Got to practice several turnabouts during this part of the trip--by the time the day was over, I think I had hit twenty of them. Really, they are rather awesome.
At last, we were on the M4 (after driving through what turned out to be the worst of the day's rain) and headed Northwest-ish. This also turned out to be the most boring. So much beauty ahead! And so much green! (and so many B roads!)
But first, Port Talbot. Port Talbot is, as you can guess, a port town. Or rather maybe, village. We were cold, we were still without our luggage, and Nick wanted a coat, dammit. I was okay--it didn't bother me as much (not until Swansea anyway) as I had longer sleeves on, but Nick was miserable. It was drizzly, and Port Talbot beckoned us to stop. So we did.
Parking our car (still an adventure for me--did I mention I never did get parking to the right down well?) in a car lot, we paid our pound or so, and headed for what looked like the town centre. I made Nick take a picture of me (don't forget to clicky on it for bigger pictures):
I took a picture of this mini roundabout for some reason:
Then we headed through the mall-like shopping area. While I eyed all the delicious places to eat (sigh, we stopped at none of these, to my regret later) Nick was looking at coat places. We did see a pharmacy and dove in--he always sleeps with ear plugs and wanted some (remember the Arizona-bound luggage? Yeah, they were there). Our room wasn't TOO noisy, but he's a creature of habit and likes his ear plugs. The person who helped us was, as all the people in Wales we encountered, friendly and helpful.
We continued on our walk and saw a Tesco and decided to dive in. That night would be the first episode of CoE and we HAD to have Pimms and Lemonade, so we trotted in and purchased both. We also had an amusing conversation with our check-out lady--a wee bit of a challenge understanding her, I seem to remember. LOL.
The store was right across a river, with a lovely church opposite. So of course, picture time!
A couple more:
Unfortunately, we struck out re: the coat, so it was on to Swansea. Back on the M4 we went!
Nick just called me to see what I was doing, and I told him I was about to write about Swansea.
"Maybe it is a nice city, but I just don't get it," Nick said to me.
We both have not-as-fond-as-the-rest-of-Wales-except-Newport-because-it-sucks memories of Swansea. On a better day it would be, well, better I am sure. Perhaps.
Anyway!
Swansea greeted us with the promise of the first beach of the day. But first, coat! Our goal then was to drive into the city and of course find the city centre. Except, well, we couldn't find it.
Injecting a reminder here that my confidence in driving in the UK was still somewhat low. I was nervous still, learning the signs as I went along, Nick said go this way and that way and I did and then I didn't and then I was up on a hill and we were going who knows where! Drove through a few streets, turny-roundy oy, and finally Nick got us BACK down close to the coastline.
Now I have to say something here about the UK and its signage. According to Nick, they seem to combine a little of what the US does, a little of what Germany does, and alot of whatever else. It was in Swansea that I learned a sign that was quite useless there in Swansea.
First, what I am used to here in the US:
Quite clearly, this is a dead end sign. That means 'do not go down this street if you are trying to get through it, because frankly m'dear, you shall fail.'
Needless to say, while attempting to find a place to park, I managed to take us down one of those dead end streets. And into another, all while Nick was trying to tell me 'dead end! dead end! dead end! DON'T YOU SEE THE SIGN? WHY DID YOU GO THAT?'
'I am just trying to get the hell out of here and get you a damn coat! And me a freaking SANDWICH! And see the freaking COASTLINE! OMG!' (where is McDonald's when you need it?)
I had no idea what he was talking about, in other words, until he vigorously gestured toward this mysterious sign:
'THAT is a dead end sign?' I exclaimed in confusion.
Apparently so.
Somehow we'd driven into a bizarre neighborhood of tiny flats, one story, cars on both sides (no rules there btw about parking only the side of the street you are on, and facing the correct direction). I felt like a rat in a maze. A hungry tired grumpy, grumbly whiny rat. But I finally 'got it' -- sigh.
We finally found a place to park (where lol I could not manage to park the car turning into the right, so we had to go to a different spot where I could turn to the left).
This will give you an idea of this area and our path:
We finally made it to the freakin' beach! And nearly got blown away!!!!
Here I am trying to figure out how to take videos and keep the blowing sand out of my camera.
And a simple picture of the sandy beach:
No, there isn't a picture of Nick because he was grumpy. Couldn't see his face anyway; his hair was all over the place (which was amusing). He was also turning into a popsicle. It truly was amazing how cold that wind blew in July. Just cold enough to get into your bones. I do not want to be on that beach in the winter, thanks!
I made a short video of the sand blowing--can see it best right at the end:
And last, something that I hoped would make us remember Swansea with SOME sort of fondness:
After escaping the beach (and longing for the sunny warmth of Sully's beach) we followed a couple through the maze-like streets as they seemed to know how to get to the Tesco which was our destination. They held hands, we held hands. I wonder if they realized we were following them. LOL.
We finally made our way safely through the busy streets and dove into the Tesco--this was a much nicer one than at Port Talbot. Big! And much to our excitement--they had a nice mens section, and several different coats! Nick got a really nice coat (really, it is quite delicious on him) and we picked out some other stuff. Some candy, some goodies, some I don't know what--oh heck what were those that he liked alot from the bakery (he will read this and remember I am sure) and so we got some of those whatevers...we headed round to the cafe, and got some hot tea...I went to the loo...everything paid for we headed back to the car to eat. And halfway there, we realized we'd forgotten to get sandwiches.
I am pretty sure we were both snarling by then but laughing too, firmly set dead-against liking poor Swansea, but at least he had a coat, right? So we got to the car to eat what we had. It felt good in the car, quite warm, and we planned our next destination which would be Cardigan. First though we needed to reach Caerfyrddin (Carmarthen in English) where the signage flip-flopped--Welsh no longer under the English, but on top of it. We both loved seeing that.
We just KNEW we'd run into someone speaking Welsh then! Uh, no. Sadly disappointed am afraid.
On the map it doesn't look far to Cardigan, does it. Just straight up from Swansea, through Caerfyrddin, then a little bit of a veer to the West and up toward our ultimate destination, Gwbert, the Northwest corner of Wales Nick had chosen for us to see.
That part of the trip, Cardigan and Gwbert and beyond, deserve their own entry however, as that all was my favorite part of the day. So until then, thanks for reading! I promise the wait for the next, best part won't take long (I promised Nick).
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(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-13 02:46 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-13 02:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-13 02:58 pm (UTC)(No, I can't make fun, since when M and I went to San Francisco one September, we had to wind up buying fleece jackets at a tourist trap b/c once the sun went down, it was fucking cold! And wicked windy.)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-13 03:02 pm (UTC)I think you are very brave to have done all the driving. My family always took road trips when I was a kid (and once in Wales) and I have a new appreciation of my dad's mad driving skillz after reading your posts...
Oh, and you looked *hot* in your pic! Yowza!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-13 03:23 pm (UTC)That place, actually, looks nice. I'm easy. I need tourist idea for when I am there. I sense the will all involve getting lost and being cold.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-13 03:24 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-13 04:13 pm (UTC)Loved the pictures! All that stony churchy, canaly wonderfulness ... and then clouds and beach. It sounds like the beach was a bit of a bitch, but I'm a sucker for pictures of clouds ... so ...
keep 'em coming. I love vacation by proxy :0)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-13 04:30 pm (UTC)I know that C was really in love with Port Talbot even if it wasn't the most tourist-attraction town, it was just right there, with some sort of open mall-like walk way with little shops and felt very small-town-any-place with a bit of older history background. Very nice certainly.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-13 05:04 pm (UTC)I think you're very brave, I am totally freaked about the idea of driving abroad and convinced I will do something horribly dumb, especially when turning. I would need to write L and R on my hand at the very least.
Also: you guys are cute. Officially.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-13 05:51 pm (UTC)I can't imagine, but without the 'net, Nick and I wouldn't have met. Believe me, no WAY could I have ever imagined a bouncy German boy would ever be mine, nor see that country--several times now--no way.
I am glad the world has grown smaller.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-13 05:53 pm (UTC)LOL. It was cold to that biting wind. Shiver.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-13 05:55 pm (UTC)LOL thanks. Ten lbs. less of me since then! But I was close enough to floor Nick, for certain. Grin.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-13 05:57 pm (UTC)We were mean to Swansea (and Newport!) but that wind was super-bitey there, more than any other place we saw, even in the same day.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-13 05:58 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-13 06:00 pm (UTC)I love the stonework through out the UK. Seriously. When we zipped through the villages as we headed north, the riot of vivid flowers against the stone work was so eye catching I wanted to stop again and again and take pictures. Alas, we were on a mission to reach the North shore and could not stop.
More coming--and another day too, exploring the Brecons!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-13 06:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-13 06:04 pm (UTC)I had no choice! Nick made me! LOL. Since there weren't any trains to rely on, we had to. It worked out great though, honestly--I did love that car, too, which helped.
The trick is to take one's time, pay attention, and have lotsa maps because, you obscure people you, this not believing in street signs is a pain! OMG! LOL.
And I did do mental 'okay do this now' stuff--especially with the roundabouts until I got used to them.
NEXT time will be awesome! I'll just pop right in that car and say LET's GO! (And get lost...getting in and out of the airport truly confused the hell out of me!)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-13 06:05 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-13 08:01 pm (UTC)Love your pictures, especially the one of the beach :)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-13 09:39 pm (UTC)C, this is gorgeous. It's so GREEN! And historical (ok, I feel like a moron saying "historical" but I guess you know what I mean).
The street signs that make no sense to me are the ones that say "Yield". It took me so, so long to work out that they mean "Give Way". The ones that I keep meaning to take a photo of are the ones that say "Slasher Ahead" when they're mowing the grass...
Looking forward to the "next, best part" you're still to post :)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-13 09:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-14 02:26 am (UTC)And yes, they are.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-14 02:31 am (UTC)I'm looking forward to reading about your next Wales adventures!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-14 01:43 pm (UTC)Well, I guess in Texas, being a friendly state, has nice road signs everywhere to make everyone feel welcome. Go figure! LOL. :)
*blush* Oh posh.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-14 04:09 pm (UTC)I eagerly await the tale of your exploits in Cardigan. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-14 04:19 pm (UTC)And we saw less of Cardigan proper because again, we only stopped for a tesco (that is becoming a pattern here) and then drove on to the edge of that coast for a bit of wind and water.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-14 04:19 pm (UTC)I am working on the Route to Cardigan right now, along the A484. LOL. What a crazy drive that was! Twists and turns and narrowish roads, rain, dodging other cars, what a workout! I would do it again and take more time and try to stop here and there. LOL. It was crazy nuts and lovely, though views were obstructed by green green green :*(.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-17 07:51 am (UTC)I love that phrase! It describes so many places in Wales. Most people think of Wales as totally rural, but much of it is post-industrial. Even where I live there are old gold, lead and copper mines, not to mention the slate.People were mining metals in the area long before the Romans came and South Wales was the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution.