Exploring Western Wales!

We set out from our Travelodge around 10am and drove northwest towards the town of Cardigan. The weather kept changing from sunny one moment to dark overhead clouds to patches of drizzle. There wasn’t much at Cardigan so we continued driving along the west coast of Wales looking for nice towns to check in at. Uncle Alex took a gamble and we left the beaten track for the small village of Tresaith. We weren’t disappointed this time! We found a nice stretch of sandy beach with steep seaside cliffs. As rain clouds threatened we didn’t stop long but headed on to the next town of Llagranog. This turned out to be another great find! We parked near the beach and before us was a gelato store! We all grabbed gelato (I had irish cream and strawberry!), then walked up a hillside adjacent to the beach to get a nice view. We weren’t up there for long before it started drizzling again and we had to go down! Filled up with gelato, we continued on!

We headed 26 miles north towards the next large town of Aberystwyth. Along the way we made a brief stop at Aberaeron which seemed to be a happening place given the number of people about! We had a look at some nice little gift and craft stores there. Then it was on to Aberystwyth itself! We headed straight for the marina. Di and I managed to find the English football team’s away jersey for her cousin’s nephew in LA that we’re staying with. When we came out, Uncle Alex had found a restaurant that was serving a Sunday carvery!

It was about 3pm by the time we sat down to our plates of roast beef, roast turkey and roast veges! The lady carving was not only terribly slow in serving but also unable to carve properly! As a result we received bits and pieces of meat rather than slices! Anyhow it was all good! I was half full to start with and way past my stop sign when I was done!

When we emerged from the restaurant, bellies full, it was drizzling again! Onwards we drove through the towns of Machynlleth and Dolgellau to the town of Porthmadog. This seaside town was quiet and dead as it was late Sunday afternoon already. We had a quick walk around the inlet as the sun emerged from behind the clouds. Then it was back in the car!

We drove inland through lovely valleys and over lush mountains with plenty more sheep! After passing through Bala we started looking for a pub to have an evening drink! Now that we wanted one, it was so hard to find one! We pulled into the small village of Corwen and spotted a hotel. Walking by it though it appeared shut so we headed onto another one. This was too noisy so we head on to the next one! The last one turned out to be shut! Frustrated we headed back to the car when we walked past that first hotel and realised that it was in fact open! We went in for drinks. I tried a lime and lager. The lady there was rather nice but must’ve miscalculated the price cos it only cost 5.80 pounds all up for the five of us!

We drove on to Llangollen, the last Welsh town before our final destination for the day - Shrewsbury. Llangollen was really picturesque! We walked over its bridge before spotting a nice pub near the river with an outdoor deck. Upon entering ‘The Corn Mill’, we found a friendly Welsh pub full of mainly young people. We enjoyed our second drink within the hour and nice views of the river.

Around 8:30pm we head off for our Travelodge in Shrewsbury! We drove along the A5 and were so relieved to pull into it after a long day of mostly driving! When we checked in however, we were told that we were at the wrong Travelodge! We were at the Baston Hill Travelodge rather than the Battlefield one! The guy gave us a map to the nearby one we were supposed to be staying at but we went almost 10miles the wrong way after misreading his dodgy map! We eventually pulled into the Battlefield Travelodge and checked out the Spar convenience store there before retiring to our rooms! We skipped dinner and snacked on chips, fruit, and chocolate for supper! So all in all a long day of mostly being in the car but we saw heaps of nice Welsh countryside! What lies in store for us tomorrow?!