Somebody (L) thought it was a good idea to go for a holiday in January. Fortunately the shores of Britain are warmed by the Atlantic and we escaped the storms of the US. Five of us and Siena drove north and to the Llyn peninsula to stay at a holiday farm just north of Pwllheli. This stay was much quieter than the last. In our company was N & E who have been stuck in Aberystwyth without a car and without the opportunity to explore the great land of Wales. The trip turned more into showing off Wales more than anything else.
We arrived in the dying light of Friday afternoon after driving through Snowdonia with perfectly blue skies. Relaxing after a tough week we chilled out after dinner with a few games and a screening of Twin Town. It is about and takes place in Swansea (the wrong end of Wales from where we were) but a nice introduction into fine Welsh cinema. Maybe a showing of Caught in the Act is next?
The next morning L made the bold move of making American style pancakes for the other four guests, all Americans. She did quite a good job. After breakfast we loaded up the cars and headed to Castell Cricieth. It was N & E’s first more-or-less real Welsh castle experience. The weather was beautiful and we could see Harlech across the bay and four paramoters above town. It was going well until Siena barked/yelled at me for climbing on the walls.
Beaches of Cricieth
After the castle we headed over to Portmeirion for a picnic lunch (remember this is January) and L, N, & E spent the rest of the afternoon touring Portmeirion and playing the role of the Prisoner groupies. As Siena couldn’t walk around there, our family drove a few miles north to Beddgelert. We took a nice riverside walk and visited the grave of the legendary Gelert. Siena didn’t really know what to make of the dog statue.
Sunday night was spent doing something I have not done in a long, long time…we went bowling! There is no full sized bowling alley anywhere near Aber so I had yet to go bowling in Britain. Now I wasn’t expecting the whole Dude experience, but this was the smallest bowling alley I have been in at 8 lanes. The wall paintings more than made up for that though:
Welsh Bowling
After destroying everyone with my ~110, we headed back to the farm for a few more games. On the way back to Aber we stopped at our two usual stopping places: Harlech Castle and Dyffryn Ardudwy Burial Chambers. Upping the ante even more from Aber and Cricieth, N really enjoyed Harlech Castle. The weather was great all weekend. It was great to get away if only for a weekend. I think it was good for the others too. I know we have at least two more converts to the “Siena is the best dog in the world” fan club.
Tags: bowling, Cricieth, Portmeirion, Pwllheli