The beach and The Village
Gary, Ann and I arrived safely in Talybont on Friday evening, having stopped in the Tesco at Portmadog on the way down. The coastal road we took down the coast is rather narrow, with stone walls to the side, and I was in a state of nervous tension about the wing mirror for part of the time. However, we arrived all intact at the bungalow. The drive is about 1 in 4 steep most of the way, fortunately there's a flatter section at the top, though large wooden chocks are provided to put behind the wheels.
The bungalow is nice and cosy, and well equipped; the owners live just over the road, so can come over quickly if we need anything, and are very friendly. After two days of travelling, Gary and I felt that we needed a quieter day, so most of Sat was spent resting. We did venture out to Barmouth in the late afternoon. The beach has lots of golden sand, with just a few stones. It was a lovely evening, so I took my shoes and socks off and enjoyed walking barefoot on the warm sand. After the beach, we went into the little arcades, and blew some money on the games there. We decided to eat out; the first two places we tried were packed, and as Gary doesn't care for fish, if there's the remotest possibility of bones, which ruled out chippies and the seafood restaurant, we ended up at the Barmouth. This is a fairly standard sort of pub, with ordinary beer, a tv showing football, and a very standard menu. We both had the burger and chips, which were distinctly average. Back at the bungalow, we played a couple of games of Hey, That's My Fish! and a couple of Phase 10.
Today, all three of us went out to Portmerion. It's a very beautiful place, especially on a nice sunny day. It's hard to believe you're in north Wales, with all the Italianate architecture and the lovely gardens, palm trees and all. The fact that most of the staff chat to one another in Welsh just adds to the surrealistic feel. We had lunch in an Italian restaurant, wandered around a few shops, took photos and stopped for a gelato. Gary and Ann had the whiskey flavour and I had the Turkish Delight, complete with bits of chocolate. I bought small bottles of apricot liquer and Welsh cream liquer, and a tin of mulled wine travel sweets, which on closer inspection, turns out to have been made in Sheffield S6. We came back via another route, which wasn't as narrow, didn't have stone walls, and was rather less stressful on the nerves.
Future plans involve trains, mountains and castles.
The bungalow is nice and cosy, and well equipped; the owners live just over the road, so can come over quickly if we need anything, and are very friendly. After two days of travelling, Gary and I felt that we needed a quieter day, so most of Sat was spent resting. We did venture out to Barmouth in the late afternoon. The beach has lots of golden sand, with just a few stones. It was a lovely evening, so I took my shoes and socks off and enjoyed walking barefoot on the warm sand. After the beach, we went into the little arcades, and blew some money on the games there. We decided to eat out; the first two places we tried were packed, and as Gary doesn't care for fish, if there's the remotest possibility of bones, which ruled out chippies and the seafood restaurant, we ended up at the Barmouth. This is a fairly standard sort of pub, with ordinary beer, a tv showing football, and a very standard menu. We both had the burger and chips, which were distinctly average. Back at the bungalow, we played a couple of games of Hey, That's My Fish! and a couple of Phase 10.
Today, all three of us went out to Portmerion. It's a very beautiful place, especially on a nice sunny day. It's hard to believe you're in north Wales, with all the Italianate architecture and the lovely gardens, palm trees and all. The fact that most of the staff chat to one another in Welsh just adds to the surrealistic feel. We had lunch in an Italian restaurant, wandered around a few shops, took photos and stopped for a gelato. Gary and Ann had the whiskey flavour and I had the Turkish Delight, complete with bits of chocolate. I bought small bottles of apricot liquer and Welsh cream liquer, and a tin of mulled wine travel sweets, which on closer inspection, turns out to have been made in Sheffield S6. We came back via another route, which wasn't as narrow, didn't have stone walls, and was rather less stressful on the nerves.
Future plans involve trains, mountains and castles.