The Way Home

It’s the train from Cardiff to London - Gatwick.  Although it takes about four hours, with one change, it goes direct to the airport.  Very convienent!

Mel has advised us to try The Yotel, accommodation right IN the airport.  What could be easier for a morning departure...and including time to get through security.  London security seems to find something extra for us to explain every single time.

The Yotel is not too hard to find, and although once I enter the doorway I am convinced I am underground, it is really the ground floor.  The “front desk” is called Mission Control.  There we find a helpful desk person, two bottles of water, information on hot drinks offered 24/7 and the question: 

Do you have any questions?”  How could I?  But, maybe.

Finding our way down the dim purple lighted hall we come to our room, really more like a very small inside stateroom.  We peer in the window...

It doesn’t take long to look around.  It’s small!  Oh, and we have an instruction / explanation brochure.

Everything is as advertised, so after a short tour it’s time to find some dinner back outside of the cocoon. 

Here’s an efficient way to store a chair.  Ah, but where you would set it up, I’m not sure!

Coat hooks on the other side.  The luggage fit under the end of the bed.  The bed, in the sit up position when we arrive, with the mere push of a button, can be flat and regular length.  Might be useful at home!

I have to say, I did pad down to Mission Control later and collect on the free hot chocolate.  The next morning Steve got the cappuccino and latte.  Then, before we knew it we were headed down the hallway in the dim purple light and right out into the world of airport check in, baggage check and yes...security.  This time it was Steve who could not seem to get through the x-ray due to a piece of paper in his pocket.  Oh, and the ukulele...always a case of great interest.  

That was 07:45 London time on May 30th.  We arrive Seattle at 11:45 a.m. same day.  Sort of!  Everything is on time, it’s easy to retrieve the car, and the I-5 is wide open for us.  We are at the ferry landing in time to catch the late 4:30 boat and sleep in our very own beds tonight!  

This ukulele adventure tour has come to an end.  Now...to play all that Scottish music!!  Aye!

Farewell Mel Tour #4: The Best Castle of them All!

You can’t leave yet!!  You haven’t been to the BEST castle of them all:  Caerphilly Castle in Cardiff!  A town with it’s own private castle as a landmark?  There’s no taking your eyes off it, for sure.

At this point, truthfully, I am thinking maybe a wee little bit...um...another castle!?  However, THIS castle comes complete with it’s own dragons inside the castle walls.  It also has a MOAT!  There are many levels of protection, including originally, a draw bridge.  

Here is the red dragon (Welsh) and the blue dragon (not Welsh?).  These dragons magically appeared on the castle grounds over a year ago.  And what do you know...soon baby dragons appeared!  Then they went on tour around Wales to promote Welsh history...and, castles.

No, Steve, you cannot stay.

I told you there is a moat around Caterphilly!  

Tomorrow there is a birthday party scheduled for baby dragons, right here.  But, alas, we have a plane to catch.

Caerphilly Castle dates back to 1268 when construction began.  The majority of it was built in only three years!  Imagine that!

It is surrounded by artificial lakes and is said to have the most elaborate water defenses in all of Britain.

Once again, I think the fair maids and knights must be just ahead of me, around the bend, through the door, up the stairs?

How can you pass by the chance to take a place in the great hall at the dining table?  King Steve and Queen Nan waiting for dinner to be served.  Might be too long a wait.

Ok, I have to admit it.  Caerphilly Castle is the BEST castle of them all!

What a memory to take home with us.  Time to head to the train!

Mel Tour #3: Wales Cultural Center and Cardiff Harbor...Ahoy!

What, you might ask, does your gracious and grand tour guide Mel have in store for you today?  On this beautiful weather day we head to the Wales Cultural Center for the morning, stop in downtown Cardiff to see if the bookstore has a copy of Driving Miss Norma, have a great lunch and then off to the harbor in search of the the Volvo Around the World Racing Boats due in...today!

The grounds at the Cultural Center are divided into living history section with homes, farms and shops of the old days and then an incredible palace and grounds.  

Our lunch stop includes strawberry lemonade!

As it happens, then racing boats are caught in an outgoing tide, so no one will be seeing them until the wee hours of tomorrow morning.  A better plan...we jump aboard the Lady Helen for the last harbor tour of the day.

Something about being out on the water that brings on SMILES!  Big.  Smiles.  

Here’s another thing to smile about.  Mel buys us Welsh cakes, still warm from the oven!  She remembers her mum used to have them ready for her after school.  Yum!  

Tomorrow the tour guide plans a trip to “the BEST castle of them all!”  After all, it’s Wales!

Tours by Mel #2 - Searching for Standing Stones

Me:  Mel, where can we find a Standing Stone?

Mel:  A what?

Me:  You know, like the huge stones standing in a field...that you touch...to Time Travel!

Mel:  Hum.

And so we are off to Brecon Beacons National Park of Wales...in search of wild, breathtaking beauty and...maybe a Standing Stone?

Checking in at the main information desk, we inquire about Standing Stones.  Any around?  Yes!  So, Mel notes down the “quick directions” about go right here, left there, around this corner, looking for...well, a huge stone.  “You can’t miss it!”  Hum.

As we get further into the park the road narrows to a “single track” and even going slowly, a car coming the other way is still a SURPRISE!

Yes on the wild, breathtaking beauty!  

Somebody else is searching for stones too...or...maybe humans?

But wait....over the fence and across the field...there it IS!  The largest standing stone in the park...and right, you cannot miss it!

You’ve gotta love the creative steps that help you get across the fence.

The stone marker leads us a little further down the hillside to the immense stone in front of us.  

Seems we decide to both touch it at the same time....you know...just in case!?

You can try...but you really can’t imagine just how this stone wound up in this place in this position.

Steve makes his own Standing Stone...from a little piece of slate found in the stream.

Ahhh, it’s all about perspective!  

More wild beauty...

Everyday in some way, we are reminded of our two furry family members left behind at Froglanding.  They would love Wales!

And Wales would love them!

Now back to Mel’s backyard for Happy Hour...

Finally, the old red phone booth photo op!  

Our last night in Wales...as tomorrow it’s “One More” castle...and off to the train station headed for Gatwick Airport in London.

Tours by Mel #1: Saint David’s of Wales

Sometimes you have NO idea what you are asking someone to do for you!  This is one of those times.  When gracious and great host Mel inquires about what we might like to see or do as we visit her country, we say: “Oh!  How about a visit to St. David’s?”  If I had done my research I would realize it was asking someone to spend almost two hours driving us to this village by the southern shore, where the massive church of St. David’s stands near the sea.  I had basically, no idea of the distance, nor really, the size of the cathedral.  When the distance was revealed, we tried to back out of it, but gracious great host Mel would have none of it.  We were going.  And, that was THAT.

Oh, MY.  It takes our breath away.  The little Episcopal Church, Saint David’s of Friday Harbor, that we attended for so many years, always seemed to be connected to this far away place in a far away land.  After all, both are named after Saint David of Wales, born in the year 500 A.D.  Both celebrate St. David’s Day with daffodils in vases and leek soup on the stove.  Both have daffodils planted around the grounds.  Both are part of the Anglican Communion.  There, it’s fair to say, the similarities sort of end.  

We stand...and look...and look some more....because we are now standing in that far away place and land.  The year is 2018.  

Feet on the ground.  Here we stand, inside this place and every bit of it feels HOLY.  

There are many side chapels and back chapels and tombs and gateways....but this is the main altar in the nave, or main worship space.

This smaller chapel is in the back of the church.  It’s a long walk past a daily office prayer chapel, over stone floors engraved with names of those gone before us...way, way before, and around the tombs that stand above ground.  

Yet another chance to light a candle.  I can never pass by without stopping with hope and prayer for health and safety.  I love this printed explanation of “why.”  Oh, you can read it in Welsh too!

The one I light is second from the right in the middle row.  First it flickers and then, settles into burning strong and bright.  Strong and bright, a good way to live this life we are given.  

Suddenly there is sound.  SOUND!  And just like that we are an audience for the dress rehearsal for tonight’s program.  A visiting choir, Vox Angelica and Vicars Choral fills the entire building with music...songs from...wait for it...Phantom of the Opera!  The acoustics are ... totally incredible.  We are now pinching ourselves as unbelievably we not only are visiting this place in this far away land, but we are listening to awesome voices fill the air and the sound floats down around us.

A little walk around outside and it’s time for lunch!

Steve overlooking the fields of St. David’s.  Perhaps thinking: “Oh, glad to not be in charge of mowing this!”

Gracious and Great Tour Guide (and Friend) Mel.

We cannot thank Mel enough for this awesome day.  But wait...Tour Day #2 is tomorrow!