Hodge Podge Wales Post

  
See, the problem with me taking months to make posts is that I forget so much! This is a hodgepodge Wales post just because I don't want to lose some of my favorite pics from the day. (Though the first pic is from Hay-on-Wye, a town with 27 bookstores that is now one of my favorite places on earth and which will get its own post. "Murder and Mayhem" is a bookstore that sells only mystery, thriller, and horror books--the dream!). 

  

We had to be flexible with what we saw in Wales because the weather was so unpredictable--the forecast would say rain and it would be brilliantly sunny, or it would say sun and the day would be bleak and drizzling. So, this extra drizzly day was a slow one! We did have one of my favorite meals in a cozy little pub called The Miller's Arms, which was having not one but two family birthday parties (one for an 80th) while we were there. Across the street was the cutest little pink house.

  

For dessert, Elowen was stoked to have a Biscoff sundae.


    
 
I of course had the pie, which was a turkey and leek one if I recall. I do not get tired of pies--I will never get tired of pies. I also had halloumi fries with chili sauce, another UK staple that I do not tire of. 
 
  
 
And Taylor had white fish, tiny whole fried fish that I would not touch with a 10-foot pole. I loved that restaurant--it just felt so cozy and local and like we were getting a real experience.
 
  

We also kept ending back at Tintern Abbey, not only because I loved it (separate post coming later) but also because it's next to a cute little village (very touristy, but that doesn't deter me). Isn't it lovely and melancholy in the gloom? There's also an abandoned hotel across the street, which was confusing--Tintern Abbey is one of the most popular attractions in Wales and also located in an area with phenomenal hiking, so you would think such a place would be automatic profit. And yet the broken glass and a few tattered curtains waving through the windows speak otherwise.

   
 
A little inn and fun pub (with a Sunday roast buffet!) across from Tintern. We then walked aroung the craftsman village right beyond, which has a waterwheel and the remains of a Tudor dockyard. We met a young waitress in the pub who was born locally and found it beyond boring--her life's dream is to go to an American Walmart and try every flavor of Oreo. And that's very valid--while we only see the beauty of such locations and are awed by the history, when it's your own backyard and there's very little to do, I can see how it's stifling.


  
 
 
  
 
  
 
My favorite shop was filled with green man masks--I planned to get a large one for the wall and then realized they were made out of cast concrete. I settled for a lesser dream and a very small one, as they also don't ship. But aren't they amazing? The green man is a motif in architecture and art and first started appearing on buildings in Britain in the 12th century; there's speculation about their true origins but any real answers are lost in time. 
 

    
 
I also had a clotted cream ice cream from Marshfield's...delicious, so rich and deeply vanilla-y. 

  

We also went to Monmouth, a small town on the English side of the border, to explore and eat lunch--but by the it was pouring, so we just ate lunch and then dashed back to the car. The restaurant we picked was Creates, because I wanted the Mediterranean risotto with halloumi (and Elowen wanted pancakes). The owner was super friendly and his goal was to visit every American state--and he'd actually been to more than either of us so far!
  
  
      
 
Very into the whimsical street lamp art in the back. 
 
    
 
Walking around the town in the drizzle before the sky opened up. 
 
      

After lunch, despite the weather, Taylor drove me to Skenfrith Castle, which is outside of Monmouth. It was first established in 1066 and rebuilt at the end of the 12th century; it and two other castles served as a fortification system that protected Wales for centuries. There's not much to see today, and Taylor and Elowen stayed in the car while I trotted around the perimeter taking pictures and getting soaked.

    
 
And finally, we drove down a very bumpy road looking for a cidery--that turned out to be just a table in a garage. Unfortunately we didn't have cash and there was no working internet to Venmo the owner, so we had a tasting and moved on after getting a brief glimpse into a very different way of life--the very elderly lady running the stand told us she'd moved here from London decades ago after marrying a farmer.


That little book is Wuthering Heights...I could not be a prouder mother.

 
 

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