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Trip in Wales with Inma (May 2019)
Places that we thought of visiting but did not find time for include the Strumble Head Lighthouse and the Whitesand Bay.
Powis Castle and Garden
The Powis castle.
The Art of mixing stones and flowers.
The statue at the main entrance.
Details.
Admiring peacocks.
Competing in beauty with the surroundings.
Which also make the most uncanny mix of colours.
Side view.
The gardens.
Ready for visiting the interiors.
The Golden Idol in the History of Nebuchadnezzar.
Corridor of a palace.
A bedroom.
And a bathroom.
The gardens were even better (can you see Fabrice?)
Flowers were literally perfect.
Still on the gigantic balcony.
But the lower part of the gardens was the best.
This view was one of the best of the trip.
A castle, a timber house and a British garden!
Going round like orbiting the castle.
Inma and Elena captivated.
Pausing with flowers.
And with the castle.
The fragrance and touch cannot be reproduced, barely remembered.
Julia among garden flowers.
Between gigantic trees and extravagant bushes.
Llangrannog
Llangrannog and its beach, as seen from the coastal path.
Llangrannog's beach.
Inside its cave.
Of course Julia got to practice her favourite beach activity.
Although she was more pensive and musing this time.
Time to walk the coastal path.
A pause to enjoy the view.
Treacherous coastline.
With strong rocky footholds in the sea.
Walking down Braich y Badell.
Interesting layered formation with quartz.
When you like what you see.
Inma was only partly reassured.
And refused to approach anywhere the border.
Little did she know that she was, constantly.
Ynys Lochtyn.
The coastal path on the other side, towards Penbryn.
We merely went down to Llangrannog again, to have dinner.
Penbryn
We had breakfast at the Plwmp tart, which is a fantastic (rare type of) place, preparing their stuff from fresh and high-quality products, and with actual knowledge of cooking. Interestingly, we even found some flowers in the dish, and were unsure if they were edible. As the owner had spotted that Inma was sniffing some plants outside, he later came to present us with something that he offered her to smell, describing it as ajo (
garlic) (he knew a bit of Spanish, but he meant cebolla ( onion)). Since she did not understand the English ("smell this"), she first recoiled in surprise and misunderstanding at the bag that he popped to her face. When I translated, she understood why the bag was so close to her face and smelled with a laugh, commenting that this was cebollina ( scallion) instead. She actually later found the very plant in the woods, which we could therefore taste (the bulb) and confirm that it was some type of wild cebolla, also recognizing the flower that we found in our plate (but still not being able to clarify if this was edible too).
The Plwmp tart: best breakfast ever (with Inma sniffing around).
Their crab sandwich (see the flowers there?)
Towards the beach, through the woods.
A forest of ferns.
Julia among wildflowers.
We met this little guy on our way.
Soon enough, Penbryn Beach.
A stationary bird of prey.
Down at the beach, in the river that parts it in two.
Towards Llangranog (yesterday)'s beach.
Higher cliffs down there already.
Also with caves, and deeper as well.
Fishguard port
At the fortress.
Surveillance.
The coast in this area.
Blue Lagoon and Traeth Llyfn
A bed of rock covers much of the Abereiddy Beach.
What is sandy is under a thin canopy of sea.
Making for a peculiar sight.
The Blue Lagoon...
is a different kind of blue indeed.
A narrow path to cross over.
Down the lagoon.
One can bath there (too cold for us).
Traeth Llyfn.
A gorgeous sandy beach...
with scattered rocky formations.
And in the shields of cliffs.
Making it a
Fragile coast.
View from the end of the beach.
Scenes from a different planet.
Julia drawing on the sand.
Elaborate patterns difficult to understand.
But fun to look at.
Natural separation of the space.
Back on top of the coast, revealing a cavern.
And back towards the Blue Lagoon.
Taking a rest. It's a long walk...
but a beautiful one!
Saint Davids
A cute little city, actually the smallest in the UK.
The main highlight: Saint Davids' cathedral.
Home of Saint Davids, the patron of Wales.
An impressive building that seems to sink on one side.
Establishing a peculiar atmosphere to all its surrounding.
The nearby Bishop's palace.
Inma's pork belly with octopus.
Fabrice's lamb.
Last chance to see, at dawn.
Aberaeron
Sober isolated stone houses...
become packed and colorful a few streets below.
The church surrounded by its Parish.
Llanerchaeron
A posh mansion, with a modest looking exterior .
The posh part of the mansion.
The quarter for ironing.
The room to make beer.
Timeline of the property.
In the farm area.
Julia laughed a lot at this one on top exposing its bottom.
And also had a lot of fun making friend with the horse.
Inma, meanwhile, with more quiet animals.
Stokesay castle
Not in Wales anymore, but in Shropshire,
The Stokesay castle.
With its stunning gatehouse.
A 17th century wood and plaster house.
Julia with the audioguide (in French).
Details of the wood carvings.
Inside the castle.
The main room.
In the main tower.
Julia likes the alcoves.
When asked to go to the courtyard and pause for a photo.
Going round in the moat.
Side view from the church.
Ironbridge
Not in Wales either, of course, but a fitting last stop, since our previous attempt to see this landmark of England was frustrated by the bridge being covered by scaffoldings.
The sight we were longing for!
Julia by the bars which changed the face of the World.
Discussion on the bridge.
View from the other side.
Such an elegant fusion between nature and industry.
Below the structure.
