Monday, 29 February 2016

Leap Day in Barmouth

Once again, the countryside looked completely different this morning at Fron Dirion.  Because of the clear sky at night, frost had settled in the valleys.  It looked crisp and beautiful.

Frosty Valley 2.  Gorgeous!

Having checked the weather report in Aberystwyth yesterday, Mum and Dad knew that today was not the day for a long day out.  It was very cold and rain was heading their way.  They didn't much fancy getting caught out in it.  So Dad opened all of the Mystery Day Out envelopes to see what they could do with a morning.

One was a walk to the lake at the bottom of Cadair Idris.  Nope, no fun if it rains.  One was a long B road drive to Lake Vyrnwy, an RSPB reserve...hmmm, possibly.  But what was this?  The last one was a 9 mile walk from Dolgellau to Barmouth.  The weather wouldn't be dry long enough for the walk, but how about a visit to Barmouth?  'Yes!' thought Mum and Dad, 'And we can scurry to the car and come home when it rains!"

Before they headed out, though, a cooked breakfast was definitely the right thing for a frosty Welsh morning.  Dad cooks an awesome breakfast and he used their posh, pretty eggs from Dolgellau.

A rainbow of posh eggs.

Nooooommmmmmm, breakfast!

OK, time to go out.

On the way to Barmouth, they paid 70p to drive over a cool wooden bridge at Penmaenpwll and continued alongside the Maddwch Estuary until they reached the seaside town.  The car park was pretty empty so it wasn't long before they were out and exploring the area.

Brrr it was cold down by the harbour but the railway and foot bridge looked awesome!

Lobster pots with colourful markers.

The buildings of Barmouth were set into the rock face.  Mum and Dad like towns like this.

The sunshine tried so hard to burn through the cloud, but it just appeared as a white glow.  The daffodils were sunnier today!

Mum and Dad wandered into the town, browsing the interesting shop windows and enjoying a nice, quiet mooch.  Barmouth is probably a heaving tourist trap in the summer but today it was very peaceful.

Mum and Dad hadn't seen chocolate covered foam bananas in yeeeeeears!

After a slow pootle up the high street and back, they decided to find somewhere for a spot of lunch.  There were lots of choices but, in the end, they plumped for Myrddins.

Not many eateries have a 'Sausage of the Day'

Myrddins was interesting on the outside and lovely on the inside.  Clean, modern and perfect for lunch.

What a nice place for lunch!

Mum had a jacket potato with cheese.  It was divine!  She hopes the chef at Y Sospan in Dolgellau is reading this blog.  THIS is how you serve a jacket potato!!

Dad had a lamb and mint sandwich on bloomer bread.

Well, between the cooked breakfast, the chocolate foam bananas and the delicious lunch at Myrddins it is safe to say that Mum and Dad were feeling rather.....wait, what's THAT?!

No.  Nonono, they really, REALLY shouldn't...

But oh YES, they did!  Salted Caramel for her and Ferrer Rocher and Chocolate for him.  Nooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!  Naughty Mum and Dad!

Thank you for the delicious ice cream, Knickerbockers of Barmouth!

For the first time in forever, Mum and Dad's ice cream stayed frozen in the cone until it was all gone.  No drips, no hurrying and getting brain freeze, no slurping at wrists or increasingly sticky tissues.  Lovely.  Of course, the reason for this was the icy wind blowing in from the sea, and with it came the first few spots of rain.  Uh oh!  Time for home!

Back at Fron Dirion the rain started falling very heavily.  Dad had a snooze and Mum had a bit of quiet time crocheting a blanket for her not-yet-arrived Granddaughter.

Even though the rain was still falling heavily, it was decided that another meal out would be lovely.  Unfortunately, the place they had chosen, The Brigands Inn in Mallwyd, was closed for refurbishment.  So Mum and Dad went back to the Cross Foxes.  Mum really wishes she hadn't left her camera in the car because she had trout for the first time and it was deeelicious.  Dad had a juicy Welsh Black 'Beast' Burger and he enjoyed that too.

They went home in the cold and the dark and the rain and snuggled up to watch The Martian from the mystery item pile.  It was brilliant!

Sunday, 28 February 2016

A Day in Aberystwyth. Part Two: Sunshine!

Back in Aberystwyth, Mum and Dad thought that it would be quite nice to see a little more of the historic town.  They don't much enjoy trawling around shops or busy high streets so they headed for the castle by the sea,  They parked up and went down onto the beach for a short stroll.




What's the story in Aberystwyth, wouldn't you like to know?

The sea glittered, the pebbles sparkled and the sun beamed down on Mum and Dad.  It felt lovely and warm and definitely not like a day in winter.

After their stroll, it was time to visit the castle on the hill.



The castle was ruined but still a nice place to go.  It seemed to be a fairly busy place with plenty of benches for the Uni students to chill out and grassy areas where a family were playing football.  It had a cheerful feeling to it and it was nice to see the grounds being used by people of all ages.  The hill wasn't extremely high, but it still gave great views over the town.

Looking over the water to the clifftop railway.

Aberystwyth had some very interesting buildings.

Mum and Dad found a bench and sunned themselves for a while as they gazed out over the water.

Dad <3

They could see all the way to Snowdon!

This old chap seemed to be enjoying the views just as much as Mum and Dad were.

It was time to head home, get dressed into something a tad smarter and find somewhere nice for an evening meal.  The drive home seemed to go really quickly and Mum and Dad were pleased to see that the sunshine that shone on them in Aberystwyth was also shining on them at Fron Dirion.  Mum was not pleased to see three sheepdogs running down from the farm when she tried to open the bottom gate, however.  They attacked the car bumper, they attacked the car tyres and then one of them bit Mum on her calf.  Ouch, poor Mum =(

Mum calmed down by taking yet _more_ photos of the cottage and surrounding hills.  That made her feel much better.


Beauty on the doorstep.


Valley 1.


And beauty on the other doorstep.


Valley 2.


Oh yes, Mum was in love with the place alright!

They both got changed into their 'going out' outfits and headed to the Cross Foxes, a bar and grill in the middle of nowhere at the foot of Cadair Idris.  On the way, they were delighted to witness a beautiful sunset.


Mum thinks Dad is lovely for stopping the car so that she could take a photograph.

At the Cross Foxes, they were seated at a quiet table for two.  It had a little candle on it.  Mum was happy about that because they weren't allowed to have candles at the cottage because they might set the carbon monoxide alarm off.  So hurrah for little table candles!


Here's a scrubbed up Dad.


He had a 12oz Siroin steak that was cooked rare, just how Dad likes it.  Dad getting a steak cooked the way he asked it to be cooked is very...rare.


Here's a scrubbed up Mum.


She had a melty-in-the-mouth pot roast brisket of beef.

Their meal at the Cross Foxes was delicious and very filling.  Neither of them had room for dessert and so they headed home in the pitch dark.

Once they had changed, they sat in the dark garden for a while, even though it was bitterly cold.  Of course...there's something about cold nights in the pitch dark that makes them extra special...


Stars!

What a fun-filled day Mum and Dad had had.  And what a lucky weather day they had had too!  They went indoors to warm up and cosied on the sofa watching the new Bond film, Spectre from the Mystery items pile before heading off to bed.

A Day in Aberystwyth. Part One: Choo choo!

During the course of last evening, Mum and Dad had a chat about what to do today.  Because of the cottage location, mobile and tv signals were non-existent but they had both checked the weather reports whilst they had a phone signal in Dolgellau.  It looked like a fine, dry day was ahead of them and so Dad chose the Mystery Day Out envelope with the codename Choo Choo.

They were pleased to see that the weather was just as dry as promised when they got up this morning.  Mum popped out for a moment to look at the hills.  The sunshine came out and the sheep looked very content.



Valley 2 looked green and inviting.  Lucky sheep!

Some of them looked like they were up to something.

This babbling brook ran right alongside the cottage and down the hill where it met the Afon Cerist.  It made a lovely sound and Mum thought it would be lovely to sit in the garden in summer.

After breakfast, Mum and Dad made an early start as the envelope said to be at the postcode for 10.15 prompt.  The drive would take about 55 minutes so Mum had booked tickets yesterday to avoid disappointment.  They set off down the hill.

Through the first gate.  See you later Fron Dirion!

Through the second gate, near the outbuilding without windows or doors.

Down over the fields and through the third and final gate.

They went over Death Mountain and over the two bridges and joined the main road.  It took them past Dinas Mawddwy, the nearest village and through Machynlleth with its lovely clock tower.  The drive was very nice and the sunshine grew stronger.

They found themselves driving down and down into Aberystwyth, noticing a castle by the sea on the way, and parked in the car park for the Vale of Rheidol Railway.


Before long, they had been to the office where Mum picked up their tickets and they had had a quick browse around the shop.  Then Mum and Dad made their way onto the platform where the carriages sat on the track waiting for passengers.  Mum asked Dad where he would like to sit and, since they're both a bit bonkers, they chose the open air summer carriage.  They were the only ones that did....funny that!

The waiting carriages.

The engine chuffed back and joined onto the carriages and with a pip of the whistle, they were away!  They chugged slowly out of Aberystwyth and crossed a road at a level crossing.  One of the engineers had to get out and press the plunger to activate the warning lights for cars.  Mum told Dad it felt a bit like a pelican crossing, but for trains.

Mum liked the engineer's purple dungarees.

They carried on along the track, journeying over wide, flat countryside.  The wind was a bit chilly in the summer carriage and Mum and Dad's eyes watered a fair bit.  Dad was sitting behind Mum so that they could both have the best view.  When Mum turned round to Dad she had to giggle...his eyes were streaming and he had bits of coal dust on his face.

Mum obviously had her camera at the ready.  Taking photographs was quite hard because as soon as she focused on something, the train had moved them along.  But she did her best to capture lots of memories.

Geese in a watery field.

Two red kites!

Lots of sheep.

They stopped at a few stations, sometimes to shovel coal into the furnace and another time to take on more water.

Glug, glug, glug.

After a while, the train started to climb and the scenery changed to more hilly surroundings.  The little engine had to work quite hard to climb the 700m into the hills to their destination.  Up and up they climbed until Mum and Dad were looking down into the valley at all of the interesting things to see.  Houses, birds, frightened sheep, a dam, a weir and the meandering river.






And then the train carrying Mum and Dad arrived at Devil's Bridge.  They were feeling a little bit chilly from sitting in the summer carriage and were ready for a walk to warm themselves up.  They made haste for the road but Mum took a moment to take a picture of the little engine that had carried them all the way into the hills.

The little engine and green too, Mum's favourite!

In the envelope was a map of Devil's Bridge which mentioned two available walks.  One took 10 minutes and the other took 45 minutes.  Mum and Dad chose the 45 minute walk as they usually walk at a good pace, but they hoped they wouldn't miss the train back to Aberystwyth!

They found the turnstile and popped in their money and entered the walking trail.  Straight from the off there was a viewing platform to see the bridge that gave the village its name.  The famous bridge is actually three bridges built on top of each other.  The first one was built between 1075-1200, the second was built on top of the first in 1753 and then in 1901, an iron bridge was built on top of the second!

Here are the three bridges that make up Devil's Bridge.

Mum and Dad quickly moved on and made their way down the trail.  Going down is always easier so they thought they would keep a fast pace in order to have time to ascend at the other side.  It was very steep indeed and the trail was quite challenging with roots and leave sand moss and uneven steps.

It wasn't long before the intrepid pair got their first view of the famous waterfalls.

The waterfall fell in stages.

And came out into the valley on the other side.

 Mum and Dad moved along with a great pace, despite the roots and wonky steps.  Well, that was until they discovered...

Jacob's Ladder!

Jacob's Ladder is a set of 100 continuous steps.  And they are not just any steps, oh no.  They are steep, uneven, scary steps and even Mum felt a bit perturbed by them.  Metal barriers jutted out all the way down from alternating sides, probably to catch falling people!  Mum and Dad's pace definitely slowed right down for this bit!  Mum stopped on the way down to take a photo of one of the waterfalls.


Holding tightly onto the handrail once more, they carefully picked their way down.  The steps seemed to go on forever but finally they found the bottom.

None of Mum's photos managed to show quite how steep the steps were.

Around the corner was an unusual little bridge.  It was very curved.


Mum and Dad climbed over the bridge and started making their way up the other side of the gorge.  There were plenty of viewing platforms which gave the hyperventilating couple time to catch their breath.




With aching, heavy legs and hearts beating nineteen to the dozen, Mum and Dad were no longer feeling the cold.  They'd had quite a hard walk and had time constraints to take into consideration but...they did it!  They only took about 30 minutes to do the 45 minute walk and arrived back at the station in plenty of time to buy a sandwich from the station cafe.

It was unanimously decided that sandwiches would taste better whilst tucked away in one of the closed carriages and so our leg-weary pair climbed aboard and settled down to eat.  They enjoyed the ride back to Aberystwyth and the sun carried on shining for them all the way.

But the day didn't end there, just this blog post =)