Sunday, August 12, 2007

Our journey to Cardiff, Wales

(taken from my notes, Thurs July 19) 

We left our hotel at 6 am by taxi. I ate a chocolate éclair on the train, with tea. I slept most of the ride. I was amazed at how smoothly the Chunnel ride is! It was lovely. We took 3 hours to get to London. 

We went to Waterloo, then to Paddington, from Paddington we caught the train to Cardiff. I bought a little bear at Paddington Station! My only regret is that I'm always in a RUSH and must do everything quick, quick, quick! It is making me dizzy! It was sunny in Cardiff. We got a taxi to our bed and breakfast. 

After unpacking our things, we got another taxi to St. Faggan's, one of Wales most popular out door museums. It was a lovely place! Afterwards we called and had another taxi take us back, on the way also stopping at the house at #4A Treharris Street, where my paternal grandma, Alma May (Palmer) Williams was born in 1908. It was odd seeing the house in such great shape, and staring at the street where she began life. We don't know how old she was when she moved to Penygraig, where her father and 2 brothers worked in the coal mines. 

It's very strange to be here at last. We ate supper in a good pub just down the road from our B and B. We're in a neat Victorian area. All the homes are being re-done for bed and breakfasts. Some of them have wonderful gardens. Ours is plain stone with weeds growing through the cracks, but it's very clean inside. It's odd though, as they use economical lights in the hallways. When you've passed through, they turn off and you are plunged into darkness! When you move, they come on again. I don't like it at all, as I love light!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sometimes in the middle of the day I remember what Matt said 'why would you just stand there, frozen, when you could just move and the lights would come back on?' Doesn't he make you laugh all day? Tell him ' a cold fear moves up my legs to my arms and all sensation leaves my limbs'. So you got the pavement with weeds, did you? Welcome to the real world.

Anonymous said...

Some of your comments remind me of the last time I visited Wales--a cold and rainy time. The villages looked so dark and dreary. My thought was "Thank God my family left here and moved to Canada!" Other visits had happier memories. The coast is glorious with waves crashing on the rocks. And when the sun shines, as you remarked, the valleys are a brilliant green.