Wild About Wales

Today we arrived in Wales. It’s a beautiful country with rolling hills and sheep as far as the eye can see. As soon as we crossed over the border there was a visible difference from England. Signs were in Welsh first and then English. We’ve been trying to find patterns in the language, but are still struggling with it.

Most people who visit Wales start in Cardiff, but we were headed for mid Wales to see Anthony and cousin Mae’s aunt Pip and uncle Iain in the lovely town of Llanwrtyd Wells in Mid Wales.  We had the chance to meet Pip last year when she was in Toronto visiting her sister Rosemary, (Anthony’s mom).

After driving through a military firing range, (really!), we made our way through the wandering sheep to their lovely home which is a B &B called Ty-Carreg.

We spent a great evening conversing about world issues, travel, education,
and much more. It was a lovely to see family in such a beautiful setting.

We all had a very restful sleep; Oliver and I stayed in the French room, while the girls were excited to stay in the outdoor caravan on their own.

We woke to spectacular views outside our window and can totally understand why Pip and Iain selected this location for their retirement. (The white dots are sheep – they’re everywhere!)

There were two other guests from Australia and the lady Linda just finished her first novel. Two years ago, she came to research castles as part of a book she was writing, but went in a different direction and wrote a fantasy/science fiction novel. It’s neat the people you can meet when travelling. It’s super for our kids to be exposed to all these different people from around the world.

During our spectacular breakfast, Pip and Iain shared their experiences with bee keeping and making honey. They used to have over 40 hives at one point and make all their own honey, which they serve at breakfast.

We also had a special treat as Iain played their beautiful pipe organ. Afterwards, the girls also had a chance to play and see how the different sounds could be generated through the pipes.

As we were leaving, Iain could resist showing us all his “toys”, which include a Land Rover, (for their African travels), an MG, and a convertible Jaguar.

Our stay at Ty-Carrig was a great way to start our travels through Wales and into Scotland. Pip and Iain were super hosts and we thoroughly enjoyed our time in Llanwrtyd Wells.

*****One thing to check out in this city are the crazy World Alternative Games – they have events such as Bog Snorkling, Worm Charming and many other crazy events – what a fun place to live!

Food From Wales

We are only spending a very short time in Wales, so we are unable to add to our Global Fieldtrip Cookbook, but we can add the great Welsh breakfast Pip made for us at the Ty Carreg B&B!

This offering included, fruit salad, cereals, yogurt, eggs, toast, potatoes, mushrooms, roasted tomatoes, sausages, and bacon. All plates were completely cleaned off and the girls especially loved all the jams, jellies, and homemade honey. Everything looked really beautiful and the girls are learning how to set up a pretty a table for breakfast! Maybe we can run a B&B one day too!