We seem to have a thing for short trips of late; last year it was Somerset, then New York; this year Paris and Wales. Really quite enjoying it. It seems an adequate breather with a time limit that forces one to be active and go about to view as much as possible. Very invigorating as well.
We popped off to Brecon Beacons in South Wales at the behest of my sis. We were very lucky with the weather and arrived at a pretty B&B just south of the National Park. It was owned by a delightful couple, Stan & Sharon Parker who baked fresh bread for us everyday and made superb porridge for breakfast. We all sort of fell in love them with them and Stan asked about my spelt bread, which I had with me in tow and he confessed to attempting to make mung bean bread. I wanted him to be my grandfather right there and then ^^
We started the trip by visiting a waterfall - Henrhyd Waterfall to be exact which was splendid and very powerful in its sheer surge. The descent to view it was exciting, the wooded area around us extremely lush and green. The green of Wales is quite another - it really pops out at you. The next day we went to the Showcaves, which unfortunately I could not capture on my stills camera, thanks to the batteries dying but I did get footage on the video cam. It was wonderful in the caves, water filtering through crevices everywhere, shaping the rocks and stone into interesting features; stalagmites and stalactites dotted all over the place. One cave was called the Cathedral cave and you could get married there :D How elemental! It was full of pure clean underwater pools and then you follow the path winding down which curves out to have two gushing waterfalls careering down on either side, so you essentially walk through a wall of mist, (what would it be like for the bride's hair?). All the while they were pumping Pachelbel's 'Canon' which is completely unnecessary but *shrug*
That was the highlight of that day. The next we were on our way back but took the long scenic route through Monmouthshire and Gloucestershire. We happened to stumble across the National Visitors Centre in Powys thanks to a much needed toilet break and we found a wonderful market selling all sorts of lovely wares. Safe to say we did a fair bit of buying here, what with most of the good local to that region alone. Glad to have done my part for local business ^^
Once you leave Wales, the English Midlands countryside has a less dramatic feel and its sort of becomes samey all the way back to the M25.
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