WEEK OF WALES, last part!

+27°C, phew! Way too hot for me. When you open the front door, the intense heat hits you like a brick wall. Been out for a while earlier, needed to get some bits & pieces (like cat food for the hedgehogs), and also nipped into the craft store Panduro. 

Now I'll stay put in the cool house. With my tub of instant coffee!

On to the third and last part of the trip to Wales last week. So had finished Monday 16th in Swansea in my last blog.

The next day I woke up with a headache & pain in my neck, no energy (oh, the joys of living with EDS.....).  😩
We had breakfast at the Dragon hotel and my head got better after some caffeine. 
Checked out and then left Swansea. Must say I didn't like this city at all!

We drove on to the biggest city in Wales, Cardiff. Wanted to see the medieval Cardiff Castle.

The original castle was built in the 11th century!!

Cardiff Castle is partly set in a beautiful park

Before entering the castle naturally we had to have some coffee!

A delicious cappuccino. I like the foam best!

We ended up at a table next to a mother with her two pretty daughters in their 20's. One of the beautiful daughters had a lovely black &  blue robe, and next to her on the chair was the typical academic exam hat, they're called mortarboards (= akademiker hatt).

We chatted for a bit, she had been studying medicine. Later we saw the whole city of Cardiff was filled with young people wearing the robes and mortarboards. Festive!

Outside the keep  (= förstärkt huvudtorn)

The castle was given to Cardiff City in 1947

There was actually a wedding this Tuesday 17th of July in the castle area!

Interior of the keep

Purple butterfly-bushes were everywhere (we've got white ones in the garden)!

Going inside.....

Stunning artwork, very impressive indeed

Appalling quality of my photo, but check out the snug! Could see myself sitting here reading a good book (in a wing chair), or use it as a crafting space, haha!


After the castle experience we went shopping. Found some crafty things, that I'll write about in a separate blog. My husband finally got his 'fish & chips' (yuk!), then we walked back to the rental car, and left Cardiff.

Decided to drive to Chepstow - the little town where we first started our tour around Wales. Chepstow is such a charming quaint place. Was lovely to return to this very small town, after being in two cities.
Got a room at oldfashioned 'The George'.

View from our room Unfortunately I missed the very confident looking gull (trut fågel), walking on the pavement and in the middle of the road like he owned the town, haha ha! 

Had a lovely dinner in the evening at a Greek restaurant!! 

Mythos

I really like this oldfashioned style

The room at the George was soooo hot. Took me ages to fall asleep (and the guy next door watching tv with the volume on high sure didn't help!). 

Went out in the picturesque town after breakfast, since we the evening before spotted a pound shop! I bought lots of stickers for my art journaling and traveler's notebook in there (two big packs for £ 1).


Left Chepstow before 12 am, and drove on the motorway in very heavy traffic to Horley in England. It's close to Gatwick airport.
Checked into Gatwick Belmont hotel. 

Horley is probably a lovely little town too, but I just didn't have the energy to go out. Had a rest this last afternoon, and ate dinner at the hotel in the cosy lounge (while Donald Trump was on tv once again.........).

Up early the next morning, Thursday 19th. Had breakfast, then checked out and drove back to the car rental place. Shuttle to Gatwick, and later on to the Norwegian aircraft to take us back home.


Had a lovely week in beautiful Wales. We've seen stunning spots in this little country
(but I must say I prefer Swedish plumbing (= VVS)!!!

Have a great week ya' all! Crafty stuff from Wales coming up in the next blog!