Thursday, September 13, 2012

Lovely, Lovely Wales

My trip to Wales was simply lovely. I spent 3 days in Cardiff and 4 in the middle of the Brecon Beacons. Both areas lovely. Driving to Cardiff first of all, we made a bit of a diversion to visit Puzzlewood (see picture) – a completely amazing place. It’s like stepping back in time, standing amongst the ancient trees and stones. It would have been even more magical however if it hadn’t have chucked it down about 15 mins into our visit. At least I got to try out my new rain coat.
In Cardiff, naturally went to the new Dr Who Experience, which was extremely fun and not just aimed at kids – which was what I was afraid of. If you’re in Cardiff at any time in the near future, definitely go. Well worth a visit. The Beacons national park is very beautiful, especially our walk through “Waterfall Country” (see pic).
The best part of the holiday though was spent underground – we went to the National Showcaves, which is a weird mix of geological wonders and plastic dinosaurs, and down a former coal mine at The Big Pit Museum. Again, totally recommend a visit to both, especially the latter, as it was quite emotional learning about how the coal industry affected the surrounding communities. Proper oral history. Honorary mention to the Penderyn Distillery, and especially for Brecon Gin. If you haven’t tried it, you are missing out! It’s so good you can drink it neat.