Windy Wales
Leading to the Wales weekend, I heard from my work pals that we were going to encounter wind and rain. Rather than damper my spirits, I looked into the beauty of Wales. It is idyllic countryside with rolling green hills with or without windy weather. Since my parents were coming, I wanted to take them somewhere new and rivaled past trips to Ireland and Scotland. Mary Frances and I hadn’t been to Wales yet so it made for a great weekend trip![divider class="" ]Planning:Per usual, I consulted my Top 15 Destinations in the UK guide and immediately fell for the raw beauty of Wales - specifically Brecon Beacon National Park. Since my parents usually don’t like big cities, I figured a tiny village in a national park would suit them! Although I don’t have any hiking gear with me, I knew we could handle a little hike or so and be just fine!
Brecon is 3 hours west of MK/London so it would be a bit of a drive for a weekend trip. Looks like I am slowly turning into Brits by complaining about small driving times! There are not many ways to get there and people told me Wales is known for two things: always raining and having terrible roads. For my parents, I recommended they take the scenic route on the way there! They drove through Cardiff while Mary Frances and I went for the fastest way possible![divider class="" ]Lodging:My mom found a wonderful B&B called, The Lodge B&B, in a small village called Llanfrynach (good luck saying that!) with Steve and Bronwyn. Unfortunately, due to a little place called work, Mary Frances and I did not arrive until 11pm so we did not get to see the BnB at sunset.
In the morning, the scenery is beautiful. Immediately outside, we were surrounded by tall hills and scenic meadows with plenty of sheep! Steve served us a lovely breakfast with bread and really tasty bacon. It was my favorite bacon since arriving here! Everything is so quiet and extremely relaxing after a hectic week in London. It is the perfect getaway with the perfect company!
[divider class="" ]Activities:Since we were located in the middle of a national park, the most common activity is hiking. Dad talked to our B&B and scoped out potential trails and picked a nice and easy one. Being a proper Eagle Scout, my dad forgot the map at the BnB. Luckily, Mom had taken a picture of the map and I led the expedition through the rolling meadows. Basically, hike #7, led us to the best view without having to hike the tallest peak.
To get there, we walked through a green meadows and pastures. It was beautiful and the directions were as simple as: walk diagonally through 2 meadows, around the gate, and past the Roman tower. Of course, there was no tower! It provided laughs as we stopped for the view and many pictures. As predicted, the weather started to make a turn for the worst and we dealt with strong winds and stormy clouds. Fortunately, we did not have any rain! Just nearly blown off the hilltop!!
After our meadow and hills adventure, we went into Brecon for a wonderful meal. I had easily the best dessert in a long time and I stumbled on it by looking at the next guy’s meal. The deliciousness is called a chocolate flap jack and it is basically a warm brownie with caramel filling and ice cream! Yummy!
We decided to make one last go of nature and explore a few waterfalls. We all wished we brought our wet willies as we had to walk through water and mud. All for spectacular falls…. It was nothing special.. Probably due to we were on the wrong side of the river and we could barely make out the falls from the treeline.
On Sunday, we split up and Mary Frances and I went straight back home to deal with life while Mom and Dad went to Stratford Upon Avon. We thought about going on another hike, but it would have been another 3+ hours and then we would have had to drive back tired and sweaty.[divider class="" ]Wales is charming, windy, and peaceful. Experiencing it with family is an amazing experience! I cannot wait to go back and pronounce: Llanfrynach and my favorite Welch word: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
[divider class="" ]The UnChartered 13: