For my breakfast, I had the Willowbrook breakfast with a pork sausage, bacon, black pudding, fried egg, mushrooms, tomatoes and baked beans. Irene tried the Laverbread Cakes and Bacon with a fried egg. Traditional Laverbread is made from red seaweed from the Welsh coast. Irene liked it. I found it a bit fishy. After breakfast, we looked around the back yard and saw a number of birds that we were not able to identify. Today, we are heading to Tenby, a seaside town, which is about 2.75 hours’ drive from Chepstow. Along the way, we stopped to buy strawberries from a woman selling them from the boot of her car. I wondered if this is what they mean when they say carboot sales. When we got to Tenby, we parked the car in the multi-storey parking lot and made our way to the tourist information office. We got some information and I bought a thimble. Tenby is a walled seaside town in Pembrokeshire, South West Wales, on the west side of Carmarthen Bay. It has 2.5 miles of sandy beaches, 13th century medieval walls including the Five Arches barbican gatehouse, the 15th century St. Mary’s Church, the Tudor Merchant’s House and St. Catherine’s Island which is linked to the town at low tide. Tenby was, until quite recently, known as “Little England beyond Wales” and the town remains a rather anglicised part of Wales. We asked about lunch recommendations and a young skinny woman recommended that we try the Park Road Fish & Chips place. She said her Danish friend did not like it and that should have been our first clue. We went to the place and it was busy. We got haddock and chips and cod and chips. The fish was okay but the batter was greasy. The fries were not that great despite their claim that soaking them in water until they were cooked made for better chips. It got even busier when we were in there. Looks like the British really liked their greasy fish and chips. After lunch, we made our way towards the harbour. The tide was very low today and it was possible to walk to St. Catherine’s Island. Unlike Clovelly, where the cottages are all white, the buildings in Tenby were more colourful, with pastel pinks and blues interspersed among the whites and creams. Most of the stores were geared towards tourists, with a range of craft, art and local goods stores.
From Tenby, we set out for the city of St. David’s. Along the way, we stopped and took a walk on the coastal footpath. We met a very nice couple sitting beside the footpath and we stopped for a chat. We walked for a quite a distance, looking down at the sea and taking photos and then went back to the car. St. David’s was granted city status in the 16th century due to the presence of the 12th century cathedral within its limits but lost it in 1888 when the link was abolished. City status was restored at the request of Queen Elizabeth II in 1994. St. David’s is, in reality, a small village situated within the Pembrokeshire Coast National park and surrounded by spectacular coastal scenery. Next to the cathedral are the magnificent ruins of the medieval Bishop’s Palace. We parked in a lot not far from the Palace and walked into the town. We walked into village under the 14th century Tower Gate. We walked around looking at menus, trying to decide on where to have dinner. We met a woman who was also studying menus and she said the hotel was pretty good. So we walked over to the hotel, read the menu, which looked promising, and went in to find the restaurant. However, it was not opened yet and we did not want to wait. Back out to the street and another discussion. There was a pub with live music but it looked crowded. After we promised Florine that she did not have to eat lamb, we settled on the Bishops, a pub/restaurant on the Cross Square in the centre of the city. We had crab, mussels, steak and lamb (I think). After dinner, we headed back to the car from the back garden of the restaurant. We went into the cathedral even though it was closed after 5:00 pm. There had been a service and people were leaving so we just walked in. We were able to walk around for a while before an officious woman told us to leave. We walked out with a little old lady who was most apologetic and said she should have told us the cathedral was closed. It was not her fault but I guess she felt bad that we had to be “spoken to”. We wandered down the path past tombs and trees and then walked by the Bishop’s Palace again.
The sun was starting to set as we drove along the road to Aberystwyth. We made a short stop at Fishguard Fort for a look around. Fishguard Fort was built following a raid on Fishguard in 1779. It was completed in 1781 and armed with eight 9-pounder guns. We got back into the car and drove until the sun was just about to sink under the horizon. We got out at a layby to watch it set before continuing on our way. We got to Penybont pretty late but John was there to welcome us. He showed us to our rooms, which were not big, but looked comfortable. We chatted with him for a little while, arranged for breakfast to be served at 8:30 am and then he went to catch a program on TV. I signed my life away for internet access and then went back upstairs to settle in for the night.
Where we stayed: Pennybont, Llangorwen, Aberystwyth, SY23 3DW; 44 19708 20159; John
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