WE’RE SAFELY HOME!

We left our lovely lakeside Boathouse at 9.30 this morning and finally arrived home at 6 p.m. this evening - well we did want to come home the “pretty way” but “Mrs. What’sHerFace”, she of our Satnav, kept taking us down little side roads that seemed to lead nowhere - or told us to turn right when there was no road! She was not every popular, as you can imagine, especially when we were stuck in a traffic jam in Hereford for about half an hour. It’s a good job that Mr. HCB is very patient.

We left Lake Ysceifiog in bright sunshine, and Mr. HCB wanted to come home via Llangollen, but the weather deteriorated and there was a lot of cloud over the mountaintops. We stopped at a café at Horseshoe Pass and could hardly see, but it was better once we got down into Llangollen, although still not sunny.

We parked the car and walked back to take some photographs of the River Dee - apparently the bridge across the river was built in the 16th century, so it has lasted well and in the main photograph at the bottom of the collage, you can see the water tumbling - and there is even a train in the background at the station.

Llangollen is well known for its International Musical Eisteddfod and attracts singers and dancers from around the world who take part in competitions during the day, followed by concerts in the evenings. Over 5,000 singers, dancers and instrumentalists perform to audiences of more than 50,000 over the 6 days of the event. Many famous people have performed there, including Luciano Pavarotti, Julian Lloyd Webber and Mr. HCB’s nephew, Kelvin!

The Welsh triple harp in the middle of the collage is 14 feet high and made of stainless steel incorporating doves of peace. It stands outside the field where the Eisteddfod is staged and according to the advertisement, the 2019 Eisteddfod will be held from 2nd to 7th July.

We wandered around Llangollen for about an hour - and I rather liked the butcher’s shop in the middle right of the collage - with a typical Welsh name, Gwyn Davies. We have certainly seen plenty of Welsh sheep in the fields on our journey home - and I’m sure we will enjoy our Welsh lamb with the lovely Welsh vegetables we were given on Sunday.

We then meandered home through Wales, still enjoying the glorious colours of autumn, but we are quite tired now, so will be putting our feet up for the evening - well once we have unloaded all our bags and the cases!

Today I am grateful for:

1. A safe journey home
2. Mr. HCB doing all the driving and never complaining once, despite two women giving him directions!
3. A warm home - but sadly no wood burner tonight - ah well, we have wonderful memories.
4. WiFi!!