Cofi Roc

We visited Caernarfon today. It's changed a bit since I used to live in this neck of the woods. Big posh harbour front development with fancy flats and bistros - probably knocked up about 10-15 years ago when we were riding that wave of blissful financial ignorance...

Still, it's certainly tidied up the place - a far cry from the rough-arse county town I remember, where the locals greet each other warmly with the delightful "iawn cont". Friday nights in Caernarfon used to be like the wild west (maybe it still is), with paralytic young farmers and cofi thugs prowling the bars with clenched fists and murder in their eyes. My welsh was never good enough to risk eye contact on a night out here. You'd never know it now. What a lovely place. Sure, it's still rough around the edges, but it feels like the place has grown up in the last 20 years - even claimed itself a pedestrianised square outside the castle with a bit of caffi culture.

Talking of the castle - we used our Historic Scotland cards to get a free jaunt around this amazing edifice. Forget the nasty history of the place - it's a great playground for the kids, even middle-aged ones like me. I got some smashing photos, but this one tells the story of today's blip.

I also met an old mate of mine, Ken. We have one of his paintings up in the house. Nearly 20 years since I last saw him, and the old hippy hasn't changed a bit. He recommended a pancake place where we had a pleasant, and very sweet lunch. Wetherspoons came to the rescue at teatime..

Finished the day off with a visit to Newburgh beach. After wasting an hour walking over the endless dune system, I realised that we'd parked at the wrong place. Found it eventually... Looks like the weather's changing though. Oh well...