28/1 Caernarfon Castle & on to Prestatyn

After making some toast and coffee for breakfast, we were off to storm the castle! Caernarfon Castle made Randy exceptionally happy. It was very impressive and historied, and houses the museum of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers so there was a lot of cool "military stuff" to look at.

I had a great time walking the grounds and goofing around in the gift shop...

That round circle in the middle of the grounds is where Prince Charles was "princed" in 1969, just a couple months before my birth.

When we were done looking around the castle, it was time to get back in the little car, which had to be parked by the water since the hostel had no parking. We packed it up and headed up to Pontins at Prestatyn for the Gathering.

Our tickets to the Gathering included lodging for Friday & Saturday night, but we got a note about a week ahead of time saying that if we were coming a long way for the Gathering, we were welcome to stay Thursday night at no additional charge. Thanks Jules! That was super cool. We couldn't resist so we made our way to Pontins Holiday Village to see just what was in store for us.

When we got there, it took them a while to find us, so we waited while one office called another office, and eventually we were given our registration package. Upon driving the grounds I was thrilled to see the Alarm flags flying at Pontins.

We had read several horrible things about Pontins on tripadvisor.com but were pleasantly surprised. If we had been expecting a hotel or resort, we would have surely been disappointed, but going in with a "summer camp" kind of attitude, we found the club level accommodation was just fine. We had a table & chairs, a couch, twin beds, and a small kitchen. In fact, it was very summer-campy and I kept humming the Kellermans theme song from Dirty Dancing when I wasn't singing Alarm songs.

I began to get a bit nervous. I have wanted to go to the Gathering for several years, but knew it was impractical to go to Wales for a concert, even if it was like a weekend long concert. There was part of me thinking this was going to be like a Star Trek convention for Alarm fans, and that I must seem like a total geek. I am usually comfortable with my geekiness but sometimes when it comes to music, I would just as soon look cool in front of Randy. He has NEVER gone to a Duran Duran concert with me, for instance, as we have decided that would just be weird. I started to wonder if Randy should have stayed away from "Alarm fan Beki."

Despite all reservations, we went to the Bells of St. Mary's Pub for a few drinks and the pre-Gathering gathering. We made some friends here - Kelly, Mitch, and Catherine (KS), Tim, a sports writer from NJ, and Lisa (CA) & Warren (Welsh, but now in CA with Lisa), and they became part of our core group for the Gathering. Randy talked sports with Tim all night and Warren explained the intricacies of the Brains beer distribution system (or lack thereof) and the different types of Brains beer, so he was happily occupied while I heard about first Alarm shows and how many Gatherings everyone had been to, etc. I'll post pics of these people later.

Thus ends Thursday.

27/1 Caernarfon

27/1/2010 On to Caernarfon

If there's one thing Randy needs to see when he goes overseas, it's a good castle. With this in mind, I made plans for us to stop in Caernarfon on the way to the big music festival. Caernarfon Castle is possibly Wales' most famous castle built in 1283. It looked pretty awesome when I googled it.

So...on the 27th, we had our big breakfast, and were called "wussies" by our B&B host when we could not eat all the sausages. If you are unfamiliar, a standard UK B&B breakfast consists of two eggs, 4 pieces of toast, bacon, two big fat sausage links, baked beans, a large mushroom, and half a fried tomato, plus tea or coffee and juice with cereal and fruit and yogurt being optional.

Example:

We just couldn't do it that day but we came close. Anyway, after that, despite the urge to take a nap, we hit the road for Caernarfon.

It was a pretty drive, and the scenery was much more photogenic than I was on that day!

We arrived at Totter's Hostel late in the afternoon--a cold and rainy afternoon. The hostel is right in the shadow of the castle, and very near the water (right through the arch behind me).

Not only was Totter's friendly, but parts of it were super old and cool looking...here is Randy by the kitchen storage area where you can see newer walls put over the ones that are from the 1600's.

This is the dining room, where the stuffed moose with one antler up and one antler down made us miss our beloved Diego just a bit.

And the town itself was a good-looking town...

Even non-castle parts of the town looked kind of castle-y.

Alas, the weather and the time prevented us from getting to the castle on Day 1 here, so we opted for the local tavern and were kind of pleasantly surprised to find that the locals spoke Welsh much more often than English.

Although I had been using a phone app called "uTalk Welsh," I didn't really get the opportunity to speak Welsh to anyone, but I was quite pleased with myself when standing in line at the post office and again at the pub, I was able to tell Randy, "Six! That guy just said six! I understood it!" - Woo hoo. Small victories.

The pub's English name "Black Boy" might not go over too well in the States, but it worked here and when I told Randy he needed to try Brains beer because it was Welsh, he was a bit apprehensive, but ultimately delighted.

For most of the afternoon before hitting the pub, we wandered around the town, got some groceries and watched some movies in our room. We had the attic room so while most of the guests at Totters stay in a bunk room, we had the whole top floor to ourselves. Here' s a pic:

After the pub, we rested up for a big visit to the castle the next day. And so, for now, I will end this entry and bid you Hwyl fawr.

26/1 Into Wales...

On Tuesday, we didn't make any real plans other than to drive north into Wales. Before we left the south of England, though, I decided that it would be pretty cool to find the house that I first lived in...

We texted my mom who remembered that it was called Torlands and was in a village called Yelverton. She didn't remember street names, but thanks to our trust GPS, we found Yelverton and asked at a small real estate office if anyone knew of the house. At first, we got very puzzled looks, but at last, one of the realtors said they thought it was on "that street over there past the petrol station."

Within a few minutes of driving around in circles, we arrived. So...when I was brought "home" from the hospital, this was "home."

This house was very large, and I still need to ask my mom if it was multiple units or if they were living like royalty on the USMC's dime. The yard was huge, the trees were covered in moss, and the neighborhood looked way out of my price range. It was kind of a special feeling to see this place, and I am grateful that Randy encouraged me to follow up on this whim.

After the pilgrimage to Plymouth (that sounds sort of backwards, doesn't it?) we drove north through more narrow narrow streets with tall hedgerows on either side. Here is an example of the superhighways of the English countryside:

(Note the Cadbury's on the dash)

Entering Wales over the bridge to Chepstow

(€7.00 toll. Get your wallets out!)

Our first stop in Wales was Tintern Abbey. It was as gorgeous as we had heard and we got there as the sun was beginning to set. We took about a million pictures, but here are just a few:

While we were walking around, we met this Welsh couple, who had recently bought a membership to Cadw (say it Cad-oo), an organization that helps to keep all these historic national sites maintained, and thought they'd come check out their investment. Cadw literally means "to keep." Anyway, they were chatty and friendly and it was our first interaction with actual Welsh people with Welsh accents in Wales (who weren't taking our toll money).

Also, they knew who the Alarm was! Everyone in Wales does. That is so cool. Anyway, we got them to snap a picture of us:

Lastly, here's another nice shot of the Abbey ruins.

The tourist information center was closed by the time the sun had set on Tintern so we weren't sure if there was a good place to stay in Chepstow and we figured we may as well keep driving. We drove on and on and on toward the north of Wales, and finally decided to stop in a little village whose name I cannot remember. We were hungry and tired, and had waited too long to make any kind of plan.

We wandered into a pub that had a sign advertising rooms for rent upstairs. When we asked if they had a double, they said they only had a twin room, but referred us to a B&B nearby. I called to see if they had rooms, and they informed us there was no room at the inn.

At this point, I was ready to take the twin, but just as I walked back up to the bar to say we wanted it, they sold it to a couple backpacker looking guys. Still, I cannot complain. The folks at the pub (including the customers) began trying to find us a room. The lady who told me she couldn't put us up at the B&B received a call on her personal cell phone from a guy at the bar, and he made one more call for us after that. Alas, the town was full!

Onward we drove on narrow roads with tall hedges, round the roundabouts, and finally to Bronwye B&B in Builth Wells. Randy negotiated a good price on a room that had a picture window looking onto a field of rugby players.

Around the corner, we had dinner (finally!) in the pub at the Greyhound Inn where Randy vowed to send a Denver glass if they would only let him keep the pint glass with the Welsh red dragon on it. The deal was made (but the postage on the trade glass he sent was over $10 so we're not sure how good a deal he made).

We slept very well that night at Bronwye and we covered a decent amount of ground.

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The very next day...

MONDAY 25/01/10

So...where was I? Oh yes, couchsurfing. Well, we did it a second night--this time in Gunnislake, a small village in Cornwall, not too far from Plymouth, the place of my birth.

Plymouth, while not a very time-consuming part of our plan, was an important part as this trip was in honor of my 40th birthday, and having never seen my birthplace, we decided back in the early planning stages that it should be a stop. Freedom Fields Hospital where I was born has since been demolished and turned into a housing estate, but we were able to see the site where the Mayflower took off for the US and some other interesting things around the harbor area.

Does anyone know what "tomb-stoning" is? I looked it up because I did not!

(British) The practice of jumping into the sea or similar body of water from a cliff or other high point such that the jumper enters the water vertically straight, like a tombstone.

This view was a bit surreal...

And it is unfortunate that you can't see the sign below "Luncheons" in this photo of the Strand Tea Rooms right on the harbor. It reads "Hippies use SIDE DOOR!"

After our afternoon in Plymouth, we headed to Gunnislake to meet Jo, Jem, & Bridie (pictured here the next morning are Randy, Jem, and Jo. Jo is an artist who has done commissioned work for royalty, and has two great kids, Jem (19) and Bridie (15?).

They live in the middle of nowhere and down some of the steepest "roads" that wouldn't be fit to be called alleys here in the US of A - at least outside of Arkansas. We and the mini car made it, but something about that drive, and the wrong turns which necessitated backing up steep "roads" produced a smell in our car that resembled rotten fish and 3 day old farts. It was really embarrassing when Jem got in the car to direct us to the Cornish pub where we dined amidst some Burns Night festivities.

After dinner, we hung out at home and watched the Disney movie Hercules. Is it me or are the gospel singers in that movie really annoying? Anyway, we had a good chilled out night and were fed some kind of waffle-y chocolate-y caramel-y cookie that hooked me instantly. Of course, I was unable to find it elsewhere in the UK afterwards...or I would have brought you some.

We slept on a futon in the middle of the living room, which was crowded with art supplies and laundry and laptops, etc. Every square inch of that house was being used, and while it would have put OCDs and type As in a frenzy, I have to say that the futon was good for a very comfortable nights' sleep, and the company was really good. It was great to be welcomed into a family so warm and easygoing. They made us feel instantly at home for our overnight stay, and we headed out the next morning for the drive north to Wales...

Vacation - Part 2

After we left the Birds, we headed for our first couchsurfing experience, arriving in exactly the right alley address in Cirencester, England at approximately lunchtime thanks to Jane, the voice of our borrowed GPS who seemed to say "Turn around when possible" to us quite a lot!

SIDEBAR: COUCHSURFING.org is a site that I registered on before this trip. It is a network of households and individuals willing to share their space with you simply because they enjoy meeting new people and travel themselves and would like the favor returned. It is a very well organized and convenient system.

I wanted to try it out this time because having never been to some of the areas we were visiting and knowing we'd be breezing through, the idea of staying with a local had great appeal from the standpoint of getting "local knowledge" from our host and the fact that it's free helped with our budget.

Randy was skeptical about this arrangement at first because he works with inmates and doesn't trust strangers quite as easily as I do. He rightly worried that it could be awkward, but this was a risk I was willing to take. Thankfully, he was too.

FIRST HOST: Neil , 40, musician and teacher.

TOWN: Cirencester, England

REASONS FOR THIS CHOICE: The prospect of doing an open mic with Neil sounded fun and Cirencester wasn't too far out of the way of our travel route.

Our host Neil was waiting for us and had made us a delicious Sunday roast--chicken and potatoes, carrots, and turnips, followed by a walking tour of Cirencester. Unfortunately, neither of us thought to bring the camera.

Cirencester turned out to be quite an interesting town with a beautiful church dating back to the 1100's in the center of town.

It is also the seat of the Earl of Bathhurst, whose impressive house is on the edge of town with land that is so vast you could walk 5 miles through the park path open to the public and still be on his land. We learned that this earl's estate also boasts the world's tallest yew hedge. It sounds weird and not so interesting but I found it fascinating because it's way taller than you could imagine!

Neil's friend helps to trim it, and apparently, this stuff is being used in the fight against cancer.

Late afternoon found us napping, goofing around on Neil's guitars, and just shooting the breeze. We found out that Neil is a science teacher who, in addition to be in two bands, has aspirations to build his own home that would be part of a community of sustainable green-built homes with shared facilities for laundry, etc. in a central building. What a cool idea.

We talked music too, and once the name Neil Finn was mentioned, we were on common ground. We are both big fans and would conside NF a songwriting hero of ours. After our nap, we found Neil cooking again. After realizing that the lentils he had prepared might have some poisonous qualities, he shifted to a pasta dish and we had another great meal before heading to the pub for some music.

Walking through Cirencester on a Sunday night at 9:30pm is like walking through a Hollywood movie set. There was no one on the streets. It was beautiful and completely silent except for the three of us trudging with two guitars to the Nelson Inn. Once again we forgot the camera!

When we arrived, only Neil's friend Kevin (one of the trio called the Tourettes that Neil plays in--they do covers of songs you know by bands like Squeeze and Foo Fighters, but on mandolin, guitar, bouzouki, with three-part harmony) was there.

By about 10:30pm, the small pub was full and we took turns doing songs until about 2:00am. We were given a warm welcome by the owners who bought us a couple drinks, and an unforgettable cover of Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights" by John and his mandolin.

Neil left for work before we were awake the next day so we did the dishes, and left the door unlocked according to his instructions, and after running a few errands around town, we set off for Cornwall. Neil was such an excellent host and we hope he will make it to our guest room in Denver sometime.

Vacation in Review - Part 1

Hmmm...where to begin. I got back Wednesday and hope to get the whole journal in one blog with the best of the photos. I wonder if that is possible. For the most part, I stuck to the plan outlined in the blog prior, but I added a few days in Prague where I had ??? posted. Nice, huh?

THURSDAY 1/21
LEAVING:

AM Denver - Chicago...uneventful. Josh dropped us off at Market Street Station and we took the RTD Skyride to DIA. Arrived at O'Hare where Randy's sister Amy & her husband Al were waiting in an airport bar to catch us up on things and share some pizza and drinks during our layover. It was great to see them, and I wish we had taken a photo.

PM Chicago - Dublin: Not much to report.





FRIDAY 22/01 (Yep, now I'm doing dates that way)...
ARRIVING IN DUBLIN...
we took a 10 minute walk to ALSAA, a pool and athletic club near the airport--nothing fancy but a place to take a shower. They let me shower for free and Randy got a €7 day pass so he could work out as well as shower. Note: Bring your own towel! The day was spent taking turns napping in the very comfortable food hall before an afternoon flight to London Heathrow.

FYI: Sleepinginairports.com rates Dublin not-so-great for sleeping, but that's only at nighttime. During the day, if you have a retractable cable lock for your luggage, you can sleep off that jetlag very nicely in the food hall. I recommend the green padded bench.

After arriving in London, we took the tube to the Farringdon stop where our old bassist and current friend Phil and his wife Sarah were waiting to take us to a late dinner at a pub called the Fox & Anchor, a traditional pub where I had fish & chips, of course. We hadn't met Sarah before, but quickly decided that we like her very much!




The next morning, Phil & Sarah sent us off after an excellent pancake breakfast. On the way to the train, they showed us the cafe that they started at their church, and the first place that the Who ever played...



Pretty glamourous, huh?

We really got to know the London tube well since we rode it for nearly 1 1/2 hours to get to Heathrow where we picked up our teensy weensy rental car. After driving several circles around the airport on the left-hand side of the road, it was off to see the Birds:



On one of our previous trips, we stayed with the Birds on the recommendation of my brother Matt and his wife Kate. They are excellent hosts and have become friends. Recently, Richard retired and they have subsequently moved to the countryside in a place that, frankly, is pretty impossible to find! After showing up a few hours late, we could not make any good argument for not accepting their offer of a loan of a GPS for the remainder of our trip. Marriage saver! I will never drive in unfamiliar territory without one. It is high on our wish list.

Their new home is great, and the village is charming. They took us to a local pub for a before-dinner drink with an ancient floor (stone & dirt) and a coal-burning open fire. After that they, fed us an awesome meal, then dessert and coffee, then English Stilton (that's cheese) and port...we knew then that those vacation pounds were going to pile on and be totally worth it.

In catching up with them, we learned that their son has now landed a pretty sweet job flying helicopters for the royal family. That would explain the towels in our guest room:



And since I know you are way too polite to stare, I'll just tell you that says "BUCKINGHAM PALACE" in gold embroidery. How cool is that?



The next morning, we hooked up the GPS and went bravely into the new (to us) world of couchsurfing. Stay tuned...

40

Can't believe it has been so long since I wrote something here. I turned 40 in September with little fanfare but many good birthday wishes, and an extended series of little happy hours with friends--one or two at a time, we celebrated the milestone with margaritas or cheese & wine.

Randy bought me a very unique bracelet - unique in the good way, ecclectic, special, made by a local artist and centered around a vintage door hinge, incredibly thoughtful and romantic. There may have also been some lingerie in that birthday gift, but I would never say because I am a lady!

At 39, I had asked him for a month to travel when I turn 40 and he said if I could make the math work, that would be fine. Well, since then, we have both worked very hard to make the math work, and on Thursday we leave. He will join me for 2 weeks and my sister will meet me for Week 3 in Ireland. Week 4 is just five days long and I'll be on my own.

Highlights of the plan:

London - Meet up with former bassist and current friend Phil
Billinghurst - THE BIRDS!
Cirencester - Pub open mic with local musicians there organized by our host Neil. First couchsurfing.org experience.
Plymouth - See my birthplace for the first time since I was 9 months old
Wales - Drive up to Caernafon Castle with Randy
Prestatyn, Wales - The Gathering (the Alarm's music festival)with Doug & Kerstin
Gowanbank/Glasgow - Old friends, new good times
Dublin - Goodbye Randy. Hello sister Laura!
Avoca? - The real Ballykissangel
Galway/Cliffs of Moher
Coleraine- Visit friends & the Giant's Causeway
Dublin - Jonatha Brooke @ Whelan's
5 days - ???