"You WALKED???"

 
Although my principal reason for being over here in Europe is for the Olympics, my family lived in the west of Wales for a year when I was 6, so we’ve some friends that I keep in touch with still.  If you’ll allow me, I’d like to share some of the fun times.

Thursday I said goodbye to Ruth, Gareth and Ffion in Cardiff after a wonderful stay which included the footy match in the last post.  I was off to Swansea, an hour further west.

I was very happy to spend the day with Pauline and Nerys.  Pauline’s husband, Eddie, was my dad’s contact/mentor on his Rotary scholarship back in 1977!  We started with lunch in the Mumbles with Nerys and her two daughters, Alice and Gemima, as well as Pauline.  It was wonderful weather so we took some time to go for a little walk with the girls (they are quite young).  Later on I joined Nerys and her husband Johnathan for dinner and some more Olympic watching.

Friday I was with my penpal Mark, his wife Sally and their sons Will, Thom and Daniel.  Mark and I took Will and Thom golfing to a pitch and putt!  I hadn’t been out for the better part of a decade, but I didn’t think it went too bad!  We did both the 9 hole par 3 course and the driving range.  I got one par so I was pretty pleased about that!

In the afternoon we headed back to the house and had a wonderful BBQ.  We also had some fun playing cricket and footy with the kids.  It is always nice to see them!  Mark was then nice enough to drive me back to my B&B (which I booked through airbnb.com and was excellent!) and we had Joe’s Ice Cream before parting ways.  My ice cream was in a boat!

I didn’t have tickets for the Opening Ceremonies but I did watch them on the telly.  I thought they were very well done, all the entertainment was wide ranging. Really loved the Bean/Queen entertainment.

 

On Saturday I decided to rent a bike (for a tenner!) and went for a ride.  Ended up biking from Swansea to the Mumbles pier and back (about 15K) and did another bunch of walking along the Welsh Coast Path which was absolutely gorgeous.  It was so beautiful and so peaceful… I have definitely been blessed with lovely weather on this trip so far!  Even found the site I dove at three years ago, as well as finding my old house.  On the way back I stopped and took a dip in the water, and just lied for awhile on the beach.  So wonderful.

I did actually make it back to Swansea to catch the last open top bus.  This is something that the Swansea bus service runs in the summer and for four pounds, I got to see a good chunk of what I did earlier in the day by bus!  I remember doing this as a kid and it was just as wonderful as when I did before.

Sunday was my ‘aquatics’ day.  I had tried to contact several stores and clubs to organize a dive, but with no luck.  That also comes down to not having brought my gear with me or having access to a car, so instead, I went surfing!

I know that everyone says you’ve got to warm up before doing lots of exercise, but I took it to another level by walking the five miles from Swansea to the Mumbles and then up to Caswell.  It was long (about 90 minutes solid) but very peaceful and I really enjoyed it.

David Hasselhoff not included.

I ended up taking a lesson with Surf GSD at Caswell Bay.  They were awesome!  So very patient.  I ended up staying the whole day and just doing some ‘free surfing’ in the afternoon.

AND I ACTUALLY GOT UP AND STOOD ON THE BOARD!  Much improved from Spain three years ago!

The one thing that was really noticeable was the tide… it really came in quickly!  We started the day around the corner and by the end it was only about 50 yards from the beachgoers!

And to top off the end of my time we had a lovely takeaway with Nerys and Johnathan! The funniest sentiment was when Nerys exclaimed “Wait, you WALKED from Swansea to Caswell?”.  “Yep!” I replied.  It was that or not go surfing!  I think I made the right choice!!!

Front: my old school! Back: Oystermouth Casle

Next stop… London and Newcastle!

Cheers,

Vick.