South Wales to Aberystwyth, Wales.
Things moved slowly with respect to the car, but did get sorted out. The Automobile Association had shown up the night before, but had the wrong number for my cell so couldn’t reach me (and I waited up until 2 am for them), but arrived around 8:30 this morning and towed the car. That was the easy part. The incident report process of last night had requested a replacement vehicle be delivered to us so we could continue our journey, but I was to wait, and wait, and wait, with no further communication of any kind from Europcar. Plus, we had to check out at 10. We extended until 11 am, which gace a little more time to figure things out.
So after the car was towed, I started to call the car rental company, and, without any exaggeration, after about 2 to 2 ½ hours of absolute frustration trying continuously to reach someone at the rental company we gave up and simply took an Uber to the branch that the request was sent to, happily only 15 or 20 minutes away. Good thing we did. They were very busy, and clearly very understaffed, and probably eventually would have seen and responded to the request, but being there kicked the process into gear (no pun intended) and after about an hour or so got a replacement vehicle, and were on our way, leaving the area around 1 pm and heading to Aberystwyth, about 3 ½ hours west, on the Welsh coast, sitting on Cardigan Bay.
The drive through South Wales was really lovely, with the rolling green hills and patchwork fields, high hedgerows, pastures, and forested valleys and hills that characterize the area, as we headed toward the Central Wales coast. It was lovely, and at times resembled places like Colorado and northern California, with dense and high groves of evergreens. The roads were narrow much of the way, with few places to stop, stretch, and take photos, so we passed through the idyllic and picturesque scenery without taking any photographs, which is a terrible shame as South Wales is so lovely. We did find a small rest area at one point, and I took a few shots, but missed taking photos of the real and classical beauty of Wales that we had already passed through. .
We arrived in Aberystwyth in mid-late afternoon, a lovely town sitting on Cardigan Bay, and we were very happy to find our hotel, the Cardigan Bay Guest House, where we’re staying tonight, was a picturesque and traditional seaside guest house in a perfect spot along the beach front promenade. Even better, although our third floor room was a little cramped and without too many amenities, it had a view over the promenade and the Bay which we loved. Very classic, and a very classic seaside town.
Aberystwyth is not a seaside town like Brighton or Bournemouth or Margate, or even the lovely and classic St. Ives in Cornwall (which I’m sorry Tom didn’t get to see), and is far quieter and sedate, and without all the extra glitz and noise and fuss that often goes with seaside towns, but nonetheless has all the necessary features for a British seaside experience. A lovely beach and beach front with a seafront promenade, a pier, deck chairs, restaurants and chip shops, and colorful multi-story Victorian and Edwardian style terraced guest houses and hotels lining the promenade. It is classic.
After we settled into our room, we spent the next couple of hours walking the promenade, along the soft sand beach, and the pier, and exploring the sea front war memorial and the ruins of 13th century Aberystwyth Castle, both of which overlook the Bay and the town, before ambling through the inland streets close to the front.
We eventually arrived at the Glengower restuarant, where we ate a very delicious meal of Welsh lamb, and by the we were through it was closing in on 9 pm. The evening air was cooling after a lovely, just right, summer’s day, and we watched the sun sink lower and lower in the sky over the Bay until it dipped below the horizon. I headed went back to the guest house and blogged a while, and Tom spent some time walking the promenade and along the beach.
A long day, and for me even longer as I only slept a couple of hours last night, with a frustrating and anxious start to the day (like, would we actually be able to get a replacement vehicle and continue our journey), and off to sleep we went, pictures of the seaside in our heads and the sounds of the sea filling our ears.
Tomorrow, we’ll walk some more, ride the Aberystwyth Cliff Railway up to the top of Constitution Hill, overlooking the town, and then drive north to Llanberis, at the foot of Mount Snowdon in North Wales, tucked into Snowdonia National Park.
