misty then bright

The next day was once again misty, wet and windy. I love that kind of weather I have to say. Remember the hat from my first Wales post? Well, I bought that the day before as the top of my head had got so sunburnt on our walk. But it had the added bonus of keeping the rain off my glasses. So I wore it all day.

Maggie and I decided to do a shorter walk. We went down to Non's Well. Non was the mother of St. David. This is supposed to be his birth place. There is a well too-the waters are supposed to heal infirmities. I rubbed some on my eyes- you know, just in case-but to no avail.

Anyway, it was a really peaceful place- the wind was whipping around and the misty rain coming down, but just a lovely place.
Everywhere you go, there are little ferns and flowers like these growing out of the rock walls.
There is a modern chapel built near the site- there's a house which is now a Catholic retreat. It was really nice in there too.
We decided that since the weather was what it was that we'd pay our 3 pounds each and go to the Bishop's Palace. The ruins are just gorgeous. Underneath are dark crofts- the kitchens and store rooms under the Palace. They are so dark and quite spooky and it is there in particular that Maggie remembers playing hide and seek. She said they learned how to hide in plain view in the dark- you just had to keep really still. I LOVE IT. The Palace actually now has a fantastic "exhibition" which explains the history of the place. Built in the 14th century by the Bishop Henry de Gower, it was both his residence and a place for visiting church people. It was richly furnished, beautifully decorated, and built in a hollow, rather than on a hill. This really surprised me that both the Cathedral and the Palace were surrounded on all sides by hills. But apparently it was so that they couldn't be seen from the coast as these places were full of gold and riches and at risk of attack from sea raiders- particularly the Irish.

This would have been the banquet hall. You can see how the walls were rendered- they would then have been painted and covered in tapestries. The floor would have been an ornate tile. And that window I tried so hard to get with the light through it would have had beautiful coloured glass.
Maggie standing where I just was...Up tiny steep winding stairs.

This is what the stairs were like. Obviously they have repaired some of them, but Maggie said that was one of the things they had to be careful of as kids because you could end up getting trapped when the staircase just ended.

The Cathedral is right next door. Obviously the Bishop of St. Davids would live in the palace, but as these positions were often given just for the riches of the land around, and those Bishops increasingly held positions in the King's court as well (and therefore didn't want to, or couldn't leave London) the palace slowly fell into ruin.
At some point, someone took off the lead roof to recycle and that was the end of the palace.
But they did say that the green square in the middle was used as a market square and that poor farmers would come and live in the crofts underneath. So dark and damp and cold, but I guess a roof over your head and a free one at that.
I just love all the colours of the stones. They look especially nice in the wet.
We met Maggie's mum for a Sunday roast lunch at the refectory of the Cathedral, and by the time we came out the rain had all cleared away and it was beautiful and sunny. They took me to their "secret garden"- a little walled garden at the side of the Cathedral. While it was open to the public, it wasn't easy to find. We decided that a little gnome must live here.
It was so gorgeous. Hilda found a bench to sit and read and Maggie and I lay down on the warm slate tiles and had a bit of a nap in the sun. Heavenly.

On our walk back from the Cathedral, we past the Farmers Arms. Hilda suggested we go in for a "pint" (she and Maggie only drink half pints). She and I sat in the beer garden while Maggie went off to get "the Aunties". The aunties are two lovely old ducks who were married to Maggie's dad's brothers.

I loved listening to their stories of coming to St. David's when they were young. They all went out there on motor bikes and camped by the beach. And now two of them live there. Maggie talks about the draw that St. David's has for her family, and I can really see it. I have to say that I felt SO YOUNG while I was away. I really felt like a 20 year old or something. It was gorgeous.

And then I went home to my new room. While I was there, I had to change rooms 3 times. 2 nights at Pen Albro, 2 nights in the much posher (and MUCH more expensive) Coach house and then another 2 nights back at Pen Albro, but in a different room. My stay coincided with "Fish Week", which was opened by Prince Charles, so it was difficult to get a room. But this was the view from my last room when I went home
There's the beer garden at the Farmers Arms next door.
And this is my view out my window at 11:15 pm.