My last day in Wales

I started this post a few days ago- then bumped up against my picasa storage limit and wasn't able to upload any more photos. But I'm sorted now. So here's my last full day in Wales.

Maggie and I caught the bus to Porthgain- a little working port north east from St. David's. After our morning coffee (we always started the day with a morning coffee) we set out on our walk.

the view from where we sat and had our coffee.
First we had to climb up 79 steps to the top of the cliff.
And then began our cliff top walk. This is looking north. We could see a lighthouse flashing out on that headland. For those of you playing along at home on google earth, I think it was the lighthouse near Tresinwen.
This is looking south. That mound in the farthermost distance is Carnllidi- the one we climbed and where we were headed.
Isn't it just stunningly heartbreakingly beautiful?! I can't even begin to describe the quality of the air; so fresh, the breeze so relentless. And the smell! Milk and Honey. There is some plant, not even sure which really, that wafts the most divine smell of, well, Milk and Honey through the air. The air is thick with it. It envelops you this fresh sweet smell. I think that's what heaven must smell like. And no insects to, ah, "bug" you while you walk. And the sea just pulsing in against the coast like your own heart beating in your chest.
And views like that! These look like deserted beaches, but there is always some little steep path down to them, and people on them (I took crafty photos to cut the people out). And look how those fields go right up to the coast.

Here is an old slate quarry that was abandoned in the early part of the 20th century. They blew a hole through the wall to let the sea in, so now it's like a sea pool. We saw families making their way to it with little kids. And if you look carefully you can see a group of COASTEERERS (that's the real word, but I do prefer "rock hoppers"). This must be a beginner group, 'cause that doesn't look half as scary as where I saw them before...unless they are just starting out.

This is Abereiddy (for those playing along at home). Pronounced (I hope I get this right) Abba-rithey. There is a beach there, but for I haven't uploaded it for some reason. This is where Maggie and I got a bit lost from the coast path. I think it was because we were so fascinated by this house.

We ended up having to cut through fields and in the end had a very nice young farmer with a limp direct us back to the path. He couldn't understand how we had lost the path, but it was more of an adventure that way.
Can you see Maggie disappearing down this steep path?
And at the bottom this lovely little bay. We stopped here for a quick snack to give us strength to climb back up the other side.
Look at those clouds! (that was the farm with our friend the farmer)



Getting closer.

Oh the fields of barley. It's like a painting! The wind would caress the tops of the field and it was just so beautiful.

This is Penberry which has featured in the background of many of my photos, but from the other direction. See those pink foxgloves? They are everywhere. I think of them as such a garden plant, but they really grow everywhere. And those are the colours I will always think of when I think of Wales- that pinky purple (all the different flowers are pinky purple) and the greens, with a little of the grey from the rocks thrown in.
Here we are coming around the base of Penberry and we can see the end in sight.
Maggie is highly allergic to oats. And she was pretty sure that this was oat grass growing along the side of the path. So she had to walk like this so they wouldn't touch her skin. I promise- I didn't have a gun at her back!
And we were fortunate enough on our walk to see some seals way down below. Actually I was fortunate to have Maggie, 'cause I never would have spotted them on my own. They seemed just as interested in us as we were in them.


Ah the greys. Grey has become a favourite colour of mine lately. I love the subtlety of it. Unfortunately this is another over exposed photo, but the variety in these lichens was amazing.
We had set off around 10 am and it was about 3:30 when we got on to St. David's head. We'd not stopped for lunch, having a few snacks and water only along the way. I'd really wanted to see the Cromlech on St. David's head, but we had a little trouble finding it. We thought this might be something interesting but, by this stage, really didn't want to walk over and have a look. I wish we had- it really does look interesting. It also looks really close, which I can assure you it wasn't.
We finally gave up and came down the hill and up the other side and then, magically, it appeared. In the middle of the photo- a stone leaning on another stone. It was about the same distance to go back and have a look as it was to go forward and have a cuppa and some lunch...
Can you guess which won out???
Here are the colours- the purple and green
Ah, back to Whitesands. Unfortunately when we got back to the cafe at Whitesands around 4, they'd lost power. No hot coffee, no lunch. I think I had some carrot cake and chips or something, because I was slightly ravenous by then. So we caught the bus home.
That night we had a lovely and well deserved dinner in the court yard of our favourite little place to eat (they also did the best coffees in the morning), which happened to be run by an Italian.

And as we were leaving, we did catch the sun sort of setting... Lighting up all the pretty flowers, bathing the village (sorry "city") in it's golden glow.

We walked for a while, enjoying the light. It was of course the illusion of sun set- if you got the sun in the right place, it looked like it was setting, but it was still very light outside. I could have stayed for so much longer. I can totally understand why this place has stayed in Maggie's heart and soul for her whole life. Even a lovely lady we met in the Cathedral on Sunday (a church lady) called it "a mystical place". And it is.

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And today it is 4 years since we arrived back in the US. WOW. THE longest I have been in one place in 18 years.