Swans, Dragons, Danny and Heidi

A splendid night's sleep in the Llandindrod Wells Metropole. Up in time to have breakfast. The hotel has an air of faded grandeur and there were only a few people in the big dining room. We scooped up lots of breakfast, and drank some of their curiously tasteless coffee. Then packing and taking everything to the car and checking out. Noticed near reception a nice naive painting of the green hotel. We were given a large postcard sized copy of it for free.

Then a mooch about Llandindrod Wells. It must have been a lovely place once, when the spa was really going strong. Beautiful buildings, but like the hotel all a bit run down, and like everywhere, shops that were closed. A nice little park. Then a lakeside interlude with dragons. A large lake dragon sculpture in the lake, and the paths up to the building at the side of it, where there was a cafe, toilets and red or green dragon pedaloes and so on were crowded with Canada geese, swans with cygnets, and ducks and moorhens and so on, which did't get out of the way when you walked near them.

We sat outside and had Welsh cakes and cups of tea. Lorraine wanted to go on a pedalo, but the idea of venturing out on the lake alone under leaden skies, with dozens of Welsh people watching us from the shore didn't appeal to me. 

Then as the rain began, we drove west towards Aberystwyth. Through a rugged landscape, on a small road with the words ARAF and SLOW painted on them. It was absolutely sombrely beautiful, with a gorgeous landscape.

A warm welcome at Danny and Heidi's house in Aberystwyth. A young herring gull lurking about outside. Great to see them. Cups of tea, and chats, and then they took us up the road to The National Library of Wales. An amazing building, with a great view over the town to the sea. It was hosing it down when we arrived in the carpark, so couldn't see anything. Inside there was a Caravaggio on loan from the National Gallery, and a fabulous exhibition of Welsh painting, showing the effects of industry on the landscape. Lots of beautiful pictures.  There was also lots of information about books and printing and so on, which we did not have time to look at.

Home and Danny cooked an excellent lasagne while Heidi and Lorraine and I chatted upstairs, and caught up with life and everything that had passed since we'd seen them two years ago. They have a gorgeous blue eyed cat called Mocha, who fell in love with Lorraine.

Then off for a walk by the seafront, and we ended up at a bar in the Castle Hotel, an old-school affair, with a dartboard, pool table, and Pink Floyd being played there. We ordered a beer, which tasted sour and grim, so I returned it. Danny had bought two different halves, so I returned one and a half pints. A bit of a stir, but they gave me new drinks. A young lad came over afterwards and said he thought I was making a fuss, till he tried it, which was quite funny. Danny took a hideous photo of me, and then sent it to the Tobster. A cheery evening. 

Then home through the little hilly streets, and back home. Everyone tired and sloped off to bed.

Below, lakeside, Lorraine about to enjoy a Welshcake, a pause by the side of the road on the way to Aberystwyth, a painting by Mary Lloyd Jones whose colours blew me away, with Danny and Heidi on the seafront.