K. arrived safely last Wednesday, and after a short nap I showed him Hampstead Heath and the wonderful crepe stand that I mentioned in an earlier post. K. went to sleep early and didn't wake up when I went to work on Thursday morning. In fact, when I got home from work to catch our train to Wales, K. was still in bed!
After throwing together our clothes, our picnic, and a bleary-eyed boy, we made it to our train and began the long trip through the midlands and through Wales. We finally arrived in Aberystwyth after 10pm, found our bed and breakfast, and crashed for the night.
Our bed and breakfast, Yr Hafod, was wonderful. It was on the beach (really, just across a small street) and next door to Aberystwyth Castle! The breakfast was amazing as well...croissants, fruit, cereal, yogurt and a hot breakfast if you wanted one (we didn't). It was so nice to stay overnight in a nice, friendly place! Should any of you travel to Aber, I highly recommend our B and B!
When we went outside and saw our location in the light of day, we were shocked that the castle was so close! The ruins are quite extensive, and Aberystwyth has done a great job of creating a space that is at once amazing and friendly to families, locals, and tourists. The entire area is covered by grass, so people were picnicking all around the castle, some on blankets and others on picnic tables. Gravel paths cross through the ruins to make it easier for people to walk from one part of town to the other. Right next to the ruins of an old church building there is a playground. It was one of the best blends of medieval and contemporary spaces I've seen! My photos don't do the castle justice, but the BBC has a 360 degree panorama of the castle that gives the scope a little better than K. and I could.I've uploaded new pictures to my Flickr account, which (as always) can be accessed by clicking on the photo titles to the right. Since K. had the camera for a lot of this weekend, there are many more photos than my usual 4 or 5. Enjoy!
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