Gypsy

"to the velvet underground"

Wales

My son loves all things related to Camelot and King Arthur. He'd been reading the Lost Years of Merlin series by T.A. Barron, Sarah Zettel's In Camelot's Shadow (For Camelot's Honor and Under Camelot's Banner have since been published, and the conclusion "Camelot's Blood" is due in spring 2007), and any other related books he could get his hands on. We'd recently seen the musical of Camelot in London, so then we had to watch the 1967 movie version of the musical and listen to the 1960 Original Broadway Cast CD. So when I asked each of my three older kids to pick one place they'd like to see before we moved back to the States, I wasn't surprised he picked Wales.

We made it a daytrip since we had a little trouble finding a place for a large family to stay and I didn't have much time to book it. I found an enchanting place (Hotel Portmeirion) I would've loved to have checked out, but it was way out of our price range and I didn't know how practical it was with our traveling plans.

It was hard deciding where to go since the places we wanted to see in Wales were spread out so far apart. Tintagel and Glastonbury (both are actually in England, not Wales) were a couple of places we'd considered because of their association with the King Arthur legends, but we weren't sure we wanted to drive that far south. We wanted to pick a region (south Wales, mid Wales or north Wales) and stay within that area. We found a place called King Arthur's Labyrinth in mid Wales that looked pretty interesting, so we decided to plan our trip around that area. Interestingly, when we asked some of our British friends what they recommended, one said nothing in Wales was worth seeing.

Our first impression of Wales was of rolling green hills and many, many, many sheep. I have never seen so many sheep in my life! My husband was surprised to see the sheep still had their tails, and that led to a discussion with the kids about tail removal (docking). They were indignant on behalf of the sheep. But my husband had worked on a dairy farm for many years, and he provided another perspective which made the kids think a little more. Not that they agreed with it, but it helped them understand why they do it.

One of my daughters loves to collect snowglobes, and the only two kinds we saw in Wales were of a red dragon or a sheep! I probably should've gotten both because it was so funny, but she got one with the red dragon.

We went to King Arthur's Labyrinth, and even though it was the middle of summer it was a little chilly down in the old mining caves. You'd feel a cold breeze blowing, and it added to the ambience of the tour. We enjoyed the tour and thought it was a great idea to use the old caves for this retelling of the King Arthur legend. I think I imagined more about a life of mining down in the caves than King Arthur though.

Afterwards, we took a ride on the Talyllyn Railway and saw some lovely views of the countryside. The kids were interested in the fact that it was a steam engine, so we talked about what made it run and how it's different from today's modes of transportation. It moved slowly, but people still used it for their everyday shuttles back and forth to work and home. It was a little bit like a walk back in time.




I thought the slate fencing was fascinating.





We didn't think we had enough time to see the Celtica Heritage Centre, so we decided not to go there. Now I wish we had because I learned they'd closed in March 2006.

Anyway, we ended up driving around Aberdyfi and viewing some more scenery. When I saw people golfing on this cragged landscape, I was reminded of the movie Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius and when he went to Scotland's Old Course. It seemed wild and on the verge of being reclaimed by nature. How small man looks on this windswept promontory.




We stopped in Aberdyfi to see if we could find something to eat, but we were disappointed. It was a pretty and colorful little town, but I guess we hit it at the wrong time.










I love how the towns in England and Wales have a town square with a distinctive landmark or feature.






















We had a nice, long and leisurely drive home while appreciating the scenery and ...

the sheep.

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