M5 is alive
June 28th, 2011 Comments Off
We caught our last breakfast at the Blathwayt, packed our things and headed out at the crack of 10:15.
We wanted to be out and on the road so we could get up and into Wales before it was too late in the day. The last thing we wanted was to get stuck in traffic up the M5 part way there. I was warned in advance that traffic can get pretty bad, and that we might have better luck going straight up through the center of Wales instead. We checked both on the GPS while still int the parking lot of the Blathwayt, and the central route looked shorter and a bit faster overall.
We headed out and saw on the highway display signs that there was a slowdown on the M5, just a few miles past the turnout. This cemented our decision, and we went instead on the inside route, heading back across the bridge to South Wales.
About an hour later we finally made it through the massive queue across the bridge, that started just about 200 feet after the M5 turnoff. Apparently it was cleaning day on the bridge, and they closed all but one lane.
Bugger.
Finally across, (and paying our toll) we headed off the main highway and onto the central roads through Wales. Initially, these were pretty good, with views of the castles and small towns along the route. But as we got into the heart of Wales, the road got smaller and smaller. And with that it got slower and slower. Our arrival time on the GPS kept moving back, and we saw 3pm turn to 4, then 5.
Did I mention the sheep? Holy crap. “The sheep were agitated” is the phrase that pays.
The place was packed with sheep, cows, farms, and hedgerows as far as we could see. There really wasn’t much space left for roads apparently, because we were driving across paths that made the Burke-Gilman look roomy.
Eventually, we made it down to Borth-y-Gest, the port village here our B&B was located. This village was at the bottom of a hill, with a U-shaped bay circled with quaint little houses and a seawall holding it together. It was literally a scenic postcard come alive, but not quite as large as a postcard. Our place, the Ardwyn, was easy to find, and the owner was sitting out on the porch with his wife, waiting for us to arrive. He greeted us in Welsh, or had a coughing fit, I couldn’t tell which, and showed us up to the room.
It was a good size, with a separate side room for Sasha, and the smallest bathroom physically possible. But for the cheap price it was amazing. We got our bags up, then headed back to the main town of Porthmadog to look for some dinner. It was late by this point which meant that we were looking for a Pub that had a late menu, and we found one down by the marina. The moment we walked in, we found the whole staff speaking Welsh, and only breaking into english for the tourists.
We tried to get a nice table with a view upstairs, but only the lower dining room was open, and we got a table next to another, slightly more inebriated customer, who was also not local. Once we started talking, we found out that he was, in fact, Scottish, and down locally for some pipeline repair. When he heard that we were going to be headed to Glasgow in a few days he lit up (though he was already lit) and gave us a big rundown of what to do when we arrived, almost all of which was totally unintelligible, but all very enthusiastic and good hearted.
He continued to talk to us until he finished polishing off his large bottle of cider, then bid us a good vacation and staggered off. He managed to escape the pub without knocking anyone else down, and we had some excellent Welsh Lamb, Bangers and Mash, and Fish and Chips. We strolled back to the car, looking for an open store t pick up a few snacks for the room and a bottle of wine, and found our Scottish friend passed out at the bus stop.
There was nothing surprising about this.
A bit later we came across a couple with a wiener dog, and stopped to talk as Sasha was missing Oscar terribly. Their dog was younger than Oscar, and they were pleased to find out that as he grew older, their dog would not get easier to housetrain, and would also bark more and dig like a madman.
The left us slightly sad, and we headed back to the B&B. We were finally tired, and mostly over our Jet lag, so it would be good to be able to sleep in.
Waiting for us, the owner told us that Breakfast would be at 8:15 sharp.
Bugger.
Hello airport my old friend, i’ve come to drink in you again.
June 24th, 2011 Comments Off
And we’re off.
We’ve become pretty old hat at this whole traveling thing. We got out of the house and into a waiting shuttle, driven by part of the Eastside Russian Limo Mafia. And the roads were clear. We made it to the airport in no time. Being early, we were able to drop off our bags with no line, and had a line at the TSA “Grab and Grope” that was only a few people long.
Naturally, this gave us more time at the bar, I mean – gate.
We grabbed a quick bite and drink, then went on a hunt for bottled water. Our lesson from last trip was to carry more water with us, as the plane was dehydrating and you got stiffed at the airport arrival. After buying a big bottle in the magazine shop, we got an announcement from the British Airways ticket desk that they had free bottles of water for the passengers on our flight.
Nuts.
In any case, I took a bunch and filled my bag for later. Time flew pretty quickly, and soon we we were boarding the plane. We had fairly good seats, at the front of the economy class. Naturally we were split up, me in front, Yulia and Sasha behind me. While annoying, this wasn’t too bad. We at least had pretty good seats, and the flight was only 8 hours or so, so it wasn’t that long.
British Airways allows you to opt in for different meals, if you use the website in advance. This let’s you get a kids meal, or vegetarian, or Kosher, etc. They had an option for Gluten Free meals, which is the closest to my diet that I could find. This did not work out well.
The odd, processed rice bun and cake, frozen salad, and mystery meat in white sauce that passed for the Gluten Free meal, surprisingly, did not satisfy. Neither did the snack pack of, largely, an empty box and diced fruit. I was left a bit wanting.
I’m really happy to get an uneventful flight, it was calm enough that Yulia didn’t need to calm herself with too many drinks, and we were tired, but in good shape when we landed. Our bag came through the collector quickly, and we were out on the stop waiting for our shuttle to Hertz in no time.
Naturally, the shuttle ran late to get us, but this was made better with an unnaturally long and slow line at the Hertz office. I would have used the automated check-in, but I had two confirmation mails that listed two different cars, and wanted to make sure that I didn’t have two cars rented by mistake. Once I got to the front, I confirmed that we had just one car, and since I had done everything online, it was a quick process to get signed and get the lot number for our car.
We walked right past our car twice, because we were expecting a significantly smaller and worse car. I still don’t know the model and make, but it’s a black compact wagon of some foreign make, and much larger and nicer than the Ford Focus that they had us pegged for. Yulia was thrilled with the car, and happily jumped into the passenger seat to go and found a steering wheel staring at her.
Right-Hand-Drive issues solved, we got into the correct seats, plugged in the GPS (the UK map pack is so worth the money) and headed out. It took me quite a bit of focus to stay on the left side of the road and in the center of the lane. We stopped about halfway to Bath for a rest and some food. England has rest stations just like France, and we loved it. Gas, a food court, coffee, wifi, and a minimart. All super clean. I was starving from the flight still, and made a beeline for the kitchen. The food looked fantastic! Yulia wasn’t starving, but she was still impressed, so I knew it wasn’t just starvation goggles making things look great.
I found the “brunch plate” for £5.90 which had sausages, chips, beans, and fried eggs. That and two Red Bulls really hit the spot. We hit the road again with the GPS giving us our bearings. About an hour later, we were off the main freeway heading towards our B&B. The road was getting smaller and smaller, ad we were a bit nervous, both about driving on the smaller road, and if our place was going to be ok.
The area around Bath is pretty sparse. We didn’t see much around. Right when the GPS told us we were at our destination, we saw the place, “The Blathwayt”. It was a stunning little pub and B&B just outside Bath. We walked in and found the manager working at a table in the pub, rebuilding the website on her laptop. She was glad to see us, and once we confirmed that we were there to stay and not just have a pint, she got our keys and showed us up.
We were expecting a typical British closet-sized room, and were shocked to find that the room we reserved “the Family Ensuite” was big and fully remodeled. We have a big private bath, and a view out across the horse racetrack behind the pub. Yulia was thrilled again, this was a great start to the vacation. We cleaned up, napped a bit, and got directions on where to park in Bath for the evening to get some food and find our bearings.
Bath is stunning. Absolutely beautiful architecture. We drove around a bit, parked and walked the center of town for a while. This was a great shopping district with some very funky shops, nice food, and close to the main tourism spots (namely, the Roman baths). Tomorrow, we planned on taking the tours, but today we just found a nice Pub and grabbed some food.
We will see how the city is in general tomorrow.
