MIKE AND JESS' TRAVEL DIARY
England and Wales Trip
Day 10 - May 14 2019
We woke up for our last morning in Tenby. Off to breakfast at No.25 Cafe. We checked out of the hotel and started the drive along the south coast of Wales, looping back to Hereford with stops on the way, of course. First was Llansteffen Castle up on the top of a hill overlooking a tiny town and coast.
Next stop is Carreg Cennen Castle, a much bigger one in the middle of farmland way way way up on a hill!! We got to explore it all, including the hallway to a castle cave!
We stopped in The Barn Cafe at the bottom of the trail for Welsh Rarebit ( toast with a delicious mixture of ground mustard, sauteed leeks, and Rarebit cheese, melted over the bread. Seriously so good.) Mike got the ploughman’s lunch, which is a ton of local Welsh cheeses, pickled onions, salad, apple, etc. We also get some local ice cream and carrot cake.
We drove the incredible road to a waterfall in the Brecon Beacon National Park and came across something straight out of a dream for me. We drove over a ridge and the landscape shifts from lush green forest into completely flat terrain with tall grass that moves in the wind like waves.
We had to come to a stop in the road as there were horses and sheep grazing on both sides of the road! We stopped for some pictures and the animals started meandering across the road, enjoying the sunshine and plentiful grass. There was even a foal hiding behind his mom! We spent probably 15 minutes just in awe and not a single other car came in either direction.
The waterfall walk was super steep but short and rewarded us with beautiful views.
A bit tired from the day and still having an hour and a half drive ahead of us, we headed straight to Hereford, a medium sized city where we will be staying on the river Wye. We checked into our Airbnb, the guest house of a sweet old lady’s with a gorgeous garden overlooking the River. Once we unloaded the car, we headed out for drinks. The downtown city center was dead! Everything was closed and it was only 6:30! We got lucky and popped into an open pub with two local men chatting about football and we got some very warm pints for five bucks total! What?! During our sips, a woman came in with a gentle giant dog named Omar, who I made best friends with immediately.
We hit a couple more pubs, all empty except for a few patrons that clearly visit every day after work as they and the bartender chat about their day, the current football news, etc. We got some awkward stares from patrons. Never rude, they were always painfully nice, but more like, “what in the world are you doing here…” This is clearly not a tourist town, which is why we chose it, but it’s a bit weird.
We finished up the beers and grabbed an insane amount of Indian food to go and brought it back to the house. One of the dishes, the PINK one in the picture below, goes down as the worst dish we have ever had while traveling. Not much nightlife here in Hereford on a Tuesday night, so we put on a movie and pass out.
