This should be a quick one because we didn't walk very far at all, but we did see a different and new (to us) place, so it counts. A few weeks ago, Matthew and I drove Thomas (you might recall that he's my eldest son) and a couple of his friends (all having presented negative tests) to Wales to see their other friend who had just become a dad for the first time. I don't know if you've ever driven round the north coast of Wales, but it is stunning. I went to uni in Wales, down in gorgeous Aberystwyth, but I didn't get there by driving around the top because Aber is right in the middle of the west coast, so I'd never seen the wonder of Anglesey before, and neither had Thomas or Matthew. Sadly, as I was driving, I couldn't get any decent pictures for you, but maybe we'll stop for a photo op next time.
When we got to Pwllheli, and after I'd stopped going, 'oh my god, this is where you're staying??' and 'stunning! Gorgeous! AMAZING!!' Matthew and I left the big lads to settle into their Airbnb and went for a walk on the beach. It hadn't really occurred to me until that point that my little (6'3") Thomas was here for his first holiday without his family. A wide range of emotions then, I can tell you! The overriding one, actually, because in many ways I'm a very selfish person, was jealousy – that he was going to be staying in this beautiful place for a week while Matthew and I had to drive all the way back home and be ready for work and school the next day! So unfair!
You might wonder why I drove a 317.4-mile roundtrip to drop off three young fellas for a holiday that I wouldn't be getting to enjoy myself. Well, partly it's because I'm a really nice mum, despite my selfishness, and I thought it would be a sad waste of a day for them to spend probably eight hours on the train when I could get them there in less than four. And also because it saved me a lot of money – the train was well expensive! And also, Matthew and I just really love a road trip.
That bright pink house was where the boys stayed. Brilliant. After our short walk, before Matthew and I left to go home, we had a little chat with Thomas's friend Noah, the one who's just become a dad. He walked down from his house round the corner to the welcome them to his new home town and had popped out on to the prom to wait for them while they were unpacking a few things. What an impressive young man he's turned out to be. Of course, that doesn't really mean anything to you lot because you don't know him! But the point is, we shouldn't be too quick to dismiss this current generation of young men and women as being lazy and entitled and ignorant – give them a chance, and listen to them. A lot of them have been paying attention more than you might think.
Look at this gorgeous place. When we drove in, we all did an 'ooooooooooh', it was so pretty. I don't know about the boys, but I hadn't Googled Pwllheli to see what it looked like, so it was a lovely surprise to see just how beautiful it was. The beach reminded me of Bamburgh, which is my favourite place in the world and where I'd like to live one day. Obviously, you know what I'm like by now, so this thought made me cry a little bit. Then I got over myself and Matthew and I walked up the beach a bit, looking for the perfect stone and shell, beause that's what beaches are primarily for. This one has lots of oyster shells – I would assume that means Pwllheli is famous for its oysters, but that's not something I need to explore since I will never in a million years ever think about swallowing one of those snotty things. Bleurgh! I did once eat a mussel – disgusting! Power to you if you can stomach that sort of stuff.
There was a sort of natural shelf here, so we sat for a while and chatted about where we might go on holiday next, and where we might end up living if we ever manage to sell our house. And also we talked about how we wished we were staying in this lovely place instead of having to drive all the way back home.
Here's Matthew, walking slowly. We lingered for as long as we dared, aware that we would have to set off sooner rather than later if we were to get back home before midnight. I linger at the end of almost all of my walks because being outside is infinitely better than being inside. But at least there's always the next day's walk to look forward to when you do have to go back in. So we eventually trudged back to the car, said goodbye to the chaps and set off home.
Annoyingly, we hadn't brought enough snacks for the journey and I got ill on the way back because I have a blood sugar thing and it got too low. But we had Matthew's music playlist to keep us going – man, my kids have very eclectic musical tastes! Green Day followed by Neil Diamond – wonderful.
I got Matthew to snap a few pictures of Anglesey on the way back, but it was tricky because we were going pretty fast. You can't tell that it's an island in this picture, but it is, obviously. I've never been there, but we've put it on our list of potential holiday places.
This is off of Google because we couldn't get a picture, but it's Gwrych Castle – we passed this on the North Wales Expressway, and I wasn't sure if I'd seen it because it looked like something from a fairy tale.
And that was that. Roughly eight hours of driving because we took a wrong turn around Bangor and had to backtrack, and a half-hour walk on a beach in Wales. That's not something we do very often! Great fun, lovely drive, good music, lots of laughs, and a good time was had by all – not least Thomas and his dudes, who had a grand old time and can't wait to do it again. Course, we didn't leave them there – we did the road trip again at the end of the week to pick them up! Brilliant.
Until later, taters,
Linda + Matthew
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