Wales ramble

I was a couple of hours by train from London, approaching Bristol and the Welsh border beyond, when I got the text.  Anne and Dorothy had flown into Bristol from Dublin, and were planning to take the train to the Gower peninsula in Wales.  We would rendezvous there for our hike around the peninsula on the Wales Coast Path.  Dorothy's husband Jim would meet us later in the day.

The train they were planning to take happened to be the train I was on.  I texted back my car number just as we were pulling into Bristol.  They soon appeared, empty seats were found next to mine, and another hour later we arrived together in Swansea.  From there we shared an Uber ride to the tiny coastal town of Pen-Clawdd, the origination point of our hike.

The town is so small that only three of us were able to find rooms in the same B&B -- Anne had a room in the Estuary, a very nice combination hotel and pub at the other end of town.  The two ends were only  a short beach walk apart.  We gathered at the Estuary for dinner, and Jim arrived while we were still having drinks outdoors.  We spent a free day in Pen-Clawdd acclimating ourselves -- I had actually already acclimated myself in London for a couple of nights -- and then began our walk.

It was somewhat different from other walks/hikes we'd done together in the U.K.  Forty-five miles in five days, from Pen-Clawdd following the beach around the peninsula to Mumbles.  (I'm not making these names up.)  Because of the shortage of accommodations along the coast, we would stay overnight only in Pen-Clawdd and Mumbles, plus an intermediate stop for two nights in Llangennith.  There would be a certain amount of portage by taxi back and forth each morning and evening, to insure that we actually walked the entire distance without having to walk any portion twice.

The walk followed the beach around the peninsula, carrying us out and around the Whiteford Spit, where we saw the last iron lighthouse still standing with a base under the sea.  

Impressions?  1.  How few people we saw walking or hiking on the beach.  2.  The immensity of the beach, both in length and in depth.  3.  Corollary to (2): How far out the tides went out, and how close they came in, a function of the slightness of the shore's gradient. 4.  The immensity and extent of the sand dunes, most covered with a rich layer of grass.

During our walks, the tide was usually far out, but our last day in Mumbles we witnessed high tide, with the ocean -- until then a distant sight across the sands -- lapping at the town's sea wall.

The locals were very nice.  Although we were told that many spoke only Welsh at home, they all spoke impeccable British English (or some variant thereof).  Sitting around Anne's Estuary Hotel in Pen-Clawdd, having first drinks and then dinner, I was impressed with a sight I hadn't really seen since I was in my early teens -- kids on bikes roaming around, never far from where we were, talking together as they circled their bikes in the middle of the street or driveways.  I almost began looking for Hopalong Cassidy hats and Hula Hoops.

We hiked about eleven miles each of the first two days -- a distance that would have seemed a trifle on a flat beach five years ago, but which began tiring my arthritis-afflicted right knee.  The third day, I eased off a bit.  I walked the first mile with the other three, and then struck out on a beach walk of my own in an opposite direction, netting about five miles.  I ended  up back at our Llangennith B&B, where the others returned by taxi.  We hiked together again on Day 4, a hike that led us into dunes and  hills, as well as flat beaches -- all scenic and inspiring.  The final day was a short walk into the suburbs of Mumbles; Anne and I opted out and instead did a tour of Mumbles's Oystermouth Castle (I won't torture you with the castle's Welsh name).  It was an impressive ruin, with a tour guide dressed in medieval military garb who turned out to be a retired school teacher.  Excellent tour.  We then walked the lengthy Mumbles boardwalk, where we eventually ran into Jim and Dorothy at the end of their hike. 

Mumbles was the largest town on our route, and much more touristed than the rest of the peninsula.  It lies only about five miles from the city of Swansea, to whose train station we Ubered the next day.  We began on the same train route we had arrived on, letting Ann and Dorothy off at Bristol for their flights home.  Jim and I continued to London, where we spent three days sightseeing.

If the Gower Peninsula reminds me of lonely family beach trips back in the 1950s, London by contrast is a huge and highly cosmopolitan city.  We did a lot in the short time we had.  The highlight was buying last minute -- but very good -- seats at two West End musicals:  a revival of Oliver! (a production so excellent that it deserves a blog post of its own) and Moulin Rouge (um, interesting...).

We wandered across Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, and visited the Science Museum behind the Royal Albert Hall.  Excellent museum, with separate rooms dedicated to a large variety of scientific disciplines.  More comprehensive than the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, and less packed with rowdy kids, although there was no shortage of same.

From there, we walked to Trafalgar Square and visited the National Gallery -- which I declare publicly to be the most attractively designed and organized art museum that I've ever visited -- certainly among those of any comparable size.  Excellent descriptions -- clear and readable -- for each exhibit.  I never felt that the exhibits were crammed together because of a shortage of space.  Each room was a delight in its own right.  I recommend a study of the National Gallery by whomever is in charge of the art display in Florence's Pitti Palace, about which I complained in a post last fall.

I had seen a portion of the British Museum (mainly ancient Greece) during my day in London before the hike, and hoped to get back to it -- but I'll have to save that for a later London visit.  Jim stayed one more day in London after I headed back to Heathrow -- I'll have to see whether the British Museum was on his list of accomplishments after we split.

In summary, it was a great two weeks -- Beach and City.  An interesting contrast, each a delight in its own way.  I now have seven weeks in Seattle before I return to Lake Como for three weeks at the end of August.  You'll hear more about that later.