Travelodge Swansea Central

Well - being in Cardiff was good since it is the closest airport, being on a 2-hr drive to the hotel. But had to wait about an hour for the rental car place to open up.<br><br>At least I got to go through the visitor information brochures and grab a bite at Burger King.<br><br>

... Lez for remembering the password from last year, how impressive is that, I'd forgotten even making the account, lol! Anyway, the user id is evansholiday, and the passwrord is evans1. Just don't forget to tell us who you are! <br><br>Right, back to synching my i pod.......<br><br>Next report from Vegas or Salt Lake City! <br>

OK, here we go again, sat in Lyn's office trying to sort everything out. This year's trip has proved even more complicated to arrange, especially as we're flying out of Gatwick and back into Heathrow. We never like to do things the easy way! Also the dollar hasn ...

... west wales was what I was expecting!<br>We left the hotel and spent the day tidying, cleaning, dropping furniture off and generally doing stuff we could have done without. Then there was the packing... I hate packing at the best of times, but to be packing for a trip that I have no idea where we are going while totally wiped out is my idea of hell on legs! Simon gave me a few pointers. A jumper and a bikini! Not ...

... t comfortable signing off on us riding on the beach. But we could go for a hack through the woods. Figured that was better than nothing.<br><br>Man it was a miserable day...raining and cold all day. Pretty much from when we entered Wales, it was raining on us...maybe Scotland will be better? The forecast calls for no rain, but it's still supposed to be cold, so wish us luck<br>

... day and was nice to walk around the little town with a massive castle in the middle (you would think I would have had enough of castles by now but no they are still cool).<br> <br> We the stopped off in Callyan (not sure if that's spelt right) which was nice for a change as it actually was a roman stronghold and thus still has some remains from this era. We went and had a look at the roman baths which had ...

Of course, the ideal way to pass the day after a 100km mountain bike ride is to walk up the highest peak in the Beacons, so after a lovely cooked breakfast at the Canal Bridge Café, we loaded up the car then parked at the bottom of Pen y Fan and set off to walk up. It's not that bad a walk, and the views are great: typically Beacons, with big, rolling, grassy hills.<br><br>Our ...

... used to drink) and a drink with Kristy and Miles. Had a really good time and it was so good to finally meet the infamous Kristy! We trained back to their village and had Thai for dinner. The village really felt like Star's Hollow off the Gilmore Girls so I really enjoyed myself. We stayed at Kristy and Mile's and had breakfast in a diner that was just like Luke's (TV holic I know!) then continued the whirlwind tour of London with stops at The National Gallery and Trafalgar Square. Next ...

... and profiteroles for dessert. There were speeches and stories and a lottery which was soo fixed. A bottle of wine or two later we were chilling out in the castle, by which time it felt quite normal to see people walking around in Napoleon costumes and fluffy dresses. The party ended with the usual disco and to top it all of, Paul Martin fell through the kitchen skylight in the early hours of Sunday morning, Jamie Oliver gone bad. I guess you could say it truly was a smashing night!

... doing a tour of the interior and wandering its grounds. Castles have to be one of my favourite things about Europe. Grand, ornate cathedrals don&#8217;t do it for me, old Roman ruins don&#8217;t usually do it for me, but exploring around grey, crumbling stone turrets and walls set behind a wide moat never feels to arouse my interest. So on leaving Cardiff we very soon stopped at the nearby town of Caerphilly ...