A RECENT VISIT TO WALES
Last week, Gill and I drove to Wales, to a place called Eglwys Fach, the home of Gill's friends, Gill (yes, another Gill) and Zuhair Chalabi. Gill and Zuhair moved from Winchester to Wales last year - quite a big step as they are in a remote, rural area, having lived right downtown in Winchester for many years. On this map, look for Aberystwyth - Eglwys Fach where I was is about 1/4 of an inch in from the coast at Aberystwyth.

We had a seven-hour drive (with me driving all the way), right up into the Cambrian mountains and through some lovely villages and small towns. The scenery, once we started climbing the mountains, was breathtaking. All the signs were in Welsh, with loads of consonants and few vowels! We've been having remarkably good weather - warm but not too warm, and sunny - and it held for the entire visit.
Gill and I stayed with the Chalabis (she's English, he's Iraqi-born) for two days and then Sam (now a one-year-old dog and still too cute) and I drove home. Brian arrived from Oxford on the day I left, as prearranged. He and Gill went on to visit Welsh relatives after their stay with the Chalabis.
On my long drive back to Somerton, I only got lost once! In truth, I wasn't so much lost as I kept missing the egress onto the M4 highway at Cardiff. It was quite confusing but, after three tries, I finally did it. Hallellujah! It was great to have met the challenge of that relatively long drive. Now, I feel as if I can drive almost anywhere ... except London, of course :-).