September 19, 2008

We drive twenty kilometers south to the town of Tywyn and park the car in the car park at the beach. We will do an easy walk south to the coastal town of Aberdyfi. A sign warns us not to walk on the jelly fish. A couple on a bench tell us "You can't walk on the beach due to the high tide, go through the field with cows until the golf course." It is high tide so we take their advice. We pass a caravan park. The caravans are on wheels but they have probably not been moved more than once, i.e. when moved here. The caravans are not classified as permanent residences. We start walking over the field, but it is probably not such a high tide now. We climb over a fence, go over the dunes and down to the beach Where it is excellent to walk. On the beach there are plenty of beautiful blue stones shaped by the water. I pick up a flat stone. It will be perfect on my cat's grave back home. The stone looks like the pawprint of a cat.

Happy dogs play around their owners. It is an easy but beautiful walk along the shore. It takes us two hours to get to Aberdyfi where the houses, painted in different colors, look out over the beach and sea. We go along the promenade which runs adjacent to the main street. It is time for lunch so we go into a pub. I order a baguette with "Welsh meat", but it is off the menu today. I'll have one with bacon instead. K and A have been going on and on about an ice cream called "ninety-nine", it is soft ice with a chocolate flake bar stuck in it. We ask for it in a shop selling homemade ice cream. Unfortunately, the soft ice machine is not in operation so we take an ordinary home-made ice cream instead. I am thinking about buying a new hat to replace the one which I lost in London. J sees one in a shop-window. It is a very special hat for J because is has the same name as hers was before she married - the world-famous 'Tilley' hat. It looks nice but expensive too. J enters and asks. Too expensive. We are lazy and take the train back to Tywyn.

Tomorrow is departure day. We clean our house. then we eat dinner in the cafe in the bed and breakfast place located on the other side of river. At last I get my Welsh lamb, chops from a locally bred sheep. They are served with mashed potatoes. The cafe has no licence to sell alcohol but the owner invites us to bring our own wine for our meal. The food tastes good. The owner is from South Africa and is considering selling the business and moving back. He wants 250,000 pounds. Too expensive for me.

Links
Aberdyfi / Aberdovey