Bath and Wales

Up and about early so we could pack everything into the car and head off on the next stage of our trip. We said our goodbyes to our villa right on 8am and hit the road heading for Bath. About two hours of motorway driving we arrived there and found some convenient but expensive parking (thanks parkopedia.com!). First order of business was, of course, to find some coffee and cake, which we did at Jane Austen's house. It seems the tea room there is in what was once Jane's bedroom, and we had a great table looking out the second story window to Queen Square. We then hit the Bath tourist trail including Royal Crescent, The Circus, Bath Abbey and the Roman Baths, although we were content to stay outside these and just admire the architecture. We also looked through the shopping area, which seemed pretty expensive. Lots of people everywhere by lunchtime, so probably a good thing that we got there as early as we did.

For a change today we had lunch at a pub, the West Gate in Bath. Petra ordered the Sunday roast which was huge, and by all reports, pretty damn good. Phil had ham, egg and chips and another pint of Somerset cider. Nice.

After lunch we made our way back to the car and took the road to Wales, another two hours behind the steering wheel. We crossed the Severn Bridge over the Bristol Channel which was curiously exciting even if we had to pay more than £6 for the bridge toll. The drive then took us to the edge of Cardiff before we headed north through the Brecon Beacons. Some fantastic scenery along the way, but since it was raining we decided not to stop now, but check out the views next time we travel that road. 

Eventually we arrived at our cottage in the tiny village of Pentrebach, which quite literally means "small village" in Welsh. The owners have been extremely friendly, even offering to drive us around Cardiff (where they live during the week) when we go there on Tuesday. The cottage is snug and comfortable (it used to be a cow shed, apparently - moo!) and we loved it from the start. It's next to a stream and in the middle of a beautiful green valley. Nice and remote too, but the village has a pub where we had drink after we settled into the cottage. There are also pubs and shops in the nearby (larger) village of Sennybridge.

Tomorrow we start our touring around Wales.