We celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary in Wales while we were living in England. I have to say my first impression of Wales was it was cleaner, prettier and just over-all better than England. As it turned out the time from our house in South East London to the border of Wales was only about 2 hours. One thing though, their language is tough, well their spelling anyway.
After we located our hotel, we checked in and got the prerequisite glass of wine. We stayed in a town called Penarth because it was close to an area where they film our favorite TV show whilst living in England. “Merlin” .
I have always had a special spot in my heart and soul about that part of history. So much so that I wrote a screenplay that takes place in that time frame. If you are interested it is called Lanval. It actually is on file at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles. Ok, pitch over……So leaving Medieval times behind, we head up the coast of Wales. Swansea and the Gower Peninsula.
We came upon more food stalls and markets and oh my a feast for the eyes and the stomach.
Next we travel up the coast to a beautiful walk and views of Worm’s Head. This little island was named by the Viking invaders and they called it “Wurm” which means Dragon. They felt it was shaped like a giant sea-serpent and marks the most westerly tip of Gower. Dylan Thomas used to visit Worm’s Head and in his short story “Who Do You Wish Was With Us?” he wrote:
Laughing on the cliff above the very long golden beach, we pointed out to each other, as though the other were blind, the great rock of the Worm’s Head. The sea was out. We crossed over on slipping stones and stood, at last, triumphantly on the windy top. There was montrous, thick grass there that made us spring-heeled and we laughed and bounced on it, scaring the sheep who ran up and down the battered sided like goats. Even on this calmest day a wind blew on the Worm.
Dylan Thomas
I have a feeling that this place is always windy, and I am not a fan of wind, pun intended, but no matter, this place was a slice of heaven on earth. Check it out.
So we left the coast and drove back to our hotel which was in Penarth. We decided to check out the Pier there and get the feel for the town we were staying in.
Wales, I hope to see you again someday, but you did make our 20th wedding anniversary special indeed. How do you say “Until we meet again” in Welsh? Hold on, let me google it.
Nes i Ni gwrdd eto.
