A Weekend in Wales

Friday morning I caught the train for Cardiff.  It was amazingly easy to make connections and make my way to the Llandaf section of Cardiff.  Meeting my cousin, Rachel, was special. We hadn't seen each other in about ten years.  We celebrated with breakfast of fried eggs, beans, toast banger, bacon and tea at a local establishment.  We then took a walk to her allotment...where she was given a portion of land to farm in the city.  However, just before we got to there, she got a phone call and we turned around to meet a surprise.  We rounded the corner to see a figure at the end of the drive...it was Jane, Rachel's sister and my second cousin.  She had driven up for the weekend with us.  I hadn't seen the two of them together since 1990.  Having us together insured that there would be a lot of laughing this weekend and there was.

Jane, Jake, Me and Rachel in Rachel's garden...having tea.

Rachel's allotment in the shadow of the local train.

We looked at Rachel's allotment that she has spent two years getting in order and is generating a good amount of vegetables.  We met Jonathan a young occupational therapy student who is sharing Rachel's farmland.

 The Allotment with Rachel and Jonathan, her tenant farmer :)

After our tour, we loaded up the cars and heading for the Gower peninsula and Rachel's holiday caravan.  Sitting in the dunes of Rhosilli Bay this is a magical place.  Miles of flat sands, wonderful surf over looked by the headlands of Gower.  The Worm enclosed the south end of the bay and The Island the north.  Surfers all over, hikers everywhere.

Rhosilli Bay (click on this photo to get a better look)

the town of Rhosilli on the left...then The Worm....the bay and in the upper right paragliders

Overlooking Rhosilli Bay

Which way to go?

I got to meet a few of Rachel's neighbors. Gerry O'Connell is an Irish-born Welshman with an incredible life history.  An orphan, given to the Jesuits in Ireland he did not have a good upbringing.  But when he turned 22 he heard that his brother, whom he had never met was living in London and off he went.  A self-declared rouge, he became a successful insurance agent in Cardiff and now lives on the ocean entertaining anyone who will listen with his wonderful stories about Ireland, Wales and his beloved children.  Gerry and I spent several hours sharing stories.

I got to take several hikes around the area...up the headlands, down the beach..over to the Worm...it was sunny, even hot and we ended our stay with a lunch of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding....what a great weekend.