Oh Look, another castle!

Oh look! Another Castle!

So after another full "English" breakfast the Entourage and I head off to Pembroke castle. The weather that we had enjoyed on the previous day was gone to be replace with a cold miserable day made worse by the howling (and quite franking %@#* freezing cold) wind and the drizzle of rain. Since we bears take ages to dry out, I continued to guard the car whilst the insane people that I employ went off to see the sights and report back.

The first stop was Pembroke castle. Not as large or as extensive as Caerphilly, but still a very formidable fortification. The approach to presentation of information around the site was different to that of Caerphilly but still gave a very informative look at the castle and its history.

From there we travel to Pentre Ifan, a neolithic burial chamber (dolman some might say) which turned out to be a bunch of rocks in a sheep paddock it what was by then driving rain. Still the Entourage dutifully went out and viewed the site.

From there it was a relatively short drive to St Dogrdaels Abbey which had belonged to the Tourinian order until dissolved by Henry VIII and most importantly had a cafe. Again the Entourage braved the weather which I must admit was back to a drizzle with only a light breeze but was still freezing.

Having viewed the site my staff enjoyed a homemade cream tea, leaving me in the car the whole time I might add, before again heading off to the village of Bethel where we will spend the next two nights. The views along the Welsh west coast and through the Snowdon National Park were truly beautiful and some just stunning.

It is at this point that I must discuss our relationship with Charlotte, the car's inbuilt GPS. Having spent a few days with her now we were begining to believe that we knew and understood her quirks. Like the way she decides what is and is not a entrance to a round-about. Having under counted previously it seems that now we are in Wales that what previously counted as an entrance to Charlotte no longer does so that the driving team are still missing turns but now because they are overshooting not undershooting as before. Also Charlotte has a strange habit of ignoring giving instructions on certain round-abouts and not others. This can mean she tells us to go straight through a small round about even when, and this has happened, there is only the road you came in on and the one you must leave by. Then at other times she simply ignores the existence of the round about you are on which may be very large with many exits. She also has a tendency to announce some turns, particularly sharp ones, without warning.

However perhaps her most endearing eccentricity is her navigation. Carparks are still not a thing for her and her directness can be frustrating as the fence between you and the back of your intended destination. But her true colours are shown by her choice of route through which she will guide you.  We have come to appreciate the English and Welsh countrysides in a way that we would never have done without Charlotte. We have certainly taken the scenic route for much of our travels. The cost however is that she always chooses the narrowest, most visually limited, winding, treacherous, traffic filled roads that she can possibly locate. If they are as wide as the car then Charlotte will choose that road, particularly if it winds about like an cut snake with hairpin turns behind blinds corners just to make sure you are awake. Every road must be lined with hedgerows, high brick or stone walls, or pass through one of Beth's "spooky forests"  where the trees grow out of the side of the road, arch over it and join branches with their friends from the other side of the road, and they do this for miles. (Beth is strangely excited when these forests are filled with fog.) The end effect of this is that for much of the time you cannot really see the countryside or, and this is something Charlotte thinks unimportant, the on-coming traffic. For not only is Charlotte quite cheerfully sending us down roads where every turn is a blind corner, but she picks those that will have oncoming traffic. And not just any traffic but traffic that is made up of large, heavy trucks and farm machinery. I sometimes wonder if Charlotte is not the leading edge of the feared Robot Apocalypse that is about to engulf us.

Drinks of Note.
As a correction we have discover that Lilt is actually a grapefruit and pineapple concoction. British drink flavours being somewhat milder than ours.
Peach Coca-Cola is actually not too bad and certainly nothing like the failed Lime Coca-Cola that was once inflicted on Australia.
Heartease Farm produces a range of lightly carbonated beverages which includes and Apple and Rhubarb flavour with the apple clearly, though quietly, dominating the the taste with the rhubarb coming through sweetly in the aftertaste.

Quote of the Day.
Sandra: "Its freezing out there! I should have said that with an f word."
Beth: "Can I say it?"

Pembroke Castle.

The view from the top of the central keep.

 

The view from the bottom.

The cave beneath the castle.

Pentre Ifan in its sheep field.

Out of wind and rain.

St Dogrdaels Abbey.

Part of the Welsh coast, with surfers. Yes there are surfers out there just to the left of shot.