welsh coast - dreamland I.

on the day when i went tracking to brecon beacons, i visited cardiff bay too. well i enjoyed it, especially that i had a nice pizza and a beer in a posh pizzeria. i thought i deserved it as i had been eating sandwiches for two days. oh, and jacket potatoes in cleobury mortimer. it was ok, but quite simple. i can imagine my friends (arpi and bara) hate that food having it twice a week... so i visited cardiff bay. that's the number 2 sight in cardiff, after the centre where u can find a nice castle (haven't been inside), a big park and a cool, so called Millenium Stadium.
cardiff bay's got a cool atmosphere. it's lively, dinamic, many interesting, extravagant buildings and culture centres. i think they are trying to build up cardiff as a proper 21st century capital and they started in cardiff bay. good start.

colourful and sparkling:
cool tourist info, isn't it?
that's the way an exhibition hall looks like in cardiff.



looking back from a two months perspective i can say that the best part of my trip - on my own - was the following day. that was the first time when i could really enjoy myself since until that point i was missing Poziomka very much. then i was thinking on that the day was coming when i was gonna meet her again. even though it was quite cold, i was happy. i can't explain why. maybe because of the places i visited.
this was wednesday. my first destination was barry island. it used to be an island, but some time ago they connected it to the mainland -as far as great-britain is mainland :). so barry island is a little coastal town with a nice beach and of course as in these cases it is usual, lots of entertainment: funfairs and stuff like that.
this is how barry island looks on a lovely, cold wednesday morning. there's a long, but narrow neck of land in the background.
that's a panorama view from the neck of land (click for full size):
that's that long 'tongue':
grey, welsh coast with grey, welsh houses:

bacon

where did i finish last time? oh yeah, cardiff. well, from cardiff there's plenty of places to visit, most of them are easy to reach within an hour. on tuesday i went to Brecon Beacon for example. nothing in common with bacon. it's just deception. against the enemy. well, that day killed me. i made up my mind to do that walk long time before. i saw it in the guardian. hmmmm, i think i already made a remark somewhere that that booklet was not designed for public transport commuters. it sucked!!!! the nearest train station was appr. 6 miles far from where the walk started. but it forgot to mention that there was a huge mountain between the two points, and that there's only a highway along which is the only way you can get to the starting point. if you have never tried, i can only recommend... loud, dangerous, dirty and smelly. is there anything else you could wish? oh yeah, almost forgot: i huge rucksack on your back.
anyway, by one o'clock i got to the starting point. there was another affair: i couldn't find the car park where the walk should have started from. but i wasn't the only one: there was another family that wanted to walk the same route. we were trying to find the real starting point together and eventually we walked together all day long. very kind family, i can't remember names already. the woman was french but her english was almost at the level of a native.
Brecon Beacon is the smallest of the three welsh national parks but maybe the wildest one. when i was walking through the forest or climbing a narrow path sometimes i felt like i was in a rainforest. untouched absolutely green landscape. even the plants looked like those in rainforests. i guess because of the abundant rain...
the main attraction in brecon beacon - alright, during my walk - was the waterfall. i big one, but not a niagara waterfall. it's charm is not it's size but that you can walk behind the watercurtain.
yeah, after this we started walking back to the starting point - on a different way of course. at about 5pm i we separated coz i had to get back to a railway station somehow. that time we were in a small village so i thought there must a bus service on that road so i asked some locals. they were absolutely helpful, but it wasn't easy to understand them. in fact, it was very difficult. what's more, i could hardly understand them. but finally i took the bus to, holy shit these names are awful. it was, uhmm, aberdare. so from there i took the train back to cardiff. and on the way there i took the train to treherbert. i forgot to tell you that from there i hitched a hike. on that day i met many friendly, helpful people. both the people who gave me a lift and the family gave me their numbers, so that i could call them in case i needed.
by the way, that was the first time i was hitch hiking and i enjoyed it. maybe because i was lucky. though i know that it wasn't luck, it is the people who are living there.

anyway. here are some pics in case you don't want to visit the other page with many more pics from there.
if you want to see all my photos of Brecon Beacons here you go

Prologue

I made up my mind to start this blog, where i can share my experiences that i gained during my big travel. i hope everyone will enjoy it, and you won't get tired of clicking too much because of the many pictures.
By the way: pls find my photos on the left-hand-side bar - TravelPics -
this is where i am going to share my pics taken during these sixteen days.

I've already uploaded pics from the first four days.
that is:
1. Warwick, Kidderminster (England)
2. Cleobury Mortimer, Ludlow (England)
3. Brecon Beacons National Park, Cardiff (Wales)
4. Barry Island, Llantwit Major, Swansea, (Wales)

Just not to let you down, i will start the report on these two weeks.

On the first day i visited my friends -Arpi n Bara- near Kidderminster. On the way there, i stopped at warwick. there's a nice castle. unfortunately i had only one hour to catch the next train, so a didn't enter. anyway, i've got some nice pics. warwick was built on river Avon. Sounds familiar? Stratford-upon-Avon? oh yeah, this is where Shakespeare was born. great, i felt this transcendent feeling, too, but then i moved on to Brighton then to Kidderminster, and eventually to Cleobury Mortimer.
This is where Arpi n Bara are working, in the so called Pioneer Centre. u can guess what it is. well, yes: a prison.:) no drinks, no smoking, no sex. alright, alright, just jokin, these are just the rules. the place is very ambient, people are very kind. i mean the staff. it's situated in the middle of nowhere a little bit, and that's why it so peaceful. surrounded by nature. forrests, lakes, uhm golf pitch... and if u want to get there (to the golf pitch) u need to cross a cow-shit-minefield, which is an advanture :)) so we made a great trip to the pine forrest nearby. we were waiting for deers to come to drink, climbing an extremely steep hill, we found a snake and a little frog. gud stuff.
then we visited Ludlow, a little English town near Wales. the journey to Ludlow was lovely. great views, nice cottages, sheep prowling around on the hills, fields and the road.
Ludlow is quite pretty, it is the gastronomy capital of England -according to the Guardian. well, i didn't know this that time, so what i am gonna remember is the Castle which wall i climbed, the river in which dogs were swimming and chasing ducks and that i spent a great time with Arpi n Bara.
From Ludlow, i moved on to Cardiff, capital of Wales. that was the second day.
Cardiff is not as great as i presumed, 2 evenings were completely enough to discover the sights. Cardiff comprises two main parts: Cardiff Centre and Cardiff Bay. In the evening when i arrived i explored Cardiff Centre with the Castle, nice park and some nice buildings. then the next evening i visited Cardiff Bay. This one was much more interesting: extravagant buildings, cultural centres, entertainments. and the ocean.
however Cardiff was a good starting point. i was accommodated in a youth hostel (not too bad, not too good), but at least it was close to the centre and the railway station, and i also had breakfast there. what's more, it was near the Millenium Stadium which looks where nice at night.
for now, this should be enough, i want to maintain your excitement. ok-ok, i don't want you to get bored...