Would you believe llamas? Is that a one L lama or a 2 LL llama?
Ogden Nash expounds:
The One-l lama,
He's a Priest;
The two-l llama he's a beast,
And I will bet
A silk pajama
There isn't any
Three-l lllama
This is a I-don't-feel-so-good llama:
Follow Victoria Hoffer's Surf and Turf Adventure: Along coasts and across countries, but hopefully, not into the abyss.
Ogden Nash expounds:
The One-l lama,
He's a Priest;
The two-l llama he's a beast,
And I will bet
A silk pajama
There isn't any
Three-l lllama
This is a I-don't-feel-so-good llama:
I found the walk today difficult despite perfect weather: cool, windy, cloud cover for most of it, the path was easy to follow, so what could be hard? Elevation gain about 2500 feet (depending on the source you consult), difficult downhills, and even though people say the stage is gorgeous, I found it dull: 99% through moors, not all as pretty as this section. But why is that photo so tilted?
This is the worst surface on which to walk:
An even bigger cairn
Maybe there are cairn competitions, but I doubt it.
I totally don't get this country park status since you can't go cavorting through the moors, and this area looks like all the other areas, but hey, what do I know:On the path, truly in the middle of nowhere, is a defibrillator:
Steps like this make steep uphills and downhills so much easier:
Anyhow...I am in a sweet Air B&B and the host allowed me to come on over at 1:30 when I got into Bodfari. He had eggs and bread and butter and stuff in the frig, and I had packed up the leftovers from yesterday's shopping, so instead of going to the famous Dinorben Arms to eat, I made an omelette garnished with avocado, tomato, and onion, and toast with butter, marmalade and walnuts. I found cookies saved from the Angel Hotel in Abergavenny and "paired" them with dark choclolate. Then I took the half lemon I still had, squeezed it into a cup poured boiling water over it and added a generous amount of sugar. Not a shabby meal for when you are just too plum tuckered out to walk 10 minutes down a hill for a steak sandwich and ten minutes up the hill to your digs. I also have a sore toe that needs attention.
First it must be said that Llanarmon yn Ial is not on ODP. The stage ends at a place called Clywd Gate where there is a manor, but to stay there you have to rent out the whole place, which is great if you are using the venue for a wedding or some such, but does not do the solitary walker much good. Since there is nothing else around there, so I had decided to go off the path 2 1/2 miles shy of Clywd Gate, which is how I ended up in Llanarmon yn-ial, an adorable townlet...it has a village store, which, at about 1:00 p.m when I arrived, had not one fresh item on the shelves, and when I did want to go later to buy cookies, I was out of luck because it closes at 4:00.
The stage today was super long, so I took a taxi to cut off two miles, but then I was annoyed because I could have fairly easily walked to the path junction where the road meets the path. The taxi ride, short as it was, made me so car sick I could not wait to get out, so I bailed before the predetermined drop-off point. But enough of the complaining and regrets, the walk was gorgeous.
See who is hiding in there!
And behold! a ram caught by its horns in the thicket:
In case Alex and Alex decide to come back and bike this route, here is the info:
A most strange stile:
But cross it one must.
Like Tintern, this remnant of an abbey still stands:
Near the end, I abandoned the route, and so did not see the remnant of Castle Dinas Bryn, but I wanted to get back to The Riverbanc to meet Alex and Alex for breakfast. Much, very much to my surprise, they were already dining at 10:00 because noise from an adjacent bar had interfered with their sleeping the prior night, and also they had to check out of their room by 10:00 a.m. After breakfast, we headed out to Plas Newydd rather than to the aqueduct, which had been out original plan. "I am all about the aqueduct," said Alex, only after crossing it the day before, her enthusiasm tanked. "It was so not impressive," was the report.Again alexandalexacrossamerica.wordpress.com will give you much absorb about the Plas and the Ladies of Llangollen, who, the audio insisted, were not lesbians even though, as young girls, they ran away from Ireland together to escape marriages they did not want, and lived together for the rest of their lives, 'because," the audio insisted, "it was common for people to share a bed back in the day, even strangers!"
The house was reminiscent of Powis Castle what with all the dark Jacobean carvings, only here you could see them up close, and take as many pictures as you liked:
Beds were very short back then...don't know if you can tell from the photo:
The ladies of Llangollen, as Sarah and Elinore were called, were famous, but all in all it is a strange story. You will learn a lot about them on Alexes' blog.
A sign at a restaurant:
This well-behaved not wet, welcomed dog was waiting to order:
Our walk through town took us to the railway station where a steam train was about to roll in
"Say, Alex, can you help me with this luggage?"
A little girl watching the ducks on the Dee: