For our third day in Wales, Jay and Sasha had a plan for us to go to Haverfordwest, two hours west of Cardiff.
In order to save Owen from excessive car time early in the day, Sasha, Julie and Libby would accompany him on a train ride while Jay and I would go by car, so we would have a car to explore the gorgeous coastal area in Pembrokeshire.
As perhaps you know, Pennsylvania's Haverford Township has been the primary residence for Julie and me since the beginning of June, giving Haverfordwest, Wales, additional significance to us.
The beautiful architecture, including many faced with natural stone or of Tudor design, along with the lush green foliage with colorful flowers, attracted us to the lovely suburbs of Philadelphia.
Famed universities Bryn Mawr and Villanova, and of course our favorite for walking, Haverford College, are among many institutions of higher learning in close to our home. Based on banners we see on neighborhood walks, many high school graduates stay in the area to attend these colleges and others in Philadelphia like U Penn, Temple and Drexel.
It's a great place to live, and many families have lived there for several generations.
My first impression of Wales was that it was very much like our new township, but basically about three months behind in the seasonal calendar. The cool weather with rain was more like late March than mid-July, when it is definitely summer in Pennsylvania.
As it turns out, there is a good reason for this. The founder of Pennsylvania, William Penn, was a Quaker of reportedly "Welsh extraction" (though he was born in London), so when he reached out to Quakers in Wales with a proposal to start a new settlement on the outskirts of Pennsylvania, they jumped on the opportunity, trusting his intentions to be honorable.
Many of the names in our new township, as well as Montgomery County and other nearby areas, have Welsh names.
Back to Cardiff, the grandparents awoke before the rest of the crew and walked to KIN+ILK Pontcanna, a nearby coffee shop that had great coffee.
Julie and I love spending time with Sasha's mother Libby. Oddly, she actually lived in Montgomery County, where Gina's family now lives, and went to Lower Merion High School. Our granddaughter Emma will begin attending Lower Merion High in the fall.
She and her now deceased husband David lived with Alex (Sasha) and her sister Whitney in Manhattan Beach when the girls were young. Eventually they moved to Park City, Utah, a ski resort area not unlike Big Sky.
We have lots in common, and so the time passed quickly as we sipped our delicious coffees.
A little too quickly.
We were immediately greeted at the door when we returned home at about 9:10 AM. Sasha had been trying to text us, and none of us had our phones connected to the Wi-Fi. If that doesn't show how much we had to talk about, I guess nothing does in this era when often a group of people sitting around a party are all staring at their smart phones in their own cyber worlds.
Of course, Owen was again thrilled to see the animal statues on the castle walls waiting for him, so we slowed the pace as we passed them, making animal noises.
Returning to the same little shop where we bought fresh Welsh Cakes the day before, we were disappointed to find that it wouldn't open until 10:00 AM. Despite this devastating news, we proceeded toward Cardiff Central Railway Station, making it there with time to spare.
Fortunately, the ladies were all able to snag Welsh Cakes and other snacks at a store in the station.
Unanticipated road construction slowed us down, but we arrived about the same time as the train, so the rendezvous in a grocery store parking lot worked perfectly.
While we had all eaten snacks, upon arriving in St. Davids, our first agenda item was finding a nice place for lunch, settling in at The Farmer's Arms, "A traditional Public House in the centre of the UK’s smallest city, St. Davids. Located in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park with great access to scenic walks & nearby award-winning local beaches," as their website accurately describes it.
Great choice. Julie and I split a hamburger, as we often do. She found Jack Daniel's Whisky BBQ Sauce that dressing the burger a bit too spicey, so I ate the lion's share of that delicious-to-me double cheeseburger while she probably had more than her share of the fries. Again, that is not uncommon for us.
Incidentally, while Jack Daniel was born in Lynchburg, Tennessee, he had Welsh as well as Scots-Irish heritage, so it is only a bit surprising that some say his famous Tennessee Whiskey might taste like whiskey made in Wales in days of yore. Welsh Religious/Temperance Movement and the 1823 Excise Tax combined to quash the industry by the twentieth century, so who alive could know for sure?
Getting further off track, the long dead Welsh Whiskey industry was revived on St. David's Day in 2004, when the Penderyn Distillery opened its doors at the base of Brecon Beacons, after its initial batch had aged at least three years and a day to conform with Welsh law. I didn't try it, because I'm not much of a whisky drinker. To paraphrase the most interesting man in the world, I don't always drink whisky, but when I do, I prefer Jack Daniel's Old No. 7.
Back to The Farmer's Arms, Libby's fish and chips looked particularly enticing. I would subsequently have that specialty of the British Isles later in our trip in both Ireland and England.
We walked toward St. Davids Cathedral and Bishop's Manner, branching off onto a country trail past fields in the general direction of the coast.
This hike to the sea must have been at least two or three miles, and by the time we reached Porthclais Harbor, we were ready for teatime, or in the case of Julie and me, an afternoon cup of coffee.
Jay spotted a little hut there to oblige our caffeinated desires, so we took a short rest break. Owen got a well-earned fresh diaper.
It still took another few minutes of hiking to reach the coast.
The fabulous coastal views made it well worth the trek.
Besides, hiking through the Welsh countryside is a treat in itself.
Walking along the coast reminded me of hiking on the Kalalau Trail along the Na Pali Coast in Kauai in some ways, though obviously quite different in terms of foliage and specific topography of the rugged coastline. It was the feel more than the views.
The full Pembrokeshire Coast Path National Trail "twists and turns its way for 186 miles," so I doubt we did all of it, but it sure felt that way to me. Okay, not really, but we hiked something like ten miles that day.
This First National Trail of Wales was established in 1970, and VisitWales.com reports it has "35,000 feet of ascent and descent." We must have done a little more than that on our hike.
The photos once again make the best descriptions, and you will note that I included some above interspersed between unrelated to the accompanying text, which is something that annoys Julie but works when I have better photos from the same day. I will add that, as always, you really have to be there yourself to experience the changing light and feel the vibes of the reality to fully appreciate it.
