Wales, or Aberystwyth to be more precise - by Dale

We had to leave our quaint old hotel in Glasgow this morning without knowing where we would be at the end of the day. We landed there on Friday and with our approach of flexible last minute planning decent lodging for the coming weekend was tough to find anywhere we were hoping to be. 

A fancy breakfast right in our room as Scotland continues to spoil us!

We tried to be cocky about our situation as we enjoyed a traditional Scottish breakfast served right in our room on the third floor overlooking well maintained gardens in a beautiful of lively Glasgow we told ourselves we would just take off in the direction we wanted to be and work out in route. Sounds good but we were edgy already by the time we got to the train station. We used a cab to save precious minutes and enjoyed his comments and recommendations for this city as the best Scotland has. He gave us much to consider and a reason to come back with more time to spend here.

This is the gateway to the Lake District we want to come back and explore

We got advice at the train station about how to get to central Wales via Shrewsbury and found it wouldn't cost anything due to our rail pass but would take three trains and some short transfer times. That we were up for but we still had to land a place to stay there or along the way and change our plans to go on to Wales the next day which would further shorten the time we have to spend there. We used our SIM cards to good advantage while the train took us out of Scotland and thrould he famed Lake District and rolling Yorkshire hills of England. We left voicemails, sent text messages and surfed tourist webpages for leads on lodging while trying to enjoy the beautiful countryside around us. We finally got a tip that there had been a cancellation at the pricy Marine Hotel on the coast of Wales where we wanted to be. We grabbed it and whispered credit card details on the train. This cost quite a bit more than we try to spend but was worth the piece of mind and travel flexibility. Shortly afterwards a well rated bed and breakfast called back with space if we wanted it. Too late now but it could come in handy on the way back in a day or too.

Exploring these castle ruins at dusk was a great start in Wales!
 

As we passed through Shrewsbury, Laurie reflected on when she lived there for some months with her whole family of eight during the year they spent traveling Europe. We plan to spend some time there to look sround and see who and what might still be around. Our train through Wales gave us a preview of how green, rural and charming this place is. We arrived at Aberystwyth, and no I can't spell it right, with enough energy to walk the half mile and then head back out to walk along the ocean and then explore the castle ruins nearby before heading down to find a hearty dinner & liquid refreshment after another long day. This traveling isn't relaxing or easy although we are getting better at it and able to roll with what comes up along the way.

Laurie contemplates a stone formation in the castle ruins

I could probably say a lot about the quirky room we have here too but I'll leave that for Laurie and another day.