The Trip and the Return (English / Welsh)

It's a sultry end of June in Upstate New York with rain coming down in buckets without parachutes, or as they say in Wales, mae'n bwrw hen wragedd a ffyn; it's raining old women and walking sticks. Even now at 9PM, it's still 77F, but there's no global warming, President Bush told us so...

I'm now in the middle of my kitchen remodeling. It's the last room inside the house that required massive attention, and now that the majority of the other large projects are done, I can finally turn to this final room.

The transition between my travels and home was not as severe as it is most years. I was, for a change looking forward to being home for the summer, inspite of the humidity and higher than normal temperatures.

The trip likewise went well. My conference was a success, and I received positive feedback on my paper. The other people at the conference were enjoyable and friendly, and eventhough it was in faraway Wales, there were some other Americans yn ein plith. Mary and Olwen are well, and it was good to see them again, as it was to visit with the other people in Tai'n Lôn and vicinity. I was saddened to learn that the Dylan Thomas internet cafe will be closing this year. The owner told me that he had had a bad year, and couldn't make it float anymore. Not only will I miss the easy internet access, but I will also miss my political discussion with him, and the good food. I'm thinking of getting a laptop for my future travels. At several points along the way, I had internet access in my hotel rooms, and I thought how nice it would be to have a computer along to distract me when I was tired, or stuck between locales and wanted something to take my mind away from the wait.

The filming also went well; John and Harriet stayed in Bachwen in the North while we filmed there, and then all three of us stayed in a small cottage outside Llangadog, just north of the Beacons int he South. I think at the end of the day, theDVD project will come out quite nicely.

We filmed at the following locations across Wales:
Caernarfon (the castle and the town)
Caer Seiont (Segontium in Caernarfon)
Conwy (the castle and the town)
Din Lligwy (the chapel and the iron age settlement)
Ynys Llanddwyn (all the major sites on this the island home to the Welsh patron saint of Lovers)
Barclodiad y Gawres (Neolithic religious center and burial chamber)
Bryn Celli Ddu (Neolithic religious center and burial chamber)
Bachwen (the cromlech and the grounds)
Dolwyddelan (One of Llywelyn's castles)
Criccieth (also on of Llywelyn's castles)
Blaenau Ffestiniog (the station, the train and some of the town)
Porthmadog (the station and the train)
Dinefwr (the castle of Lord Rhys, the manor house and the white cattle)
Merthyr Tudful (shots of the terrace homes)
Bae Caerdydd (y Ty Opera, y Cynulliad, the forum, St. David's Hotel)
Caerleon (the baths, the amphitheatre and the Roman barracks)

Additionally John and Harriet filmed in Machynlleth, the Museum of Welsh Folk Life in Cardiff and at Cardiff City Hall. On an earlier trip they shot at:
St. David's Cathedral and Bishop's Palace
Prentre Ifan (Cromlech)
Castell Henlys (Iron Age farmstead and plas)

After I left John and Harriet, I travelled back north for a few quiet days with principally visiting with Mary and recharging my batteries. Mary did host a small get-together at her house at which I met some of her other friends I had heard about over the years. Finally I travelled to London, leaving my car in Crewe and going there by train. I was going to visit with Pam from the Welsh Society and her mother Alice. They were staying at the Zetter Hotel, so I took a room at the same place. It is one of London's newer boutique hotels, and very pleasant, if very expensive. I had a great time in London with Pam and her mother, even though it was only a couple days. We did a few touristy things (like ride the London Eye) and ate some lovely meals. Of note to me was Dollar in Farrindan Road, Café Rouge in the area of Southwark. Over all I had excellent food. I had great Bengali food in north Wales at Sopna in Caernarfon, Madilba in Garndolbenmaen, and a third the name of which slips my mind in Llanwnda. We had a lovely formal meal at Meifod just south of Caernarfon. I had a lovely lunch of charcuterie at Café One in the Opera House in Cardiff Bay, and two fantastic meals, on of pork and leek sausage, and other of lamb and couscous at the Black Lion in Llangadog. Even some of the less prestigious places offered really lovely food. All that, and I still managed to lose about a stone while travelling!