Exploring around Aberystwyth
Both John and Barb are suffering with heavy colds at the moment. Not exactly sick, but streaming noses and coughing bouts are annoying. John and Anne took us out in their car for a drive around the area where they live. They knew of Barb's castle fettish and had shown us the castle in Aberystwyth on our last visit, so this time we went out to see Strata Florida....the ruins of a Cisterian Abbey....almost as good!
We had a lovely time looking around the Abbey and reading about its interesting history. There were some fairly intact tiles still in situ on the floor of some of the side chapels and some of these tiles had been re-created for the gift-shop.
Next door to the Abbey was a very old graveyard which we explored, trying to find the gravestones of the man whose left leg had been buried there before he died. Also the grave of a well-known welsh poet.
We stopped for a lunch in a nearby town and had a look around Rhiannon's art Gallery. They specialise in really expensive hand made jewellery, but also sell knick knacks and have a rather good gallery upstairs featuring local artists and potters.
When we drove back to Aberystwyth we stopped at the harbour to have a look at John and Ann's boat which is moored at the harbour there. We even got to go onboard for a look around. Sadly the tide times and weather for our visit were not condusive to going out for a sail.
Then we had a promenade on the Aberystwyth shore front. It has been repaired after a severe storm a couple of years ago inundated the area, destroying part of the sea front wall. We wandered into town and stopped for coffee and cake at a very cute cafe which has been converted from an old cinema theatre.
Then we returned to Capel Dewi where their house is and spent the rest of the evening chatting easily in the way old friends do. We're hoping to convince them to visit us in Australia sometime. Their hospitality to us has been amazing!
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