Christmas in Wales

Wow the Welsh sure go all out for Christmas. Fake grass and palm trees!!! (This is not my aunt's house by the way.)

Neil and Sayard awoke christmas morning to find that Santa had tracked them down.

Hoping Santa had brought snow as well, they rushed to the window to see. While there was no snow, there was frost and that was good enough for them.

Tough boy with his Christmas goodies.

Reverting to her childhood on a different continent.

Posing in their new clothes.

Little baby Taliesin opening his first Christmas presents at Grandpa and Grandma's house.

Rhys showing Neil a thing or two. We played with one of his gifts more than he did. If anyone sees an interactive globe for cheap please pick it up for us.

Introducing Tal, the most well behaved 10 month old you will ever lay your eyes on. Over the two days he spent at the house he did not cry out once. The more time we spent with his parents we knew exactly why, as they are such confident and self-assured people yet also very down to earth and caring.

My Aunt Ruth. Being away from home at Christmas was certainly strange at first, but she made us feel right at home. A brilliant host.

Family gathered at the table. We did eat a proper Christmas dinner, although no photos survived.

Us, relaxed and content .

Climbing Pen Y Fan

A beautiful view of the Brecon Beacons, the area in which the mountain Pen Y Fan is found.

The sign to mark the path up to Pen Y Fan. The clouds were too low, and we couldn't get a clear view of the mountain from here.

Half way up we take a look behind us.

The top of the mountain. As you can see the fog surronded us and we could barely see anything.

Neil relaxing after an hour hike up the hightest mountain in Southern Britain.

A little dismayed that the fog wouldn't clear, but a bit relieved that she didn't have to see how high up she was.

The top was very cold. Neil had frost on his tuque,eh!

I'm the king of the castle and you're the dirty rascal!

Dinner with Neil's cousin

Neil's cousin Lloyd and his wife Nic took us out for dinner a couple nights before Christmas. After driving for 30 minutes, into what we thought was into the middle of nowhere, we arrive at the Plough and Harrow. This pub was built between 1300 and 1400, and originally formed part of a monastic farm.

Lloyd and Nic enjoying dessert after their hearty meals. They had stumbled across this lovely old pub by chance, and Lloyd wanted us to try the many home ales on tap.

Needless to say we happily obliged.

Friendly banter between cousins on the way out.

Cardiff Castle

We went down to Wales to spend the Christmas holiday. Early on in our trip we went to the capital city of Cardiff. Cardiff Castle is in the centre of the city, and a fortification has been in this location since Roman times.

Us on top of the very old lookout, with the Welsh flag in the background.

A view of Cardiff from the castle lookout.

Walking through Bute Park we catch a final glimpse of the castle. Bute Park was given to the city of Cardiff by the Marquess of Bute who also owned the castle. The Marquess was one of the richest men in all of Britain and was quite eccentric. He poured a lot of his money into refurbishing the castle to his every whim, with each room ending up more extravagant then the last. Unfortunately we could not take pictures inside.