The final two stops on our Welsh tour today waking in the lovely Portmeirion and then travelling on to the bookish Hay–on–Wye.
Portmeirion
After all the hoi polloi paying day guests had left the village it became very, very quiet there and it was a pleasure to walk around the grounds. There were a couple of (badly) signposted walks that took you out of the village through the woodland and ended up on the costal path. When we first arrived the tide was out and there was a big, wide flat of pretty looking sands but you could already see that the water was coming back in and that it was very fast flowing. By the time we had finished dinner the water was completely back.
We went out into the village one final time to see the place lit up at night and it was beautiful if a little dangerous as the cobbled paths and steps weren’t lit. All in all a great visit.
Hay–on–Wye
Initially we had intended a slow drive to Hay stopping off at Powys Castle around lunchtime. We then realised that our full day in Hay was going to be a Sunday and a quick look at the website suggested that a number of the bookshops would be closed so we changed our plans and went directly there.
I have to admit that I thought that Hay–on–Wye was actually in England but it turns out that it’s right on the border, just sneaking into Wales. Hay styles itself as the “world’s first book town” but the number of book shops has reduced considerably over the years we have been going there. However, there are still plenty of both general and specialist bookshops to keep bibliophiles happy.
One thing I would say is that you don’t get many bargains in the main bookshops. Selling books is their trade and they know what things are worth and are priced accordingly. I need to keep that in mind when we do the book shops in earnest tomorrow.
