The first part of the adventure

I am quite afraid that I will forget huge chunks of this trip! For example, i've already forgotten what I had for lunch yesterday,though the curry take away' from tonights dinner has happily left it's flavours on my tongue! The little cottage we've rented n the tiny crossroads called Welsh Newton, just outside of Monmouth, is perfect. Unfortunately, it's a three mile distance to the pub , on a road which even Micah won't walk along, “that''s suicide” as the edge is shoved against a hedgerow, with absolutely no wriggle room! In a car, quite terrifying, on foot-not an option. We have resorted to a pint out at lunch, and then staying in in the evening having some supper, a stroll, and some beer in the garden. Today we took in the medieval castle of Chepstow, hours of walking through room, examining stone work and the intricacies of the design-animal heads, and painted plaster work. Dating back to the 11 hundreds, along the shores of the Severn river it is an amazing construction. The dancing and rhythmic stick smacking of the Morris dancers lent a realistic ambiance to the scene as we wandered about. Apparently these dancers originally toured with The Bard! Well, not these exact ones, as a young boy in the castle pointed out, “the people who lived here have probably been dead for centuries!”

It's been a super beginning to our holiday, with cousins collecting us from the airport, joining us for supper, sharing a double decker tour bus of the London sights, and taking Micah off to various pubs for beer and quiz night. I am finding the jet lag a bit of a struggle so am heading off for a great sleep!

July 6

I love Wales! I mean love it. The people are fantastic. Like a different continent from London=really friendly. They make conversational overtures, and Noam, standing outside a shoe shop where I happily purchased a pair of walking shoes (my feet are screaming at me-strangers are stopping me to ask what that g-d awful wailing is!), was chatted up by various passers by. We were in Abergavenny, a remarka town, traditionally a market town situated on the river Usk, and protected by the 12^th century historic castle which o'erlooks the town. We enjoyed high tea at the Angel Hotel, and then wandered off to explore the ruins of the castle.

Tired and ready for a rest, we decided to return to our quaint cottage, and rest a bit before finding a pu for supper. I had wanted to drive further into the black hills of Wales, however we determined to lea e that for another day./..ah the motto, be careful what you wish for...one wrong turn and we found oursel es twisting and turning on the extremely narrow back roads of the Welsh countryside. Many of the roads are just narrow enough, or perhaps it is more apt to say just wide enough for one vehicle, pulling off a tht eh last minute to the side, that is, onto a non existent shoulder, I think Tim, in the passenger seat with the window rolled down believes he has discovered the origins of the expression
“close shave”. We eventually wound our way to a cross roads, where we asked for directions to the pub in Garway, “what exactly were y' lookin fer, in the town?” The pub we answered, “ well it

s just there, they pointed, and we realized we were practically in the parking lot! We noted the location as we'd heard the cook was exeellent, and we in stead went back to our cottage, to relax for an hour, before going to the local pub, where the fare was mediocre, but inexpensive, the billiards table available, and the game between the Netherlands and Uruguay drawing a fair bit of attention.!