Black Forest Trips / Pics — Leave a comment
10
Sep 11

Hinterwaldkopf

Glorious sunshine in the morning, so we decided for a trip with sky-high altitude for spectacular views. We also asked our friend Hendrik, who joined us for the hike for some added fun.

We left Claude in Himmelreich village by the train station, put lots of sunscreen on, and wandered off into the jungly thick greenery of the Black Forest. Soon the trail was pretty steep, and we were happy to be in the shade of the forest, as the sun was doing its job pretty heavily.

Himmelreich greenery

Himelreich forest

Himelreich forest

Finally we emerged from the forest, and found ourselves near the Höfener Hütte with a beautiful view across the valley.

Panorama

What a place for a beer! Well, in reality we got ourselves Apfelsaftschorle, all organic and bio and from apples of the region, sweet and tasty. Also a cheesecake, which was yum!

Hofener Hutte

From the hut it was still a little bit to go to the very top of Hinterwaldkopf. Since it was a sunny Sunday, and we had a late start as always, not to mention the recharging stop at the hut, the top was pretty crowded, complete with a bunch of screaming kids and all that. So we tried to enjoy the views for a little bit but didn’t spend too long, and set out on our way down, on the other side of the hill.

Hinterwaldkopf

Hinterwaldkopf

Before we immersed ourselves into the forest on the other side again, we got a good close look at some endemic fauna and flora in the sun.

Fauna

Flora

By the time we got out of the woods down in Hinterzarten, we were pretty tired from the long and steep downhill. We managed to see some very nice waterfalls and hug some trees for energy, but the most energy we eventually got was from the ice-cream in Hiterzarten. This made us miss the train back to Himmelreich by just a minute (we saw it!) because some people (me) cannot eat their ice-cream as fast as other people (Iestyn and Hendrik for example). But it was ok, because the train goes every half hour.

Wasserfall

Gina hug

Hinterzarten station

On the Water — Leave a comment
03
Sep 11

Canoeing in the Rhine Valley

A group of friends invited us on an epic Canoe ride, down one of the inlets that feed the Rhine river. We left home bright and early, and met up with everyone. We were a total of 9 people – most of which had never been on a Canoe before – but that didn’t stop anyone from having some awesome fun.

We drove to a small town called Breisach, which is located right on the border of Germany and France, with the Rhine river separating the two countries. We had three inflatable Canoes. We set off from Breisach, heading North along the wee inlet. The wildlife was fantastic, the sun was shining, the river was surprisingly very warm, and everyone was in a good mood.

Gina Canoeing

The river

Gina took some really lovely pictures of the wildlife, such as the dragonflies, which were this fantastic sapphire colour, but, as the rest of the gang just wanted to throw people in the water, the camera had to be packed away for most of the journey. Around half way through the epic journey, we came across a really nice lake. The colour of the water was immense. I went swimming for most of the break here – it was good to swim, as I haven’t done so in many ‘a year.

Half way lake

Dragonfly

From the lake, we continued North, through some very dense forest – but the river was still flowing strong. There was a few maneuvers that had to be done on the canoe, as trees had fallen into the river. After a few hours of paddling, we came to where we dropped off the cars, a small village called Sasbach am Kaiserstuhl, right on the Rhine.

Canoeing

We both really enjoyed the day – although it was very tiring! I really wish we can get out on more days like these in the future, as I really like being in a canoe or a kayak!

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28
Aug 11

Muhlen-Tour (Water Mill-tour), Simonswald

It was a beautiful, sunny Sunday. We were armed with our wee book of hikes to take in the Süd-Schwarzwald (South of the Black Forest), and the destination for the day was a valley called Simonswald. It’s not far from Freiburg, about 25km to the North East. The trail that Gina picked for us was a circular walk up the valley, high above the town of Simonswald, that followed a gentle river, and dotted along the river were these water mills, which were used to grind wheat and such. They were very pretty wee mills, especially the higher up the valley we went.

Me and the FIrst Mill

Gina and the FIrst Mill

We arrived around noon, to a very busy, jam-packed Simonswald. At the center of the village green, was a competition of manliness;  Tug of war. The village was booming with supporters, as there seemed to be a lot of teams that had come far and wide. We chilled a bit watching the wars, but decided to push on, to find the trail head.

Mill figures

Tug 'o War

We eventually found the start of the trail, and made our way up the valley. The whole valley were dotted with apple trees, which had some brilliantly red apples on them, whenever we got the chance, we grabbed a few to enjoy on our journey, they were very very tasty. On the lower part of the valley, there was some pretty epic houses and gardens, which Gina liked, as she’s a full grown gardener now.

Apple tree

Nice garden

The sun was blasting on this glorious Sunday, and we were making our way to the top of the valley. The signs of Autumn were getting apparent, as Gina spotted a few red leaves here and there. We passed another water mill, but this one was located in a farmers field, so we decided not to visit it. Just before turning off the road that led up the Valley, we came across a really nice chapel sitting high, overlooking the valley below.

Autumn leaves

Chapel overlooking Simonswald

From the chapel, we turned into the forest itself. We were treated to fresh Brombeeren (blackberries) and we happily picked and ate as we ventured ahead. After resting in a top-class hütte, we came a a very nice open view of the whole Simonswald valley, where I managed to take this panorama:

Simonswald Panorama

We chilled here for a little while (on the wee bench on the left) to enjoy the view and the sun. From here, everything was a gentle downhill walk back towards the village.

Us

We came to the most glorious mill on the whole circuit. Our wee book even has this mill listed as ‘Top Tip’ – which means, be sure to check this place out. The mill, now it seems, is a walk-in museum of what the mill used to be like back in the day when it was used. Located on the upper floor was the grinder in which they used to grind down the wheat, and on the lower floor was some information about the mill, with some newspaper clippings, as I believe it’s just been newly renovated. It’s called Wehrlehof-muhle, and was built in 1879. As the brook that feeds the water wheel (used to grind the wheat) hasn’t got that much water in it, they’ve built, out of a 10m hollow tree, a shoot to connect the water to the mill, so they made sure it got some water! The outside of the mill looked very nice:

Gina & the Wehrlehof-muhle

Inside the Wehrlehof-muhle

Then from here, we made our way back into the village. The route was right through the forest, where there were a couple of tiny little mills – to which I have no idea what the were used for. We then came out of the forest, and along the road – over the river, which had plenty of fish chilling lazily in it, through an epic apple orchard, to the center of the village where the tug of war was coming to an end. As the activities had drawn in the whole village, beer & food tents were set up, so we decided to grab something small to eat, and Gina had a quick beer!

Small unknown mill

Beer & pommes frites

A very nice, gentle Sunday afternoon stroll.

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20
Aug 11

Tajikistan

It needs to be said that Gina went gallivanting to Tajikistan. However, since she didn’t go with Iest, she is not allowed to post her travel log here on our blog (yes, the rules are very strict here). So she had to write all about it on her own blog.

Gina in Tajikistan

Pics / Travel — 2 comments
30
Jul 11

A wedding in the Czech Republic

Over the weekend, we headed over to the Czech Republic for a beautiful Czech wedding. Gina’s best friends Jani and Milan were getting married and we were both invited! (Although I was nearly un-invited due to some Facebook comments gone awry).

We left Freiburg late on Friday evening, with an epic 6 hour, 650 km drive ahead of us to Prague to stay the night. The driving went really well, with no troubles, with Henry the Navigator working well, and Claude the Auto doing awesomely. We arrived into Prague just before 1am, and headed straight to bed, as we had some more travelling to do in the morning, as the wedding was in a town, located the other end of the Czech Republic called Znojmo, a good few hours trek from Prague, through woodland, and extremely sleepy Czech villages.

We departed 9am sharp, and our destination was TvoÅ™ihráz, located at the foot of the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands, where the groom, Milan is originally from. We arrived to a very happy Father-of-the-Groom directing us where to park. We parked Claude, and said “Ahoj” to everyone.

Gina Present

Flowers on the Car

To my surprise, there was a traditional Czech Moravian (! Iest wouldn’t know the difference) band playing some awesome music. It was really fun. The wedding was in three parts. The reception came first, this was located here in TvoÅ™ihráz – just behind Milan’s parent’s house, where we were fed with a nice buffet, drinks, and sweet Czech Moravian music. I managed to get the band to pose for me, whilst in the middle of playing a song:

The Band!

Me & Band

After filling our bellies full of goodness, we all caught the bus for about 15 km South to the Town of Znojmo. Here on the trip, I got my first encounter to the Czech locals, and their drinking songs. Everyone, including Gina, were happily merrily sining in Czech as we twiddled over the hills towards Znojmo.

Bride & Groom

Jani & Milan

We arrived at a brewery. This, I thought was epic. I knew the Czech were renowned for their ability to drink, but to have a wedding in a brewery – I thought this was incredible! I was, however, wrong. Located just behind the brewery, was this wee Registry Office, where the ceremony would be taking place – but as we arrived, there was another ceremony in session, this resulted in everyone going to the view point just behind it, over looking the Thaya Dyje River, and the Dam. The valley was beautiful, really pretty views to be had. Jani & Milan was taken away by the photographer of the day for some snaps. Compared to a Welsh wedding, the bride and groom were happily allowed to see each other before the marriage – which I thought was pretty cool!

Gina chilling all pretty

Chapel

We headed inside after the previous ceremony had finished, where the service lasted about 15mins. Again, a massive contrast to a Welsh service. It was all in Czech, so I didn’t catch a word of it. It consisted of some poem readings, and the drunken dude (Uncle maybe?) being funny, and happily drinking a full bottle of wine at the service (picture below).

The Service

The Service

After the ceremony, we all went ahead and took our time to congratulate the new Husband and Wife, individually, by going up to the front of the Service room, and shaking hands, and kissing. This then, followed by something new to me – throwing rice at the Bridge and Groom as they exited the Service Hall:

Throwing of the Rice

The Legend

From the service, we headed back out for some more Wedding photography, this time: group photos. The bus then took us to our final destination – somewhere up North of TvoÅ™ihráz (the place we first arrived to) – but the name of the place has escaped me Horni Dunajovice. Here we were going to be fed, and entertained for the evening. A more Merrily bus twiddled up and over the hills, with a LOT of drunken singing and cheering. We arrived safely at around 4pm.

Eating Hall

We sat with Gina’s Volleyball friends, and I was able to communicate a wee bit with her friends, as they spoke a little bit of English. The food and Beer came out. For starters we had traditional soup. Then came the main meal – and boy it was yum! I had Beef and Dumplings in some good sauce, and Gina had some fried vegetables. I’m a huge fan of the Christmas Cookies that Gina has made over the last couple of Christmas we’ve been together – they are epic – and to my surprise, it’s a traditional thing to bake a massive batch of similar cookies for dessert too!! I was over the moon! Good times. (I hope Gina doesn’t mind me posting a pic of the food here).

Beef and Dumplings

Cookies!!

The stage was set, with a full on live band, and the first dance was ordered. Milan and Jani hit the floor, for a few twirls, then the whole party got up to join them, resulting in throwing the Bride and Groom in the air! The band was pretty good, they played a lot of old Czech songs, and some popular pop songs. Milan’s dad had some seriously epic moves – air guitar and air duck walk!!! Really impressive.

Dancing

Dancing

And that was it for us. The band carried on playing through the evening, but as we had to travel back to Prague that evening. We decided to leave at around 7pm. The drive back was pretty epic, unfortunately for Regi, as we had all sorts of bad weather against us, but Regi did awesome job driving, and took us home safely.

Jani, Monika, Gina & Milan

We arrived safely in Prague just after midnight, and went straight to bed. We had another early start in the morning, as I had to drop off Regi at the airport, as she’s off for a few weeks traveling to the mountains of Tajikistan with a friend – on a well earned, and deserved break. I then, had the epic task of driving all the way back to Freiburg, by myself. To my astonishment, I noticed that the highways, were completely empty of Trucks! It’s a rule here, that on a Sunday, no trucks are allowed on the Highways. This made the journey much easier, and safer.

But, one thing that made the journey even better. I got to have some of my favorite Czech sweets. Kofola and Tatranky! They are both super awesome, such a shame no where else sells them, but it makes getting them from them even more fantastic!

Kofola & Tatranky

It was a great weekend, I really enjoyed myself, and it was a good trip, seeing the back and beyond of the Czech Republic, places that I’d never ever see if I was a tourist there.

Thanks to Jani a Milan for the lovely day!

Black Forest Trips / Pics — Leave a comment
05
Jul 11

Süd Schwarzwald – (South Black Forest) Trips!

One evening, Gina bought home a couple of books about the Black Forest. One’s full of day trips that we can do with Claude the Auto, and the other if full of hikes in and around the Hills of the Black Forest:

Our Black Forest Books

Saturday: So, over the weekend, as the weather was beautiful, we decided to combine both books, by taking a nice drive up the valley, then depart on a short walk. The drive took us up the beautiful valley of  Höllental (Hell’s Valley) – one of the most impressive valleys in the Black Forest. The valley is rich in history and legends, which our book proudly describes to us, and was beautifully narrated by Gina as we drove along. Our first stop was by the ‘Hirschsprung’ (“Deer’s Jump”) – the narrowest  part of the valley, and was originally only 9 metres wide. Thus a common tale is existing about a red deer jumping across the 9m wide valley to escape from hunters, and in commemorative to these fine red deers, they’ve erected a lovely statue on the (now wider) part of the pass.

Deer Statue

Gina & Claude

After some serious hairpin turns, and an almost full 360 degree corner around a pointed cliff peak in the middle of the road, we arrived at the top of the valley, which we were rewarded with some fine views of the Höllental.

Iestyn & Höllental

Gina &Höllental

We continued East for a few more Kilometers, until we reached a nice lake called Titisee. Here was our walk for the day – a 7km gentle round circuit of the lake. It was indeed a really easy trail, as people from all strokes of life wandered around the lake with us. I enjoyed the leisurely stroll, but we now know, that the blue coloured  routes on our walking book is indeed aimed for old people :)

Titisee

After filling our bellies, we decided to take another route home, and do a circular trip with Claude. We headed West towards the village of Todtnau (where we went to before), and then up the Todtnauberg Valley, where Germany’s highest natural waterfall crashes at 97m high, the “Todtnauer Wasserfall”. It’s a pretty area, where you can climb up above the falls, dip your feet into the water, and look down the valley. Located above the waterfall, there is a bridge, that you can cross the falls, and go hiking up and around the woods.

Gina on the Bridge

Gina Chilling

The Todtnauer Waterfall

And from there, we headed home to Freiburg.

Sunday: Late on Sunday evening, we decided to go for another trip, this time exploring the North. Our destinations were the village of Waldkirch, and the peak of Kandel. Waldkirch looked like a very sleepy village, and is quite famous for creating the musical Organs. Here also, there is a castle – the ruins of Kastelburg. We headed up the ‘Knight Trail’ and was awarded with a beautiful view over the whole village, and the pretty Kandel sitting high above.

A Knight on the Knight Trail

Waldkirch & Kandel

The castle is a fine castle. Built right ontop of a rock. There were stairs going right up to the top, but, as I can’t stand man made heights, I found it very hard to go up two levels. Gina on the other hand, made it all the way to the top without any trouble, and manage to take a few pretty pictures of the view (like the one of the village above).

Gina & Kastelburg Castle

Looking down from the top

After pottering about a wee bit, we set our eyes on the peak of Kandel. Claude the Auto took us all the way to the top, just over 1200m high. We had spectacular views of the Black Forest from the summit, but it was a shame the haze of summer was closing in, and we couldn’t see beyond the Forest, it’s said that on a fine day, you can see as far as the Vosges, and even the Swabian Alb. There’s some pretty epic legends about this hill. In earlier time, the Hill was known as ‘The Witches Mountain of the Black Forest’ – and to this day, the cliff is called ‘Teufelskanzel’, which translates to ‘Devil’s Pulpit’.

Kandel Summit View

Gina locating Claude

And that concludes our epic first trips around the Black Forest. There will be plenty more to come in the future!

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19
Jun 11

Strasbourg

We just got our Henry navigator last week, so we decided to try him out, and went for a day trip to Strasbourg, even though it looked like rain in the morning. Henry was not deterred though, and bravely got on with the route. He was really good at it too, knowing all kinds of detail and what’s going on in the world. Unfortunately, the cigarette lighter in the car did not work so he was not getting juice, and by the time we got to the parking, he was practically dying.

Anyway, he got us to an award-winning parking lot right in the centre (yes, the award was on display there! you could study it whilst listening to nice soothing sea-sound music that was playing in the corridors to repel homeless people and junkies from inhabiting the lot, thanks to which it did not smell of piss, and totally did deserve the award just for that. The disturbing imagery on the walls was probably there for the same reason.). From there dear Henry gave it a shot to get us to the nearest tourist information centre, but died on the way completely. Fortunately, it was very easy to find just by the cathedral.

The cathedral was just like any other, I wanted to buy a Jesus fridge magnet, but Iest did not let me. It had a nice big organ inside, and funky windows.

On the outside, the cathedral has elaborate decorations, for example this statue of Rudolph von Habsburg, which is weirdly and unsettlingly out of proportion with his legs looking quite midget-like; however, the schlong of the horse is proper.

The weather was nothing special but at least it was not raining, so we marched on. Strasbourg turned out to have many pretty houses, with cute rooftops and flowers and tiny stores, and was generally pretty nice for a walk. Unlike Freiburg, Strasbourg is also a town with a little bit of edge, hidden nastiness, immigration tensions, and Hotel Central. Good thing that they are selling Hattori Hanzo swords everywhere, the locals probably need them often.

This is me in front of what our little guide calls the prettiest house of Strasbourg, La Maison Kammerzell.

We had a lunch at a little creperie with yum crepes, but grossly incompetent service, which saved us money on tips.

Altogether, it was a fun day, and the weather was not nearly as bad as what it looked like in the morning. We had a little bit of a problem getting out of there, as Henry was dead and we did not really remember any rout names, but we managed quite well at the end.

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11
Jun 11

Llanberis

The Upper Lake

Llyn Peris

With the aid of the beautiful road linking Pen-Y-Gwryd and Beddgelert, the two highways running south-eastward from Caernarfon encircle the mountain mass collectively know as Snowdon. The more easterly road from Caernarfon is accompanied by the railway as far as Llanberis.

By Llanberis is meant the modern village of that name. It contains the railway station and is a good two miles from the old village. It is a common centre of the motor routes from the Betws y Coed, Bangor, Caernarfon and Beddgelert, and the quarter chosen by the great majority of tourists who make the ascent of Snowdon, the Glyders, the Elidyrs, and Moel Eilio. The village is situated on the western side of Llyn Padarn, a lake two miles in length. The lake is connected with Llyn Peris by the river Seiont. Boating can be enjoyed on both lakes, and the lakes and rivers alike afford sport for the angler. At the northen end of Llyn padarn is a picturesque stone bridge leading to a Roman camp at Dinas Dinorwic, about a mile off.

A feature of Llanberis often overlooked is the Ceunant Mawr (the ‘big ravine’) with its waterfall, well worth a visit after heavy rain, though less effective in the dry weather. The fall is about 5 minutes’ walk south of the village, up the lane on the right just after crossing the stream as one walks from the station.

At Llanberis begins the ascent of the magnificent Pass of Llanberis.

Llanberis nowadays doesn’t have a train station, but it does indeed have the World best cafe – Pete’s Eat, and by itself is worth a visit! I love how we managed to pin point exactly the first shot here, it was an epic journey, with beautiful views, sunshine, and sunglasses.

Black Forest Trips / Pics / Travel — 1 comment
24
Apr 11

Aha – Todtnau, Black Forest Walk

Day 1. Aha – Feldberg (Red line on Map below)

Over the Easter weekend, we did our first epic hike of the Black Forest. We caught the train from Freiburg to a little village called Aha, on the shores of Schluchsee lake, South East of Freiburg. It was a really pleasant trip on the train, enjoying the scenery, and looking at the locals eating sweets.

After a quick lunch on the lake, we headed West, around the Northern shore of the lake, and into the Wilderness of the forest. After ascending for a bit, we were rewarded with a beautiful view of the Schluchsee, and that lovely feeling of Spring, as the trees were starting to bloom.

Schluchsee

Break at Rosshutte

After gaining some height, we stopped at the Rosshutte for a quick break, to read the map, and get some water from a wee spring that was situated behind it. From reading the map, we decided to take a lovely walk up to the highest peak in the area, seeing as it was a viewpoint. This peak was called Zweiseenblick [and as the German enthusiasts among us know, this actually means two-lake-view]. After a joyous walk, we reached Zweiseenblick. It was quite full, it was almost a Tourist Highway, as there was a good group of people at the top, enjoying the views of the Black Forest. We decided not to stay long, and make our way towards Feldberg.

Me looking towards Feldberg

Gina, her Deltoid and the Menzenschwand Valley

Along the way, there plenty of photo opportunities. We saw Feldberg (1,493m) with it’s towers, (which was our destination on day one), and the beautiful Menzenschwand Valley, where Gina showed me how strong she is, (On the photo above, check out her Deltoid!! She’s not even flexing!!) where we can see the town of Hinterdorf – plus a description of how this glacial valley came to be. All in German though.

We made speed, and headed towards Feldbergernof, which is a small, odd place. It’s geared towards the skiers, and snowboarders in Winter, as the slopes of Feldberg above is perfect for beginners for skiing – but as the snow was just about, all gone – it was full of tourists, who was there to enjoy the views. We headed to the cafe, and I got myself my First Black Forest Gateaux since my arrival here. It was very good, and washed down with some beer.

Gateaux a Beer

We headed up to the summit of Feldberg, the highest summit in the Black Forest. Here, on a good clear day, you can see the whole of Alps, and able to make out the Eiger, Jungfrau and even Mt. Blanc. Unfortunately for us the haze was in, so we couldn’t see beyond the Black Forest – but it was still very nice. There was still a bit of snow nested in the shadows of the sun, hidden within folds of the mountain, but the views of the Black Forest were beautiful.

Feldberg Summit (1.493m)

Black Forest

We decided to pitch our tent just off the summit, overlooking the Feldsee lake. A pretty wee circular lake, nested right at the bottom of 300m cliffs, to the East of the summit. According to legend, there’s a ghost that spooks the lake, shouting to hikers “Hey, you! You’re going the wrong way! If you want to go to Feldberg, you must take the different path!” If you look at him then, the spell is broken. No-one knows however, if this rewards the spirit and set him free. For dinner that evening I had some noodles and mushroom sauce, and Gina didn’t eat any, she just went to sleep after all day fun in the sun. Gina fell asleep quite fast, but i played around on the top, looking at the stars, and taking some photographs. As I headed into bed, I realised that I’d forgotten my sleeping mat at home. Luckily for me, it wasn’t very cold that evening, and I managed to sleep ok.

Gina at the Camp

Morning at Camp

Day 2 Feldberg – Todtnau (Blue Line on Map below)

We woke up super early, and made our way back up towards the summit of Feldberg. There wasn’t a soul around, and we were in for another beautiful, hot day. The trek was mostly contouring around Stubenwassen, making our gentle downhill approach to the village of Todtnau. It was a good mornings hike, through very pretty forest, and some un maintained trails, resulting in us taking the wrong path, I was pretty certain there was a Map Black Hole at the point, as nowhere made any sense on the map. Anyhoo – we managed to get back on track, and found a nice picture frame, sitting nicely above Todtnau.

Pretty Forest

Todtnau

Pretty much all the way on this second day, only one thing was on Gina’s mind – Twister Ice cream. So after arriving (after what seemed like an endless downhill from the picture frame), we came to the sleepy Village of Todtnau, where there was a nice market going, which felt really nice. We had some ice creams, (they didn’t have Twister unfortunately) and figured out how to make it back to Freiburg via a bus that was going directly there in an hour or so.

Pub in Todtnau

Ice cream, Gina & Church

It was a lovely trip, and a great first proper hike in the Black Forest. It’s such a beautiful part of the World.

Here’s our route marked out on Google Maps. If you can’t view it – please let me know.


View Black Forest Walks in a larger map

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09
Mar 11

A Wedding in Wales

We headed back to Wales over the weekend, as my brother was getting married.

It was a lovely wedding, it was Gina’s first encounter to a Welsh wedding, and she thought that it was lovely.

The Marriage itself was in a wee small church in Llanllyfni – where the Bride is originally from. I was the Usher, along with my little brother Llyr and Donna’s brother Kevin, who usher’ed people to their seats as they arrived for the ceremony. The service at the Church was quite nice, which didn’t end up in a mass lecture from the Priest, mostly in Welsh, but Gina was totally ontop of it. The words ‘cariad’ come up often, so it was all good. Surprisingly, not once did ‘igam ogam’ come up.

The Wedding Couple

Us

The wedding meal, and drinks etc was held at a lovely wee place called Nant Gwrtheyrn, a beautiful place, nested just behind the Rival Mountains, just on the Pen Lleyn. Everything went lovely, lots of beer was drunk, and we also got to stay in one of the lovely wee cottages down there (Diolch mam a dad!). It’s always been something that I’ve wanted to do, to stay in one of these houses, and it didn’t disappoint one bit.

The wee cottages

Welsh Love Spoon

Pear Drops

Our room

Yes, it was a lovely wee day. Good to see my brother getting married, and to see the whole day go very smoothly (although, I didn’t fulfil my Usher duties wholly, I forgot to collect the flowers after the ceremony in the church – bad times). Geraint Thomas, of Panorama Cymru, in Caernarfon (wonderful photographs) was the photographer on the day, and he has some of the images on his blog: Priodas Donna a Celfyn

The rest of the weekend was spent chilling mostly. We had a wee walk around Llanberis, went to pay our respects to the awesome place that is Pete’s Eat, and did one image for our ‘Retro’ project, that’s quite interesting. (Will follow soon). The weather was super awesome, Gina could not believe it, Sun in Wales! Never has such thing happened before!

Pete's Eat

Snowdon from Llanberis Quarry

And that was pretty much it! Unfortunately, there was no surf (again) in Wales this weekend, so I couldn’t take Gina for a nice session in the sea. I really hope someday, I’ll be able to do this. We headed back down to London on the Monday evening, met up with some friends, and caught the bus to the airport at 4:30am on Tuesday to leave for Freiburg. ‘Twas a good wee trip!

Flying!

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