St Ishmaels, Wales

The next installment of our Welsh adventures with Brendan and Sarah was a weekend trip out to St Ishmaels, the small village in West Wales where Sarah grew up and her parents still live. Our journey was a long one by UK standards. We had booked some ridiculously cheap bus tickets to Cardiff which took about 3 hours, only a bit slower than the train. It was Friday night and we got to Cardiff at about 8.30pm where we were picked up in the car and driven further west for about 2 hours to Sarah’s parents place. After a beer and some toast for supper we called it a night and got some rest.

We had a brilliant day on Saturday, it was very cruisey. No rush we got up mid morning and had some breakfast. We then went for a walk around St Ishmaels and along the coast and mountains surrounding the town.

When we got back to the house we jumped in the car and went for a bit of a coastal drive, stopping for a walk on a beach, some rock pool rambles and lunch in a pub (The Castle) in some tiny fishing village. The afternoon was spent at the St Ishmaels cricket club watching the local team play and enjoying a few more pints of beer. The team won which was bit of a surprise to some I think as they haven’t been going so well apparently. Sarah’s family is quite involved with the club, her brother played, her dad prepares the pitch and her mum is the team manager and scorer. Between innings we were able to provide the half time entertainment with a display of Australian Football, complete with Brendans leather sherrin footy!
After all of the excitement we retreated back to the family home for a feast. Their backyard is beautiful with an alfresco eating area. We sat outside and had a BBQ, more beer and wines! Top Night!
Not to be outdone by last nights feed, brunch was an absolute cracker! Bacon, eggs, sausage, mushroom, tomatoes, beans, toast, coffee… just what the doctor ordered! After saying our goodbyes we headed back to Cardiff, taking the scenic route and seeing some more nice beaches. Even just driving through the countryside and some of the narrow rural roads was a highlight or us Londoners!