Chancery, Aberystwyth

To get to Aberystwyth from Cardiff, we took the M4 west past Swansea to the point where it divides into the A48 and A483 at Pont Abraham. The A483 would take us north to Llanwrda where we could take a left and head across towards the coast at Aberaeron on the A482. Now that we were on real Welsh roads the nature of the driving changed quite a lot. The roads are much windier and narrower with some sections through the smaller towns where only one-way traffic is viable because of cars parked on the main road. I got a little bamboozled in Ammanford and turned right instead of left. Again the unfamiliar destination names give it away so we stopped, consulted the map, and headed back a short distance to pick up the road we should have been on.

After turning on to the A482 at Llanwrda the country was much hillier and the road even narrower and windier but it was very scenic and the weather was continuing to be kind. When making the booking for the cottage I had suggested it would take us maybe 2 - 2.5 hours to get there from Cardiff. In the event it was more like 3.5 but no matter because we weren't in any burning hurry. Lisa's directions to find the farm and cottages from the south were spot on and in a short time after arriving we were getting settled in.
The cottages were originally a stables and tack room but had been well fitted out inside with all mod-cons and even a few little extras provided by Lisa.

After unpacking we headed into Aberystwyth to stock up on the necessary supplies. It was moderately busy in the town but again, with a bit of nose-following, we found a supermarket where we could stock up. Aberstwyth is right on the coast and is quite a pleasant town with adequate facilities. It is the home of the Welsh National Library which is quite an imposing building up on the hill behind the town. Like many country towns they have had to install a one-way system to cope with traffic flow through the narrow streets.

One of the most difficult things we encountered in Wales was the language - particularly trying to get our tongues around Welsh place names. I'd thought Russian was hardish - particularly with the Cyrillic alphabet - but Welsh is on another plane altogether!