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Travel StoriesBeddgelert 2011 - By Ren Withnell
Beddgelert 2011 - Going Home
Yesterday started grey and ominous, but cleared a little to become an acceptable day. Today it's tipping down. As I crawl out of bed I open the curtains and I'm greeted with streams of rain running down the window, trees bending in the wind and the grim reality of a mid-October day in the Valleys. Great! No, seriously, I like a good storm and challenging weather, especially as we're going home today so it certainly won't ruin our short break. I get up and tell the gf. She does not like bad weather, of any kind.
After eating as much of the food we have left for breakfast we need to clean the cottage and leave it in good order for the next visitors. We spend well over an hour cleaning, tidying, packing, washing and straightening out. By 1100 everything's pretty much ship shape and our chattles are packed ready to go. We don't need to vacate the property until 1200 however so we take time to make the short walk to "Bedd Gelert", that's Gelert's Grave in English.
Outside the wind is blowing, the rain varies between wet and torrential and I love it! The gf is unimpressed, but the quaint cottages and open spaces of the countryside soon cheer her up. It's only a short walk from the cottage to Bedd Gelert past a church and across a field. A tarmac path leads across the field and to 2 trees ringed by a small fence. Within the ring is where legend has it that Gelert is buried beneath a large stone. I take the time to read the story of Gelert, again, and I wonder if there's any truth behind the story, again. I'm not telling you the story here, you'll find it online.
Beddgelert, or Gelerts Grave. I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this.
Walking back I can see Beddgelert really is a lovely place. It's tiny with a handful of shops set in quirky buildings and in rural settings. 2 rivers converge amongst stone built cottages, the noise the water makes as it cascades over countless rocks and pebbles is ever present but never intrusive. I'm normally the first to find both the good and the bad in a place, I've not found anything bad so far.
We load up the bike and head out. While we were walking the rain had abated a little, but as we ride out of town it comes back with a vengeance. We head up the Llanberis Pass and with each foot we climb the rain gets thicker. At the top of the pass I try to imagine the mountains and valleys spreading out beneath us, lakes glistening and sheep frolicking across the lush moors, but I'm struggling to see the next bend. It comes as a relief as we head back down into Llanberis and the deluge abates to mere rain.
This is real weather for real bikers...
I head across country a little through Rhiwlas and Tregarth and find myself back on the A5 heading back to Betws-Y-Coed which is almost doubling back on ourselves. I've needed a wee since we set off, now I'm desperate. Each bump nudges my flooded bladder and I'm so full my eyes are starting to float. I'll hang on until Betws-Y-Coed...or at least I'll try. The gf nudges me from behind, it seems she's in a similar position too.
The next town, Bethesda, does not appear to offer any relief. Not that I can see, but as we leave town the gf questions why I rode past some public toilets. I turn around and she guides me back to what are basic public toilets but to the gf and I they are palaces that promise endless happiness and joy in the comfort of relief. I park the bike and being the perfect gentleman I let the gf go first while I watch the bike.
Big mistake. Psychologically I'm so close my bladder is trying to relax, so much so I almost pee myself. I hover around the bike and try to think of something, anything else. I wonder what it'd be like to pee myself, I mean no-one would know with my waterproofs on. I walk over towards the toilet and prey the gf will step out right now. She doesn't. It hurts now, I can almost feel it leaking out. I've not felt like this for years, not since I was caught short on the bus on some school trip. Oh...my...god...I'm so going to wet myself any moment now.
The gf walks out the toilets, all happy and smiley. Bitch. I rush in and get annoyed at having too much bike gear on. When I finally get undressed I think I've held it in too long now, it doesn't want to start. ARGH!!! Aaaaaaahahahahahahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....ooooooohhhhhhh.....there we go....oh baby yeah, now that's what I'm talking about, mmmm mmmm mmmmmmm. At this moment in time this is the best I've ever felt, the happiest a man can be. Such sweet relief.
The ride to Betws-Y-Coed is much nicer after that. Everything looks nicer, everything's less stressful and life is just better when you don't need a wee. I park the bike in the same spot as we'd parked on the way down, but this being a Monday it's a lot quieter. We dine in a café and pay 20 pence each to use the toilets! 20 pence...I daresay I'd have paid 20 pounds for a toilet not so long ago. With food in our belies we set back out onto the road and back home.
It's good to have a good weekend, especially when it's your birthday. Beddgelert was everything I hoped it would be and then some. It's not for kids or young people, there's nothing to do there, I don't think I could spend a week there. I know it's incredibly popular for walkers and that's perfectly understandable. I'd recommend a long weekend there, or a short week. It really is a perfect village.
Beddgelert 2011 - Going To Beddgelert
Beddgelert 2011 - Caernarfon Castle By Bus
Beddgelert 2011 - A Walk Around Beddgelert Forest
Beddgelert 2011 - Going Home
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bob said :-
cool
01/01/2000 00:00:00 UTC
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Travel StoriesBeddgelert 2011 - By Ren Withnell