I'll say it right from the start, today was not our best day of travelling. We don't want to believe it ourselves, but we do have them.
The mood is so-so, we have run out of water, the national park is rainy and we are haphazard. One wants to hike, one doesn't want to hike. One is hungry, one is out of cereal. Mimimi.
So we bob through the most beautiful national park and end up in Portmeiron. Here, unfortunately, things continue just as grumpy. The parking situation is more than unsatisfactory, we get lost in a super narrow and steep cul-de-sac with oncoming traffic - sure, what else - and the tone could be described as irritable. And the bridge we wanted to cross later turns out to be a wooden pedestrian bridge.
Great. Preferably: Check off the day and start again tomorrow.
But things turn out differently, as they often do.
We park Felix in the huge and completely overpriced tourist car park, pay for two hours and we move. Air. Fresh air. Movement and beach. I pick several blackberries and rose hips. I eat almost half of the blackberries and get a stomach ache on top of it.
So after I have to find a loo and we are still hungry anyway, we sit down in one of those pretty promenade cafés and order really mega-good food.
It starts to rain, we get wet. Gerd asks the couple at the sun-shaded neighbouring table if we can join them. Sure, sit down!
We get to talk to incredibly friendly, knowledgeable, well-travelled and cosmopolitan people. We chat and discuss. Countries. Politics. Love. Family. Nature. Once topics around the world. Time passes, we order the second cappuccino, simply because we enjoy the time together and somehow it is not meant to end.
They report that during the first Corona year, instead of burying their heads in the sand, they simply bought a B'n'B, converted it and opened it. Guests? No, that wasn't possible, it was lockdown. And so, after the lockdowns, they then started it slowly, are now very satisfied and in fact fully booked until shortly before Christmas. Chapeau!
One thing is funny, though: during our conversation he keeps looking at his smartphone, uneasily, we find. When he notices that it is not as inconspicuous as he suspected, he reports: the Queen is unwell, they expect her imminent demise. And he is sad. He does not know any more than most why he is so sad. But the Queen has somehow always been there, so if she dies now, something will be missing.
You and I still don't really understand the monarchy thing, but we realise that many (not all!) Britons grew up with the system and are now helpless in the face of the situation. And the only thing you can do: be with her and her relatives in your thoughts.
At some point the last cappuccino is drunk, the rain gets heavier and heavier, the parasol doesn't keep out everything we think it should, and we say goodbye. Full of gratitude for the wonderful afternoon we spent together, we trot back to Felix's place - by now reconciled with ourselves and our lives again (hopefully no one has noticed that the two hours have turned into something more!)
We spend the evening walking and relaxing at a secluded campsite with the best sunset on the islands, listening to the BBC for the info: The Queen had died today at Balmoral.
Merci for "travelling with us
We are thinking about taking another break from travelling in the summer and visiting our families in Germany and Switzerland. One of the ideas is to organise a Lecture about our long journey to the Persian Gulf to prepare. If you would like to, what would interest you the most? We will also tell stories here that don't find a place here on the blog. We're thinking of the Bern and Berlin area - simply because we have family there. But other places are also conceivable. Feel free to write to us.
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Hello you two,
It's "nice" 😉 to read that you also have days like this that don't go so harmoniously and where everything that can go wrong does happen. We have also found that if you accept such a day (which is not always easy), something good comes unexpectedly.
We also only noticed today that you are posting your travel reports about 3 weeks later. (Death of the Queen).
We were surprised how warm it still seems to be in Ireland and Wales at the moment.
Best regards from Karin and Gerd from Berlin
Hello dear Karin
Yes, of course there are days like that with us too. That would be strange, wouldn't it?
As we still keep our "records" here as a gratitude diary, the majority of the moments we are grateful for are of course recorded. However, we felt that it was fitting to describe the whole day.
And yes, we are writing with the benefit of hindsight. For reasons. Firstly, we don't want to reveal our current locations, and secondly, the muse has to kiss me a bit to write and also to sort out the pictures.
I hope that still suits you?
Kind regards - Heike