Trip to Wales

Wales is a beautiful country. Its not particularly exciting or tropical, the weather is usually miserable and driving up the very steep and narrow country lanes can be pretty dangerous at best, but it is beautiful. I was lucky enough to spend the last four days in the South of Wales, visiting a friend from university at his farm house situated one of the hillsides which forms the vast valley in which sits the little town of Ystradgynlais. 

Below is a picture of the view from the garden

   

I have visited both Wales and Scotland and I think they appeal to me because of the ruggedness and varied nature of the landscape. Its a stark contrast to the flat and comparatively built up location which I am used to at home and its a welcome change of scenery. Not that the Essex countryside doesn't have its own form of quaint beauty, especially in the summer when the crop fields are a patchwork of golds, yellows and purples. But he vast open areas and patches of forest in Wales give a small glimpse into what the rest of the English countryside may have looked like before the land was allocated for other uses and even within this landscape you can clearly see how farmland has fragmented a variety of habitats.

However even in developed areas its is possible to find unexpected wildlife. For example, another friend managed to find a fairly large, hairy caterpillar whilst queuing to buy donuts in Oakwood Theme Park. He returned, donuts in one hand and caterpillar in the other and placed it back in a tree where it would be safer.

I've returned home in time for the Welsh weather to follow me back, but I thoroughly enjoyed my long weekend in Wales and I hope to return in the near future.