Heading "Home"

About a 18 months ago we decided to be brave and join a home exchange website. We really wanted to go to Scandinavia, the land of our people. However, everyone willing to swap were in the wrong area of the country. One couple had a junkyard on their front lawn. But a nice couple from Wales contacted us about a year ago and asked if we would consider swapping houses with them. The advantage was that we spoke the same language. We said yes.

After months of emailing and sending maps and tourist information to each other, the day was finally here. Our adventure in the city of Bath was over and it was now time to hit the road. Before getting into the car I called Mr. Wiley, the nice gentleman who would let us into the house. He answered his phone by reciting his phone number first. That was odd and I wondered if that’s how it’s done in Wales or if that’s just the way 91-year-old men answer the phone in Wales. We figured it would be about three to four hours until we reached our destination. Mr. Wiley told me to “give him a tinkle” when we reached Llanfechain. “Just use the phone in the pub to tinkle me.” That would be easy to remember.

Elissa grabbed the navigators seat and asked how you spelled the name of the town we were headed to. TomTom anticipates what you are typing which makes things much easier for you. And it quickly found the name of our town. Off we went. Sheri and the girls instantly fell asleep.

While they were asleep we passed over a giant toll bridge with amazing scenery, and through the Brecon Beacons National Park. The park was stunning and I felt bad the ladies were missing it. But being the shoppers they all are, I knew they would value their sleep more. The terrain reminded me a lot of western Wisconsin and eastern Tennessee. It was breathtaking. And what made it all the more interesting is the number of castles we passed. About every fifteen minutes we passed a huge castle on a hill. They were everywhere. This may be hard to understand but to see beautiful scenery that you are familiar with (Wisconsin and Tennessee) punctuated by ancient castles and 1,000 year old towns is rather incredible. It’s a mix of the familiar and the unfamiliar. I did not see one red barn or one wooden house. Everything was aged stone.

As we got closer to our destination TomTom was talking to us more. The sound of her voice slowly woke up the ladies. Soon TomTom told us we were less than a mile from our destination. A year of planning was now on the doorstep. Less than 800 yards away we could not find our bearings. We were told that the house was a converted old post office across the street from the town pub and next door to the 800 year old church and graveyard. But there was nothing like that in sight. There were only farms. “You have reached your destination,” TomTom declared. There was nothing here. TomTom was wrong. But where were we?

We wandered down these narrow one-lane roads looking for anything familiar. But we found only sheep. We turned back around and drove past a farm. “Look at the sign,: Sheri said. The farm was named “Llanfechan.” The name of our town was “Llanfechain.” We were missing an “i.” What we would have given to buy a vowel. So we had our laughs and immediately left that concerned farmer’s driveway. We entered the correct name into the TomTom and she told we were two and a half hours away from our destination. But if it were not for that mix up, much of the scenery I saw would have gone unseen. Everyone who did not take a nap was upset. I loved the diversion.

Wales is a gorgeous country. It was not at all like I had imagined. It’s much more rugged and lush. The only problem I had with the scenery was the hedgerows. They line almost every road and they are about 10 feet high. This means that at times you cannot see the beautiful country you are driving through. But you catch glimpses when you go down hills or at large intersections. And there are sheep everywhere. They dot the hillsides like little snow banks. The other thing you notice are the miles and miles of mortar-less stone fences. And then you realize that over hundreds of years farmers have been adding to these fences. And many of them reach high onto the hills and mountains. What hard work that must have been.

Tine passed quickly looking at such gorgeous scenery and TomTom again let us know we were just a mile from our destination. This time we knew we were actually there. A directional sign with the name Llanfechain announced our turn into the town. We quickly identified the house, the church, and the pub. We were home. I parked the car next to the house and walked across the street into the pub. “This might be a nice place to eat,” I though to myself. Immediately upon entering I was overwhelmed with the sharp smell of pee. It was so nasty I had to breath through my mouth. We had smelled pee in pubs before, but this place won the award for biggest stink. It was then I realized that this country of drinkers had a problem with aiming, and smelling their own pee. So believe me when I say I had to giggle a little when I gave Mr. Wiley a “tinkle” to announce our presence. “542, 689, hello,” he said. I told Mr. Wiley we were here. He said he’d be right over.

By the time I was back across the street, Mr. Wiley pulled up in his Ka (a very tiny car) and we were greeted very warmly and Welshly. I will end the story here for now because Mr. Wiley was such a character he gets his own posting later on. We were now in Llanfechain, the village of the wonderful Mr. Wiley. Now he had Americans to entertain.