Lleaving Llanfechain

The evening before we left the moon was full and the clouds were low. Sheri and I decided to have a little fun. Back when the girls were little someone told them the horrible story of Bloody Mary. As the story goes, if you stand in front of a mirror at midnight and say the words “Bloody Mary” three times, she will appear in the mirror. Ooooh scary!

So we invited our girls out to the graveyard. But even at 20 years old, it was still too freaky for them. So Sheri and I lit a candle and walked out into the center of the graveyard at midnight and waited for the church bells to ring 12 times. We then said, “Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary!” and waited for Bloody Mary to appear. We figured if it would work in front of a mirror, it would certainly work in the middle of a 900-year-old Welsh cemetery at midnight. But the only thing that appeared were mosquitoes. So we went back inside and spent our last evening in a Welsh bed.

The morning sun woke us up and we packed and cleaned up after ourselves. But before we could go, we needed to get a personal tour and have tea with Mr. Wiley. When you swap houses, you need to have someone to let you in the house and show you how everything works. Mr. Wiley was that man.

Mr. Wiley is 92 years old and he’s filled with stories. And we’ve never met a more proper British gentleman. He told us several stories about how he fought in World War II. He was in the Royal Navy when his ship was torpedoed by the Germans. He was a fascinating gent to listen to. He certainly had way more interesting stories to tell than I do.

So to start the morning, we packed and then met Mr. Wiley at the gate of the church of St. Garmon. This small but beautiful church was built in the mid 1100’s and is the center point of the tiny and quiet village of Llanfechain, Wales. Please take a look at the personal photo album for some photos of the inside and out. Once inside, Mr. Wiley, who is also the church organist, favored us with an organ concert that lasted over an hour. We sang along to the tunes we knew, but mostly we listened.

When Mr. Wiley was finished, we drove a few blocks to his home. It was a very neat and proper place, filled with memorabilia. He again told us many tearful stories of the war and how life was back in the good old days. Mr. Wiley was a nurse who worked in the tuberculosis wards after the war. He was also a music teacher, thus the reason for his talent on the Wurlitzer.

We met his lovely neighbor lady and had a wonderful and proper time. They loved our American accents and had many questions about life in the States. We drank our tea, had some biscuits (cookies) and listened to Elissa play the Darth Vader theme on Mr. Wiley’s piano. Then we said a sad goodbye to Llanfechain, to Wales, and to Mr. Wiley.

We packed up the car and programmed TomTom to lead us to Cambridge, England. The girls took their Dramamine and quickly dozed off. We would be there in just a couple of hours. So we left a quaint 175-year-old house and headed to the Cambridge Holiday Inn. We had a fantastic time in Wales and would love to return someday. We loved the laid-back Welsh lifestyle and the lush countryside. So thanks all you wonderful Welshers for being so kind to a group of Californians.

On the way to England, Sheri fell asleep and I heard Brittney giggling an hour later. Britt woke up and decided it would be funny to write the words “poop” and “fart” on her mother’s arm where she could not see it. And Britt was right. It was funny. But the English folk in the Welcome Break (rest area) were not as amused as we were.