Wednesday – Portmeirion

Today is again time to clean our laundry. We had hoped for good weather but we didn’t expect it to be that hot all the time. Our clothes are soaked with sweat faster than I can wash them again. Here in Gwyndy the housework infrastructure is better than in Plas y Mabws, the laundry flaps outside in sun and wind and dries easily.

Our destination for today is Portmeirion near the town of Porthmadog. In the 1920ies a Welsh Sir bought the whole area and started to build this village. The architectural autodidact with a weakness for Mediterranean buildings erected a Mediterranean treasure, it is said it took 50 years to finish it.

Nowadays mostly holiday guests live in the hotel and the cottages while the village is open for day tourists for an entrance fee. We don’t linger for very long in the tilled area though Gernot does not know in what direction to photograph first as there are so many nice motives. The seaside town is surrounded by a broad park area, well – more a wooded area that has skilfully been supplemented with exotic plants. Of course there is also a loop track through rhododendron and azalea.

Gernot and I decide to make a combination of coastal and wood path with really impressive views. At some places you can see the whole bay, behind the next curve you suddenly stand inmidst weirdly grown trees or you walk underneath a tunnel of leaves with mossy remains of stone walls and rocks. There even is a Victorian dog cemetery. 

After a little snack in one of the cafés in Portmeirion we via ALDI return to Gwyndy.