Hay-on-Wye for a while.

11th -16th April 2016.

Hay on Wye or ''Town of Books'' (as it is otherwise known) is a little quaint town with an 800 year old castle in the town centre......

                         

           with a market every Thursday and Friday.................

A town full of book shops, op shops and antique shops....but mostly book shops. Mum, Elena,Valda...if you are reading this.......you would love this place.

                    

 ....and built alongside the Wye River. 

The daffodils are in bloom everywhere, lambs are frolicking in the fields and the green is as green as can be. The roads are getting narrower and in a lot of places are only single lane width so you have to pull over to let the oncoming traffic pass safely. I'm glad cam is driving.

    The walking trails were picturesque and the river was wide, perfect for skimming stones.

 

We stayed in a 300-400 year old flat above a shop built over 2 floors (each with its own split level). It had wavy stone walls over a foot thick, exposed old beams (a few of which we clonked our heads on many times), an old radio which was tuned to BBC4 which allowed us only to listen to interviews, radio plays and very very funny panel comedy shows hosted by one of my favourites...David Mitchel, (even with Netflix on offer, we enjoyed this more!). We played twister, had baths in the mornings as there was no shower (a nice treat) and a sky light over the bed for star gazing and had a kitchen that magically seemed to make the kids want to assist with cooking and cleaning! Needless to say I have taken many photos of details, drawn a floor plan and taken note on the feng shui and lighting of the space for future reference.  

We loved that on one side of the flat out the windows we saw the street below with locals catching up with each other as they passed by the local, quiet pub (The Blue Boar) across the road..............

 ...and on the other side of the flat were wide peaceful views of the county side that captured your gaze and calmed my nerves................. as our 2 kids fought over the 'Go Fish' game in the background.

I think it was the quirks and visible age of the house and town that made us like this place so much. It made us respect and reflect on the age and history of the house, the town and this country. We tried to explain this history to Oskar, but  I think it may take a return visit when he is older to fully understand.