You, @aran, @Iestyn and @anon86454181 have made an enormous difference to my life and, as you heard, to the lives of the other six guinea pigs and certainly to many thousands of others. It was great to be able to acknowledge and celebrate that this weekend.
Wela i ti eto gyda ffrindiau eraill yng Nghaernarfon cyn bo hir.
Huw :cwtsh:
Oh, I didnât know we were right on the toes of a chat group! Somehow, we seemed to have so much stuff to eat and drink and say and sing that we didnât even get half a second to consider setting foot outside the hotelâŚ
At the same time as taking real pleasure in my evident confusionâŚ
I am a little saddened by how few people have commented on who was and wasnât wearing tiesâŚ
Once inside the Metropole we did not leave until we checked out, so was not aware what was outside! It was one long round of talking, eating, talking, drinking, talking, singing, talking. Think I only heard three languages - Welsh, English and Spanish, but there may have been the odd French word dropped in here and there too. So nice to catch up with the rest of the Magnificent Saith, and such a shame that Allan (the double ll pronounced like in Welsh!) was not able to join us.
Memories of seven years ago, when we were all so âgreenâ in our Welsh language. Aran demanding that I speak in sentences!! I could easily make myself understood with one word at a time, so why torture me?! Dee and I going in to a hardware store in Newcastle Emlyn and asking if anyone there could speak Welsh and a haughty young man replying that there was a notice on the door that said so! And also a visit to a bakery where the assistants quickly ran into the back of the shop and dragged out a baker who was Welsh-speaking. Huw and I being the first volunteers to cook for the evening meal and going to a small grocery store in Newquay to buy ingredients for shepherds pie. I could talk/write about our experiences of that first bootcamp for about as long as it lasted!
A very big thank you to our Fab Four, (although Catrin was not able to be there), plus Ioan and Emrys, for our wonderful experience and the turning point of our Welsh language journey for many of us. That week we were nurtured, cajoled, persuaded and ordered, to enjoy total immersion in the Welsh language and came out of the week battered, bruised and shell-shocked, but well on our roads to communicating confidently in Welsh.
So this weekend was very special for each of us guinea pigs, and a big thanks to Brenin Huw for organising it all so well. He now has to try to top that when we meet up again in another seven years!
Oh yes! There was one âstuffed shirtâ!!! Ooops, sorry, that should have said, suave, handsome, fashionable young man, in a tie - but for the life of me, I cannot remember who it was!
Great photos of the overflowing, wind-swept Elan Valley dam, Ian. I didnât recognise the âsmashed crockery.â Were they taken at the wedding fair in the Metropole on the Sunday? Perhaps you and Anna were looking for ideas.
Pob lwc am y difodol gydaân gilydd i ti ac Anna.
Huw
It was a brilliant time - so many memories, so much laughter, and I canât wait to do it again! But perhaps we wonât have to wait 7 years. Thereâs a parti penblwydd coming up ⌠whoâs up for that?
If I succeed in booking Catrin Pfeiffer, a grand piano will certainly be available. (In case Iâm being too obscure, you just need to watch the film âThe Fabulous Baker Boysâ and you need to know that Catrin has a wonderful contralto voice especially suited for the Blues.)
For Aranâs benefit, this clip gives an explanation in Spanish:
It was a sheer delight sharing time, reminiscences, food, song and a lot of drink with our wonderful tutors, the children, our spouses and soon-to be spouse. We also talked about and toasted our absent Mag7er, Allan Dyer.