(Note: I had announced Day 4, but changed my mind. 
That will be next, in the last episode)
Tourist in Ceredigion and Sir Gâr
We had reached Tregaron early and walked around a bit before the Clonc-edigion. I like that in Wales it’s easier to find silence. Italy is a beautiful country but unbelievably noisy: cars roaring everywhere, endless roadworks, loud horrible music popping up in every corner, cell phones ringing, people speaking way louder than necessary all the time. It’s very rare to find such quiet places. Also, I had never seen birds of prey hovering slowly above me, like here. They’re so close I can see how they move their tail to change direction. Dee tells us they’re - quite appropriately I must say - called kites. I’m charmed, and glad I’m not a mouse.
Sightseeings are not my priority in this trip, but I enjoy being a simple tourist from time to time. And I’m so lucky to have a special tour guide, driving around to visit places and showing me around: @Deborah-SSi. I couldn’t ask for more!
First stop, Aberystwyth. The other day, while speculating on the bathing elephants*, Dee and @margaretnock had mentioned this town for being a popular Victorian era destination. We walk on the promenade and see the beach where the elephants were pictured. For a full posh-Victorian-ladies-on-holiday experience we should go up the hill on the funicular railway to enjoy the view of the bay and the Camera Obscura. But there’s not time for everything today, so we go straight to the Siop Y Pethe: I have a look around - it has an interesting selection of books and Wales/Welsh themed objects and gifts - but the main reason we’re here now is Dee and I are meeting @LaraRobs and @Nicky. A lively and fun conversation strarts right away, and I’d love to participate more, but my brain seem to have forgotten how to speak any language. It just left a note: “If you really need to speak, say this: Where can I drink a good beer in Aber?”. Nicky happens to have an answer: Yr Hen Lew Du. (Gosh, written Welsh still puzzling me. Now I see it, how come it looks like the name of a Chinese restaurant?! But naa, it doesn’t if you say it, and by the way it’s an old black lion and a traditional pub that we’re talking about.)
While walking, I get distracted by a cafe named Agnelli’s. Being from Torino I can’t help but thinking of FIAT founder and dynasty with the same name right away. Then I notice they have a wide selection of Italian food and drinks. Not those with Italian names, like Celentano frozen pasta or Gino Ginelli ice cream, but really exist only abroad. The kind we really have in Italy. A good sign. We decide to go in for a coffee, and maybe speak a little Italian, for a change? On the blackboard, I see today’s special: Hot Bicerin from Turin. Well, now I have to try it! I also have a little chat with Chiara, the owner, who came here to study at the University, loved the atmosphere (oh, no wonder, I understand) and decided to stay. She opened the cafe, and seems to be doing great! By the way, her version of the bicerin is different than the traditional you’d get in Turin. But just like a cover of a song may be even better than the original, this is very good and definitely wins my Torinese seal of approval.
I find out that Aber was the set of “Y Gwyll”. I’ve seen it, I’ve seen it! As far as I know, it’s the only Welsh TV series ever reaching our Country. Not in Welsh language, though: via Netflix in the English version called “Hinterland” first, and later, I read, dubbed in Italian for a TV channel. The entry on Italian Wiki defines Aberystwyth as…er…uhm…“small country village”. To be honest, we don’t know much about Wales, in Italy. But it’s because it rarely gets mentioned all by itself, except for ancient history, the Prince, the fabric with the same name and sports. That’s a shame. I know. Anyway, I remember we all thought the locations in the series looked great. Now I know where they are, I can add them to my list for next trip.
While we leave Aber, Dee tells me the story of Capel Celyn, the village where people were forced to leave everything behind and the valley flooded to create a reservoir for Liverpool. The Cofiwch Dryweryn mural, by the A487 near Llanrhystud, stands a reminder. We stop, and I take a picture. Crazy as it may sound, someone later that very same night would go and write "Elvis" on it. So my photo ends up showing how the wall looked like, just a few hours before being vandalised (and then promptly restored by a group of cool volunteers the day after).
Further South, we reach Abererearon. It’s a veeeery pretty town, with gracious houses painted in different colors. Dee had planned a quick visit here and then a drive along the coast, so I’d be able to see the scenic route.
However, for lunch I had just cawl moron a sinsir (ok, this name still make me chuckle a bit) and a piece of someone else’s cheese and bread (with their permission, I swear!). It was all good, but now I’m quite hungry. And I haven’t had the chance to drink the beer I was longing for, yet. We walk by the Harbourmaster restaurant. It looks scarily out-of-my-range-fancy, but a sneak peek at the menu outside reveals that it’s very tempting and also surprisigly affordable, especially after noticing that in other restaurants prices are higher than the average anyway - as in nice tourist destinations often happens. Hey, I’m Italian and food is among my top priorities: when I travel, I’d rather sleep on a carpet with a sleeping bag, than give up on good food. We walk in aaand…attention, ladies and gentlemen, drum rolls and trumpets…for the first time ever, walking into a place someone speaks to me in Welsh first! Even just for this, I think they deserve us staying for dinner, don’t they? And definitely a toast. So I’ll start with a (Welsh) beer right away. Yes, I would usually drink wine in these circumstances. But listen, in Northern Europe wine is expensive, I like good beer, and it can be just as fine also with a more refined cuisine like this, so why not? By the time we head back to Llandysul, it’s too dark to see anything on the scenic route, but the food was delicious and well worth the stop. Ceredigion coast, on my list for next time in Wales.
Two days later, I’ll play the tourist again, although with a few obstacles on the way: the National Wool Museum of Felindre is closed on Sunday and Monday in winter, so we can’t see it today. The ex-POW camp opens by appointment only. We didn’t plan the visits in advance, therefore we hadn’t called. But I’m leaving tomorrow morning, and going there I can have at least a glimpse of it. By the way, before coming to Wales I only had a vague idea of POW camps, and certainly didn’t know their locations around Europe. Never heard of the Italian Chapel of Henllen. Never heard of the Italian prisoner who decorated it (using things like tin cans, crates and paint made with berries, carrot pulp and fish bones!) even though he was from a small town just a hundred miles away from Turin. I’ll have to find out more, before I come back next time.
We then succeed in seeing the remains of the castle of Castellnewydd Emlyn - where apparently the last dragon in Wales - or maybe in the world? - got killed. Especially for a country with a dragon on the flag, doesn’t sound like a happy event. Anyway, Merlin, dragons…quite a lot of action going on in Sir Gâr, back in the days! Now, for us it’s just time to go back to Llandysul. Dee has work to do. It’s a nice and sunny day, and I go for a walk, but I forget to ask her for tips and directions, before leaving. I go all the way from one side of town to the other on the main road, and on the new road as well. Then I don’t really know what to do - so I just keep on going around the small park along the Teifi. It’s relaxing, anyway. I meet quite a few people walking their dogs and I later realize that every time a dog looks at me, I’ve got an automatic reflex to say “Ciao cane!” - no matter where I am. So if you saw a stranger walking in circles in the park in Llandysul and greeting dogs in Italian, it was me. But don’t worry, I’m not dangerous.
Day 3 Part 1 was here:[Tour diary - Day 3 p.1 Clonc-edigion] Roaming around Wales, speaking Welsh
*Which elephants? see Tour diary - Day 2 p.2 - Caerfyrddin