+ Our fifth day in Wales, June 13, 2022, meant a lot of time on the coach traveling from North Wales to South Wales. We stopped at Machynlleth which was very briefly the capital of an independent Wales in the first decade of the fifteenth century due to a rebellion led by Owain Glyndwr. We listened to Conway tell the story in the room at the historic Parliament House where Independence was declared. It's easy for many Americans to identify with such a place and such a story of resistance to English rule. Many Welsh people would love to see an independent Wales now. There is now a Welsh Parliament for the first time since that brief era 600 years ago. This Welsh Parliament meets in the capital city of Cardiff and has limited power since Wales is still part of the United Kingdom.

Our next stop was in Aberystwyth where the National Library is located. We had lunch there, loved the view of the city and the Irish Sea beyond but the tour of the Library was definitely a low point for us. Seeing the filing cabinets on various floors is not our idea of a useful tour. Nevertheless it is good to know that this Library is home to "over 6.5 million books and periodicals, and the largest collections of archives, portraits, maps and photographic images in Wales." -- Wikipedia

After a long drive through beautiful country and coastline we arrived in Lamphey, Pembrokeshire, our base for our 3 days in Southwest Wales. We got to our room in the Best Western Lamphey Court Hotel & Spa and had time before dinner to walk to the nearby ruins of The Lamphey Bishops Palace. There is no doubt that the bishops in pre-Reformation Britain lived the good life.

This was another great hotel with comfortable lodging, good food and hospitality, and in an idyllic setting with sheep grazing in the pasture which we saw so often throughout Wales.

+ Go to OUR SIXTH DAY IN WALES > https://pbase.com/abundancetrek/wales6