Day 2 23 December Cardiff

We all woke up about 8:30 and just had hot cocoa and coffee for breakfast since we arrived late last night. Went to the reception building to check in and asked the staff about things to do and visit around the area as well as directions to the church and grocery story store.

Drove to town afterwards (about a 3 minute drive from the resort) stopping along the way to take pictures of the beautiful winter sunrise reflecting on the water.










Laugharne (pronounced L'arn) is a small rural town with the main highway going through and serving as the main street. The restaurants/pubs are centrally located in one area including the lone grocery store. We went to a pub/cafe to have a late breakfast but the kitchen was already closed so we just had some coffee and talked with the locals. They were very friendly and easy to talk to.

Went to the grocery store afterwards and bought supplies for the next 2 days since the place will be closed for Christmas. Lots of selection though and they even had rotisserie chicken. Walked over to the castle ruins while the women were shopping and took pictures with Marc and Rey. It was quite overcast though so the pictures didn't turn out good. Marites and Flor bought some souvenirs at the nearby gift shop. We returned to the lodge and had barbecued chicken and toasted bread for lunch.

Drove to Cardiff (about 1.5 hours) and again, the GPS was very helpful and I also didn't have to worry about where to park. Didn't get to see much of the scenery though because the fog rolled in along with the overcast sky.

Followed the crowd to the promenade area after parking and took pictures of the huge Christmas tree that was called Santa's grotto. It was actually a pay-as-you-enter attraction where kids can have their pictures taken with Santa.

Followed a sign to St. David's church which was behind the department stores. This area is actually called Cathedral Walk due to the concentration of churches within a small area. Said our prayers since we missed the service at Laugharne, took some pictures inside and continued on to the end of the promenade to see the Cardiff castle.


































Again, we were disappointed because the fog was really thick and only a faint outline of the walls that were decorated with Christmas lights can be seen. We went to Marks and Spencers to buy some more groceries and we were lucky to find Indian rice which looked like our 'Milagrosa'. We headed back to Laugharne after Mom got her Wales Starbucks mug.

Needless to say, we had a great dinner of steamed rice, sauteed barbecued chicken with vegetables and a bottle of wine. Flor also cooked adobo for breakfast using smoked ham hocks. Went to bed early to get ready for our trip to Bath tomorrow.