Snowdonia

I just came back from a trip to Snowdonia, North Wales. A beautiful place. There are mountains, and lots of greens and browns and reds and trees and lakes and fresh air. Sheep skittering about on the hills. Old slate walls and old abandoned slate houses here and there. Beautiful rocky streams.

The boyfriend and I drove along and up winding roads, some of them single track, which was perilous. We went to the Welsh Mountain Zoo, Portmeirion (where they filmed The Prisoner), and an assortment of scenic drives. I could feel the fresh air cleansing my insides, and my skin became clear and healthy. It was nice. Not an ounce of codeine was consumed, not a flicker of panic as I ascended and descended the huge mountains.

Then of course, I came home. North Wales is beautiful and clean, but I was kind of glad to come back to civilisation, to shops and good places to eat, and anonymity. In Wales, small villages are speckled everywhere, and everyone seems to know each other, and wherever you go, the locals look at you with a mixture of boredom and confusion, like you’re an alien. It was kind of like stepping back 40 years. I like my shops, and restaurants – all the facilities that have made me the fat, greedy capitalist that I am today.

Coming to work again is a major downer. But I’m planning to go to Budapest around April/May time, which eases things somewhat.