Aberystwyth in August, Part Two

We started our first full day in Aber by going up to the Nant y Moch dam or as it now known the Hydroelectric system ( it still looks like a dam to me). It was a stunning day and Peter and I spent a wonderful couple of hours taking pictures, driving around the reservoir on the narrow roads or just sitting and looking.

We then went into town and, although there were more people than there were on Friday afternoon, we found the place quite empty. There was a farmers market on and I'm a sucker for those sort of things so we went up to the castle to have a look. It was quite disappointing to find it consisted of two stalls, one selling sweets and the other a few plants and some jars of home made chutney and jam. I bought a couple of jars of chutney and made the fatal mistake of mentioning the weather. NEVER, EVER mention the weather to a Welsh farmer, you are just asking for trouble, and I got it.

'Hot! Hot! You call this hot! You should have been with me in Egypt!'

Twenty minutes later and still reeling from a vivid description of heat stroke, complete with re-enactment of a seizure, yes he did actually start shaking, we managed to get away, vowing that next time we'll keep any conversation strictly on the chutney. Once I tried the chutney though I decided it was twenty minutes well spent as it was absolutely scrummy.

We decided to try out a new pub/restaurant called The Starling Cloud for lunch on the recommendation of my mother. We sat outside in the fresh air and tucked in to the most wonderful food. I even indulged in a naughty glass of cider.

The afternoon was spent on the prom watching kids searching for crabs in the rock pools or trying to fly kites and I remembered many a happy day doing exactly the same thing. I was itching to go for a paddle but knew I'd never make it down to the sea's edge and back so had to be content with remembering what it was like to stroll in the surf. Maybe next year. Ice cream was eaten. I couldn't decide between mint choc chip or rum and raisin so had both, which was an interesting combination.

A quick trip back to mum's to do my meds and have yet more tea and cake and then we took mum out for a meal. we wanted to go back to the Starling as we'd liked it so much but it was packed out so we went to Llety Parc instead which used to be the place to go but has let it standards drop a bit. I wanted something light so plumped for a quiche with salad. It was OK but I must say I've never had a salad quite like it. On the plate was half a lettuce, most of a sliced cucumber and two large tomatoes. If it had stopped there it would have been great but it didn't. In addition there was a huge dollop of coleslaw and another of spiced couscous. Now comes the weird bit. On top of all that were two slices of pineapple and four strawberries, the whole pile was topped off with a hard boiled egg. I can't say it was all that nice and Peter hated his lasagne which was very dry. Not exactly a success though mum seemed to enjoy her meal.

We fell in to bed exhausted and slept really well, which is just as well as Sunday would bring a very long, very wet and very frustrating drive home.