Early morning exercise in Swansea!
During our visit to our birthplace of Swansea, I used to exercise every morning which meant I would jog along the beach front and usually walk back to our apartment past the local homes; all whilst my brother and nephew slept.
It was usually in the wee hours of the morning so I guess that is why my brother and nephew were sleeping but it was such a lovely part of the day and sometimes I would see the locals out and about with their dogs; some of them enjoying the sea (dogs not the locals). And I guess jet lag played a huge part of me being out before 5am.
I know some people are not early risers but I certainly am and love getting out and about sometimes seeing the sunrise or just enjoying the quietness of the day. And the views this time of the day along the waterfront in Swansea were lovely.
Today I thought I would share the seashore of my hometown on my blog, as the photos have brought back many [many] lovely memories of me with my brother and mum down the beach before we emigrated to Australia. I must say though that this beach is so very different to some of the big surf beaches we have here in Australia; different but still lovely.
When my brother, nephew and I were in London, I booked a hop on-hop off bus tour through Big Bus Tours so we could see all the city and as the name suggests; hop off when we felt like it. I woke up early again (due to jet lag and did a jog around Kensington Gardens) and then after breakfast we walked up to the main street to catch the bus – really easy as there are so many stops to get on board.
There are a few lines to choose from and I chose the longer line that went past Madame Tussaud’s as my brother and nephew wanted to get off – I had said to them that I didn’t think it would be that great but they still wanted to go…mmm more about that later!
We sat upstairs on the open air bus even though it was a little cool but we had good views of everything.
Then it started to rain so we moved under the canopy but still remaining upstairs – I think it’s so much better to see the sights from the top of the bus…
And isn’t Big Ben just fabulous…even though it’s being refurbished, it still looks fab..just one of those incredible sights in the world you have to see…
What history London has and what incredible buildings…
My brother and nephew then left the bus to go visit Madame Tussades – who told me later that it was not really worth the visit…but they did have some favourites – royal family, Usain Bolt, Audrey Hepburn and Elvis – who they said were more lifelike!
But I am still on the bus enjoying the London sights…
And what history and sights there are, across the Thames…
Looking out at the amazing London Bridge…
And the Borough Markets building…
What a city….and after about two hours I decided to leave the bus and walk back to our Airbnb through the parks…great day!
When my brother, nephew and I were in Swansea visiting our birthplace, we had dinner with our cousin Nigel at one of the restaurants at the Swansea Marina.
Nigel showed us where Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas have a home (Z-J was born in Swansea) and a similar home next door where Catherine had build for her parents; unfortunately both homes are obscured by huge walls and trees so we couldn’t see them. We then continued through to Mumbles, a local township which is the beginning of the Gower Peninsular’s coastline [our mum used to take us here to the beach when we were very young so it was lovely for my brother and nephew to see the area).
And beautiful Rhossili Bay – I can only imagine what the views are like on a summer’s day.
As you can see Rhossili Bay curves along an arc and the beach is approximately five kilometres long backed with sand dunes which unfortunately due to the weather we decided not to walk along.
By now it was time to head back to Swansea for our last night before we head out to Heathrow for Abu Dhabi…a great day especially as we got to have more time with our fabulous cousin Nigel.
And more to the point…who can afford them!!
London has so many different styles of buildings; Georgian being one. These types of homes have a signature semi-circular ‘fan light’ which is a window resembling an open fan above the door and usually has wrought iron somewhere as a feature.
Some of the buildings were, in my opinion, not as glamorous as others but still good to see and wonder who lived in them.
And others rather sweet, when walking through Hyde Park…
And when we stayed at the Airbnb near Kensington Gardens we were opposite a beautiful hotel with the same name as our dad ‘Byron’….thought that was a nice touch when we looked out the window and saw our dad’s name.
And how about the gorgeous pubs in London…decorated so beautifully with hanging pots of bright blossoms and then once inside you can either order a small glass of wine or large…love the choice.
One thing I did find a of a shame around London streets was the amount of household rubbish on the footpaths; clearly out there waiting for the rubbish man but the bags of rubbish would be put out at any time of the day and just sit there!!
Whilst in London, I arranged for a day out with wonderful friends of mine; Jane, JP and Guy and they asked us to meet them at the London Eye to take a ride. I must say I was a little apprehensive about being so high up off the ground but wanted to go as the tickets were a treat from my friends. (I found out when we met that Jane is very concerned about heights so she had no intention of getting on – but I was so glad I did).
My friends had pre-booked the tickets (great idea as we didn’t have to line up) and then five of us went to board with Jane waiting at the outdoor coffee shop below. My nephew and Guy hit it off straight away and became best friends.
Up we go….and what wonderful views of London.
I was fine as long as I didn’t go too close to the large windows. 
We had lovely views of Big Ben which really is a spectacular.
We were so lucky to have such beautiful weather; skies were blue and we had perfect views of parliament, the Thames River and all the other great buildings of London.
We then enjoyed lunch at a lovely little cafe followed by a drink at a local London pub. My brother doesn’t drink but he wanted to have one beer at a Cockney pub in London…and whilst the pub was not owned or run by a ‘cockney’, it was nice to sit outside so my brother could tick off something on his bucket list.
And after we took a walk around the city where two lovely London ‘bobbies’ agreed to a photograph and a hat swap; great customer service!!
Truly was a wonderful day and my brother talked about how much he loved my friends and wished he could have spent more time with them – so we will have to return!!
Laugharne (pronounced Larne) is a beautiful town on the estuary of the River Tâf and the home of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas from 1949 until his death in 1953. But even more important to me – it’s the home of my beautiful Auntie Anne and her lovely husband Bill and my gorgeous cousin Simon and his family. These are family that my brother has not seen for over forty-five years and my nephew has never met. So whilst in Wales we caught the train to Carmarthen where we were picked up and driven to Laugharne to spent the weekend. And what a fabulous weekend…
I have been back to Wales twice since we emigrated to Australia in 1971 and have visited Laugharne once. It was all new to my brother and nephew and they loved it. Laugharne is such a beautiful place with small streets with lovely colourful homes.
Our English cousins came in from different parts of the country and along with our Welsh cousins and family from Laugharne we had a huge dinner at our Aunt’s new home – what a fun night with so many laughs and childhood memories…great for my brother and nephew to hear these stories.
along a pathway through the forest…
where I saw the tiny garage that was converted into a study by Welsh poet and writer Dylan Thomas. The Boathouse where Dylan lived was closed as I was there too early in the morning.
Along pathways with stunning views of Laugharne and its vibrant green grasslands.
And beautiful views of the river and colourful plots of land across the water.
We then took a look inside this lovely little trinket shop owned by a Welsh lady with the strongest Welsh accent; people in this town were so pleasant especially when they knew why we were visiting. I bought a lovely copy of Dylan Thomas’ ‘A Child’s Christmas in Wales’. Laugharne, like our home town of Swansea, has the remains of an old castle so we stopped by for a couple of photos.
We were going to take the train back to Swansea but Simon our youngest cousin offered to drive us; a lovely offer and wonderful way to chat to him for an extra hour and for him to get to know my brother a bit better – very special!
A great visit with family!! And an opportunity for my nephew to pretend to take a call on his dad’s mobile phone in a lovely red phone box.
The trolley lady came around and we ordered tea/coffee/muffins/biscuits and chips (or crisps as they are called in the UK) as we hadn’t had breakfast and as I went to pay, I was told that the snacks are complimentary for First Class passengers. Yay…she came back about four times over the three hour journey but after the first visit we were too full to eat anything else.
I booked a lovely Airbnb apartment on the fourth floor of a building at the Marina in Swansea which had great views of the water, moored boats and Swansea city.
Most nights we walked out to the Marina area and had dinner in a local restaurant and in the mornings we either went out to a small cafe [where we had to take a photo of the HP Sauce that was on every table as that is what our mother used to put on our cheese sandwiches when we first arrived in Australia – a fond and humorous memory for us] or made breakfast in the apartment.
Every morning I would be up very early and off on a walk around the local area – I loved the homes around the Marina where the owners have decorated their walls and balconies with colourful baskets of flowers.
After my walk, it was time for my proper exercise for the day; a jog along the beach. The beaches are very different to those we have here in Australia i.e. no real waves but I love them all the same as I recall times our mother would take us down to the beach with friends to sit on the sand [pebbles really] for us all to enjoy a day out.
It was so nice to visit our birthplace! And one thing more that was special for my brother, was a visit to Swansea Football Stadium where we asked for a quick tour of the grounds but were told the tours had already departed. So we returned the following day and pleaded for a quick tour and it worked! Very kind of the staff.
Swansea brought back wonderful memories for Mark and me and new ones for Braydon!
We were seated in a little bar area along the side of the hallway with a view of the dining area where we were able to listen to a quartet playing.
Then a quick breakfast at a local restaurant which had great service before heading to visit some friends. My nephew was ravenous and after one serve of bacon/sausage and poached eggs – he ordered another – in total four eggs, two sausages and four pieces of bacon – not too bad for a fourteen year old!!
