Wedding
Back from the wedding at Llangoed Hall. Flying to France tomorrow. Have we taken on too much?
Met three people at the wedding that I had not seen for 10-20 years and failed to recognise each one of them. They all recognised me, but it was easy for them as I was the only Chinese person at the wedding (and possibly for a radius of 50 miles). It rained on the way down and rained on the way back up, but the wedding day itself (Sat) was lovely and Larry and the other little bridesmaid looked like beautiful flower princesses and had millions of photographs taken. Llangoed Hall was very swish. Unfortunately we were not staying there, but at a guesthouse in Brecon. One can do a lot worse when sourcing accommodation than to simply rule out anything that calls itself a guesthouse. Our experience in the Brecon guesthouse has not made me revise this excellent rule of thumb. It was dispiriting in the extreme, particularly when I realised that for the price I was paying I could have got 4 nights in the 5-star Mandarin Oriental in KL, with lackeys waiting on me hand and foot, instead of the fat sunburnt proprietress of the guesthouse skulking around to make sure that we weren't surreptitiously consuming food and drink in our room and a shower that was only distinguishable from going outside and standing in the rain by being a couple of degrees warmer. Oh, why did we ever leave the Far East?!
We went out on Friday evening to see if we could find anywhere to eat. Thwarted in this modest goal, we eventually settled for takeaway fish and chips. Unfortunately due to aforementioned "no outside food in room" rule, we had to eat it sitting in the cathedral carpark, watching the incessant rain trickling down the windscreen. I can only say that it was a very British holiday experience.
Met three people at the wedding that I had not seen for 10-20 years and failed to recognise each one of them. They all recognised me, but it was easy for them as I was the only Chinese person at the wedding (and possibly for a radius of 50 miles). It rained on the way down and rained on the way back up, but the wedding day itself (Sat) was lovely and Larry and the other little bridesmaid looked like beautiful flower princesses and had millions of photographs taken. Llangoed Hall was very swish. Unfortunately we were not staying there, but at a guesthouse in Brecon. One can do a lot worse when sourcing accommodation than to simply rule out anything that calls itself a guesthouse. Our experience in the Brecon guesthouse has not made me revise this excellent rule of thumb. It was dispiriting in the extreme, particularly when I realised that for the price I was paying I could have got 4 nights in the 5-star Mandarin Oriental in KL, with lackeys waiting on me hand and foot, instead of the fat sunburnt proprietress of the guesthouse skulking around to make sure that we weren't surreptitiously consuming food and drink in our room and a shower that was only distinguishable from going outside and standing in the rain by being a couple of degrees warmer. Oh, why did we ever leave the Far East?!
We went out on Friday evening to see if we could find anywhere to eat. Thwarted in this modest goal, we eventually settled for takeaway fish and chips. Unfortunately due to aforementioned "no outside food in room" rule, we had to eat it sitting in the cathedral carpark, watching the incessant rain trickling down the windscreen. I can only say that it was a very British holiday experience.
posted by FBT at 2:41 pm
6 Comments:
You should have asked me where to stay. Mind you I dont know anywhere decent to eat in Brecon either except the Italian restaurant which is very good but expensive. As for Fish & Chips there was a line in Red Dwarf 'We have less choice than in a Welsh fish and chip shop'
I have never heard of the "no outside food in the room" rule before! It doesn't sound very friendly.
Brecon I know it well
But as for Asia I did tell you as much but to no avail you would not listen
And
Its still the summer wait until the wind slices through you in February.
If I were you I would have asked the sunburnt proprietress where in Brecon I could buy a wok.
There's an old saying in Sri Lanka that if it rains at a wedding it means that the bride has been drinking coconut water. According to that rule I guess most British weddings should be bright and sunny...
Loved your description of the dreary guesthouse. Put it in your book please. Places like that are are very intersting in books happening to other people.
I don't think being in France is any excuse for not blogging.
Guesthouses are for university students. I can only imagine what horrors the poor woman has one through to end up with a no outside food rule.
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