(Llandrindod Wells, Wales, United Kingdom)
Because I was doing so much bowling, and had two meals a day at the hotel, I didn’t have too much time to explore all that “Llandod” had to offer. But I did pick up some survival tips for economical travel.
Most grocery stores, even the smaller ones, have “meal deals” of prepared food. The individual elements (main course, snack, beverage) are rather expensive. But if you buy all three, the cost decreases significantly. For example, items totalling 8 pounds and 25 pence might cost only 4 pounds and 50 pence if bought together.
This also enabled me to have some pretty unusual lunches. I might have a chicken tikka wrap as my main course, but then have some Japanese rolls as a snack and a cherry/blackberry/guarana smoothie as a beverage. Given my match schedule, I often had to resort to these meal deals.
As our evening meals consisted of three courses, I usually went for a walk after dinner. When I wandered the quiet streets of Llandod, I was struck by how few lights were on in the upper floors of the buildings. Perhaps it is busier during the summer months?
This underutilization extended to the railway station. With only a handful of trains each day, it is not surprising that there was little (if any) staff presence. But even the “secondary” station buildings (see above) looked impressive, although we couldn’t go in.
My conclusion is that Llandrindod Wells is a beautiful town to look at…but you can’t necessarily “experience” all that you’re seeing.
Our hotel had some peculiar features too. The front of the building seemed to be having extensive repairs, and it didn’t look quite as grand from the outside as it did in the common areas inside. But then I wandered around to the back one day and got a completely different impression.
It seems that the back of the building was built with a more impressive facade to attract visitors. But the town’s development plans changed, and the back of the building is now really only visible to those who use the hard-to-find parking lot.
This means there are turrets and other architectural features (we had a “circular” bay window) that very few people ever get to see. And despite staying there for 13 nights, I only saw the back facade on our last day there.
If we hadn’t been getting an expansive evening meal at our hotel each night, we would have explored some more of the town’s restaurants. One was particularly intriguing. It was called “Aspidistra”, which struck me as a very old-fashioned name from the town’s heyday. I’d like to give it a try if I ever return.
Coming up next: an unexpected day trip!