St. Davids

The next day we took a bus south to St. Davids. This was my favorite place we visited on the Coast last year and that is for two reasons. Both of which are food items. The first; Celtic Crunch ice cream. It's toffee ice cream with nuts and chocolate and honey and nougat and it melts in your mouth - as ice cream does. The second is a burger but not just any burger. It's Welsh beef and has some kind of delicious sauce. I've thought about it a number of times in the last year and Lukas and I really only came back for the burger.

Here's the zinger. It was a Sunday and the buses don't run on Sunday. Fortunately there is the Puffin Shuttle which runs up and down the Coast between Fishguard and St. Davids. The Puffin Shuttle, a short little bus seating only 24 was being driven by Colin, a happy Welsh man who looked a lot like Austin Powers. Colin picked us and about 6 other people up in Fishguard. He was very nice and made lots of jokes and silly remarks to us while he was driving. We picked up a few more people and the lot of us all became giggly friends on account of Colin making everyone feel so comfortable. He would even stop and pick people up off of the side of the road. Sweet little man. These little coastal towns have lots of narrow roads and hair-pin turns that run right along the cliffs. Colin would have to back up to the edge to turn around and everyone would squeal and laugh. "That'll do!" one man shouted, as we creeped closer and closer to the edge.

Halfway through the ride we got to Abereiddy Bay, a popular beach that can only be reached by a narrow, one way, dirt road that goes almost straight down the cliff. We waited on a steep incline for about 20 minutes. Some jerk at the bottom of the hill would not pull over to let the other cars come down. Technically going uphill has right of way and he would not budge, holding up about 16 cars trying to come down onto the beach. Colin sat patiently, mildly amused by the guys jerkiness. "I'm sorry." he announced, "If you have any connections, we won't make it."
"Why does this always happen when you're driving?" a little old lady asked Colin and he laughed to himself.
"Well this won't do!" another lady shouted and she hoped off the bus and stomped down the road and shouted at the stubborn man at the bottom of the hill. "Colin has a route to do!!"

What could be driven in 20 minutes took 2 hours and 10 minutes. Everyone cheered for Colin when he finally got us back up the hill and into St. Davids. Lukas and I hoped off the bus and made a beeline for the Celtic Crunch. Once that was done, we headed for the coastal path. We came upon some rock climbers, ancient ruins, blackberries, and a beach where we decided to spend the afternoon.

I found it to be most chilly on the beach. The temperature was great but that wind!! We ended up sitting amongst the rocks rather than the sand as there was a sort of windbreak behind the boulders. Lukas scurried around in a nearby cave while I laid across a rock like a lizard. We chose to leave the beach early so that we could go to The Sound Cafe for our burgers before we caught the bus back to Fishguard. To our HORROR the place is under new management and our beloved burger no longer exists. We scarfed down two mediocre burgers that cost way too much and then hustled to catch the bus. And we waited. And waited. It occurred to me that it might be stuck in Abereiddy Bay again on account of all the people that would now be trying to go home at the end of the day. About 35 minutes later the shuttle arrived and good ole Colin was driving. The lot of us filled all of the seats and there were still quite a few stops to go. 

More and more people packed on. We were definitely past the 24 person limit. Again everyone was laughing about it and squeezing in so people could stand in the aisle. One kid in the back even passed around a bag of mints for the whole bus. "Would you like mint Colin?" someone asked, pushing the bag forward. Soon, people were sitting on people. Children were stacked three high, and bags where piled on top of bodies. We couldn't stop laughing. It was so ridiculous. At this point Colin wasn't even making people buy tickets, he was just cramming them in and hoping that we didn't pass a cop. Finally, the bus could hold no more. There were seven people waiting at the next stop. Colin politely told them that they wouldn't fit but knowing there was no other bus on Sunday he said he would come back to get them once he emptied out. And so we went on. But then everyone started rooting for him. "Come on Colin, we'll make room!" and then shoved even farther back, creating a 3-foot space near the door. So Colin circled round and we picked them up too. "We could put fourrr on the rrrroof!" one particularly Welsh accent said. "And thrrrree on the back bumperrrrr."

We eventually made it to a stop where half of the crowd climbed out. Colin used this time to figure out who had paid and who hadn't. Everyone who hadn't paid stepped outside and paid for their ticket. This took approximately four minutes however he was blocking a road and in turn held up about 6 cars. "Therrre's grrrridlock in west Wales!" the man cackled to himself. After all, the only thing that holds up traffic in this farm region are the sheep. Waiting to ride down into Abereiddy bay a man overheard Lukas telling someone we were riding all the way to Fishguard and he offered us a ride. This saved us about an hour and the guy driving happens to work for the Welsh Tourist Bureau. He takes people on tours all over Wales and works on promotions and media. Lukas got me his business card and I REALLY want to send him some pictures. What if they made it to the guidebooks!!