So .... where are we off to this time???

4 weeks in: What's made an impact/what have I noticed????

Well, things haven't worked out like I thought.  Yes, at the end of the day, the last thing I've felt like doing is making notes on a laptop.  

We're in Tollerton, on the outskirts of York atm, having encountered the various motorways from .......... in NW Wales. 

Much smaller cars than in Oz - very few SUVs on the roads - let's face it, on the roads we've been travelling on in SW England and Wales they wouldn't fit!!

The roads have been incredibly skinny, single laned - I mean bound by hedgerows or in NW Wales tall stone walls no run off, the occasional passing extra yard (not a whole land)

Extremely patient and polite drivers, especially when confronted by a vehicle head to head in one of the tiny lanes we've travelled - we've got used to backing up

In the towns, parking is often on the one side of the street but you don't have to trun around to all park the same way.  When you drive along the street, the car needing to wait, simply pulls up, gives a flash of the headlights, then waits until their turn to go on the wrong side of the road and on their way.

Our little red rental MG 3 is a ripper - I want one!!!! We just squeezed beside a huge bus the other day with centimetres to spare between it and the stone wall!!

We were in Wales on St David's Day - and there were many Welsh Flags, Daffodils on the lamp posts in one town, people wearing daffodils.  A very great sense of pride in being Welsh.  (A nice change from the debacle of resisting being proud to be Australian, I can tell you!!)  

Strong support for the monarchy - and yes, even King Charles, and particularly Queen Camilla and the work she does.  Only one of the number of people we've spoken with has pulled a strange face about the monarchy.

It's Spring and the Daffodils are popping up everywhere.  The weather is noticeably warmer.  Even on our trip north to near York yesterday, the temp briefly hit 20 degrees!!  Now only about 12, with the overnight rain giving way to a weak sunshine.  

It's lambing time too.  Not huge flocks of sheep but a number of then along the way.

The spoken Welsh language is so captivating - such a lovely lilting, singing language - espcially our waitress at The Angel pub in Pontnedfechan; whereas the written word is IMPOSSIBLE to guess at and seems to be totally unrelated to any of the European languages I've encountered over the years.