20. The Pink Chandelier

 I took a day off posting yesterday so I’ve quite a bit of catching up to do. When I last left you we were on our way to Wales. We stayed in a former Abbey on Monday night. I can honestly say it is the first time I have stayed in a room with a pink chandelier. Mes petits enfants, you would have loved it. 

Pretty in pink

David and I decided to have dinner in their restaurant. It was quite simply the best food David and I have ever had. This chef impressed me so much. He actually took the time to inform all of his staff of ways that he could adapt each menu item to make it a possibility for me. I’ve never been so pampered. I never actually got a chance to meet him and I believe that the restaurant has earned some notifications from the Michelin Guide and in mine and David’s opinion they are more than well-earned.

When we awoke Tuesday morning, it was absolutely pouring and the wind was howling. The abbey receptionist recommended we go shopping on High Street in Narbeth. “You can pop in and out of all the shops.” It was delightfully charming and a lot of fun to see all of the uniquely Wales products that the stores carried.

The receptionist then suggested that we go to the Cathedral in St. David’s as that was going to be our place to stay Tuesday night. I’m so glad she suggested this. We have never been in a cathedral so old. St. David’s Cathedral was built in the 1100s. There are numerous tombs and memorials in the church honouring various priests and knights. It was a very moving experience (I know I’ve used those words a lot on this trip, but there’s really no other word I can think of to describe it). We also went to the 6:00 pm EvenSong service there that is a part of David’s Anglican traditions from growing up. (It’s a choral service so almost the entire service is sung with a few words spoken by the celebrant.) David sang in a choir  when he was growing up so it was very meaningful to attend a service in such a magnificent cathedral. The choir director only played a smaller organ. We can imagine the full sound if the  cathedral’s magnificent full  organ had been played. 

An embroidered story.

The choir loft where we sat during “EvenSong” 

After EvenSong we headed to the local pub, aptly named, “The Bishop’s.”

Our home for Tuesday night was a hotel that specializes as an art gallery as well. There were some really beautiful pieces of art, mostly contemporary in style and all very large showpieces. We were in a room on the main floor and each of the rooms have their own little patio. Because it started out as such a gloomy day we couldn’t really make use of it but we realized as we were getting ready for bed that there were four horses in the paddock right off of our patio. A nice visual treat as we toddled off to bed.