Day #139 - Wales - Southwestern coastline

A line from "Under Milk Weed"

A walking path by the Dylan Thomas Boathouse

A look from the house

Dylan Thomas Boathouse

Writing shed

Saturday, July 31st

I took a train out of Cardiff this morning and headed west. My target location was a small town of Laugharne. Even though it's only located 70 miles or so from Cardiff, the trip took about 2-1/2 hours. (many stops along the way) That was OK however - I got to see the southern coastline of Wales - impressive. I really do like train travel. You can stretch out, walk around, stand up, talk to people, check out the scenery, read, whatever. I guess it's good I like the trains - I wonder how many thousands of miles I will have travelled via train by the end of my trip?

In addition to seeing the coastline, the town of Laugharne is the location where writer/poet Dylan Thomas used to live. I took a bus into the main town center from the rail station. I then walked along this path leading up to the boathouse where he lived with his wife and children towards the end of his life. The house overlooks the Taf Estuary - an absolute amazing view over this water body. The house is up on this big bluff. You first come to this small garage - his writing studio. A look inside shows how things were left just as he had them - filled with papers, manuscripts and furnishings. One of his most famous works is "Under Milk Weed". It was translated into a film in 1971 starring Welsh-born Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, and Peter O'Toole. The movie was filmed in the nearby town of Fishguard. Thomas died in 1953 at the age of 39.

Even though I'm not a writer, just in the last 4 months, I can see how proper settings and a good frame of mind can make a difference when telling a story. You guys can probably see this as well. Sometimes, it's late at night and I'm tired. I write out the blog without much emotion. I can even tell when I go back and reread some postings that I should/could have been better. I've come to enjoy writing a little bit - it's a way to express my feelings when maybe I would not otherwise do so. I know when I look back at this blog creation in 10+ years - I'll still be able to feel what was going on with me on that particular day. Even though I'm hanging myself out there - as a pure remembrance of this trip - I'm glad I'm doing this.

Since I'm talking about writing and writers, let me say that I'm nearing the end of my Shakespeare book. Some unbelievable stuff. I can't believe how many things have come from his stories. The following expressions were created by Shakespeare: a foregone conclusion, a tower of strength, bated breath, come full circle, dead as a doornail, elbow room, for goodness sake, I have not slept a wink, into thin air, It was Greek to me, puppy dog, shooting star, too much of a good thing, wild goose chase, well-behaved. I bet every single person reading this has used one, if not many, of these expressions. Shakespeare also introduced more words into English than all other poets of his lifetime combined. Examples are: employer, drug, engagement, glow, investment, luggage, mountaineer, partner, retirement, traditional, roadway. Now, I don't know if all this is true or not, I'm going by the book here. But if this is the case, as Samuel Johnson put it: "His works may be considered a Map of Life"

Shakespeare has 39 plays. They are divided into 4 categories: History (Henry VI, Henry IV), Comedy (A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Taming of the Shrew, The Merchant of Venice), Tragedies (Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth), and Romances (The Tempest, The Two Noble Kinsmen). I listed only a few in each category, but the Tragedy plays are known to be his masterpieces. Before reading this book, I knew almost nothing about these plays. Now, it seems like I see a reference about them almost everywhere I go. I could see myself going to a few of these plays in the future.

Back on point.

The town of Langharne was interesting. They were having their summer carnaval today. Bizarre. People painted themselves in different colors and wore weird stuff. It was like Halloween - only up a couple notches. It was a small place - again like Bloomsdale. Neat to see.

I came back to Cardiff via train. It was just taking too long to continue further west. I need to be in London on Monday. I got some great news - my Russian Visa is back and ready for pickup. Brilliant! I'll pick this up on Monday and make my train on Tuesday morning headed for Denmark. I got lucky with my departure date guess -- I love it when a plan comes together. I have some serious travel decisions to make in the next couple days. I'm just about ready to pull the string on doing the Reychevik, Icleand Marathon on August 21st. My plans are to do a marathon on every continent. I know that I have the Athens Marathon upcoming on Halloween, but, if for some reason this doesn't happen, I'd like a backup. How could I spend 9 months in Europe and not do a marathon here. Also, I heard from one of the great ladies I worked with in Minnesota (Jan) the other day. She has some good friends in Sweden and has connected me with them. I hope to visit their family in the next couple weeks. I just need to get my Russia travel plans set, my flight to Iceland set, and the rest will fall into place. I was thinking this today - I know I'm on a holiday trip - but I still have alot of irons in the fire. That's all good though - I need to keep sharp.

In Cardiff now, an awesome party city believe it or not. If you're ever in the area, belly up to the Marriott by the Train Station, and partake in the many bars and restaurants in the area. I walked around earlier. I saw more bachelor and bachelorette parties than I've ever seen before.

Tomorrow I spend more time in Wales and head back to England later in the day.