We bade farewell to St. David's and hit the road to Swansea. The land became more rolling and rural. At Carmarthen,
we took a southen turn to Laugharne, the home of the famous poet, Dylan Thomas. We saw the shed where he wrote his most significant poetry and the Boathouse, where he and his wife and children lived until his alcohol-hazed death in New 
York in 1953. Laugharne is a charming coastal town and we saw it, peaceful and quiet, in sunny low tide. I can understand why Thomas would want to live and write here. The inspiration of the pastoral simplicity of the Welsh land and its people were fodder for his imagination, and I found myself remembering "Fern Hill" and "Under Milk Wood", poems that I had read and admired at school.
we took a southen turn to Laugharne, the home of the famous poet, Dylan Thomas. We saw the shed where he wrote his most significant poetry and the Boathouse, where he and his wife and children lived until his alcohol-hazed death in New 
York in 1953. Laugharne is a charming coastal town and we saw it, peaceful and quiet, in sunny low tide. I can understand why Thomas would want to live and write here. The inspiration of the pastoral simplicity of the Welsh land and its people were fodder for his imagination, and I found myself remembering "Fern Hill" and "Under Milk Wood", poems that I had read and admired at school.From Laugharne, we drove to Swansea, Wales' second city and birthplace of Thomas. We were unimpressed because of its size, noise, and frankly, ugly architecture. Nevertheless, we checked into our seaside B and B and walked through the town. After an obligatory walk through a central shopping m
all, we found Wind Street and walked to the waterfront. On Wind 
St., we found the "No Sign Bar", an absolute gem. It's one of Thomas' favourite pubs ( apparently, he had many! ) and the front part hasn't changed at all. I sampled a couple of pints of Rev. James Dark Ale, sank into a leather wingback chair and enjoyed the atmosphere. After the No Sign Bar, we checked out the street which is a smaller, but no less frantic version of the Entertainment Districts in Austin, Texas. The place was crawling with hen parties, bands of scantily dressed young women celebrating someone's impending wedding, looking for places to raise hell: I don't think they'd have too much trouble finding their objectives.
all, we found Wind Street and walked to the waterfront. On Wind 
St., we found the "No Sign Bar", an absolute gem. It's one of Thomas' favourite pubs ( apparently, he had many! ) and the front part hasn't changed at all. I sampled a couple of pints of Rev. James Dark Ale, sank into a leather wingback chair and enjoyed the atmosphere. After the No Sign Bar, we checked out the street which is a smaller, but no less frantic version of the Entertainment Districts in Austin, Texas. The place was crawling with hen parties, bands of scantily dressed young women celebrating someone's impending wedding, looking for places to raise hell: I don't think they'd have too much trouble finding their objectives.Swansea's waterfront has been done over well and features museums, shops and pubs, a marina, and nice apartments. This is the recipe for urban renewal in British cities: start at the waterfront, and then do nothing about the rest of the city. Oh well, there was a stretch of great Indian restaurants near our B and B, and we went into one and ate a huge and delicious curry, and then turned in early.
No comments:
Post a Comment