Saturday, 1 June 2013

Birthday break in Pembrokeshire

 At the end of April we went to Pembrokeshire for a long weekend for my husband's birthday. We'd both had a bit of a stressful time with work, and so were desperate for a few days away from it all.

The drive to Saundersfoot, where we were staying didn't take long, around three hours, we arrived at St Brides Hotel mid afternoon and were welcomed and show to our room. It was cosy with a balcony that gave us a view of the coast.

Our room at St Brides Hotel
View from our hotel room

 As it was such a clear, dry day, we didn't want to stay inside and so headed straight back out for a quick look around town and some geocaching. It didn't take long to realise that although the weather looked fine, there was a cold wind blowing off the coast. We had a walk around, did a couple of caches and were then pleased to get back to the warmth of the hotel.

Saundersfoot harbour
Boats in Saundersfoot harbour

Before we left the house that morning, we'd had a Patisserie Valerie cake delivered from Andrew's bosses. A piece of cake broke the afternoon up nicely!

Birthday cake from Patisserie Valerie
 
 We stayed in for the rest of the day, had a lovely meal in the hotel restaurant and generally lounged around reading and watching television.

The next morning we headed over to Pembroke Castle. It was even more impressive than I'd imagined. It was in a good enough state of repair that you could climb up inside a number of the towers, which gave a great view of the surroundings, and work your way around using the walkways that connected them.
Pembroke Castle
Pembroke Castle
Staircase at Pembroke CastleOne of the walkways at Pembroke Castle
Pembroke Castle

We had a bit of excitement when the wind caught Andrew's hat and blew it off over the castle walls. We managed to spot where it was on the ground below, so we could collect it later.

One missing hat

 After exploring the castle, we stopped for a cup of tea and then headed into Pembroke to find some caches. We ended up walking by the river, which gave a great view looking down to the castle.

View from the riverside walk down to the castle

That evening we headed out to the Marina restaurant for some proper seaside fish and chips. They were delicious, much better than the greasy battered fish we get at home.

Proper seaside fish and chips

The next morning, we set out for a day of geocaching. We found nine in total, and probably covered about five miles. The one that really stood out was this one, an old World War 2 underground bunker. I was glad to stay above ground and let Andrew explore!

Underground bunker with hidden geocache

We had a final meal at the hotel that night and headed home in the morning. Unfortunately we didn't find time to make use of the spa facilities on site, but that may just make for a good excuse for a return visit!

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