It was October when I first suggested to Neil that we might want to go away while we can, i.e whilst we have the time, money and lack of screaming baby.
It started out as an open book; should we go to the spa we've been to twice before and love (http://www.ardencote.com/) or perhaps fly away somewhere. The German Christmas Markets seemed alluring as I've always wanted to go to Germany as I've heard so much about it, but I soon realised this would be a bit impracticle (heavily pregnant woman flying) and by the looks of it also mighty expensive. Time passed, we still hadn't made a decision.
A few weeks later, after visiting the Southbank and stumbling upon a small food festival with my dear friend Nicola, I picked up some guide books on luxurious places to stay in Wales where fine food in on the menu. I wasn't sold at first, but having seen how gorgeous the places looked, how reasonable they were and also the added thought that we are quite settled on naming our son after a famous Welsh politician, it all fit together. Soon after I started to ponder this idea and managed to convince Neil, I realised that my Godparents actually run a bed and breakfast with amazing reviews just on the Welsh border (http://www.steepmeadow.co.uk/). So I emailed them to ask about availability and the rest, as they say is history. All the pieces of the jigsaw fit with the added benefit was that we could also bring our dog with us.
So Friday arrived and I booked a day off work so that we could head off as soon as Neil finished work for Christmas. Unfortunately I forgot to pack the night before so I couldn't pack our stuff in the car before Neil headed off to work, so I ended up taking the train to Plumstead with enormous rucksack and little dog in tow. It felt like something of an adventure, and became even more of on when we looked at the weather forecast for Wales... naturally it was snow.
The traffic was a pain and poor Neil, after a full day teaching, had to drive all the way there. We arrived at what felt like the dead of night. In reality it was about 6pm but the hair raising drive through the hills and valleys as sheets and sheets of snow flew towards us was somewhat terrifying. When we finally got there and it occurred to us that we were about to stay somewhere called 'Steep Meadow' it also dawned on us that in the snow this could be interesting... And as we got closer the cars going in the opposite directly had gradually increasing amounts of snow sitting on top of their roofs. All we could do was laugh and persevere!
My wonderful Godparents were good enough to feed us soon after we arrived as they were already cooking for another couple who were also staying with them, (for what turned out to be the last weekend of business as my Godparents have now sold the house and are in the process of moving).
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