Aberdyfi, Will They Be Home?
Anticipation....
September 13-14, 2026
"True friends stay with you no matter the
distance or time"
What We Knew Before We Left
The only thing we know about the next two days is that we are staying at the Awel y môr guest house. Awel y môr is Welsh for sea breeze. It's right near Aberdyfi beach. Aberdyfi is also known by the anglicized name of Aberdovey, pronounced as it is spelled with the O sound like eau in French.
It's also a 15 minute walk to our friends house up the hillside. We don't want to mention their names here on the off chance that someone does a search by name and finds this page before our planned surprise encounter.
What We Didn't Know
Perhaps what we really don't know is whether they will even be home or not. They are well travelled and also have family in London and elsewhere in Britain, so they could be away. If they are, we will be spending 2 days in a wonderful seaside town and we will send them pictures of us in front of their house or maybe even video chat with them from their front stoop. If they are home, the next two days will be filled with stories and laughter and the occasional beverage.
What We Found Out
Miriam was home but unfortunately Mark was in Singapore. For Mark, all is not lost as I will tell you later. To say she was surprised to see us was an understatement. You can watch the reunion video here.
We were actually very lucky she was home as she was supposed to be in Singapore with Mark but their house was supposed to be in renovation so she could not leave. Long story, short, the reno's are not started so could have gone with Mark.
Tomorrow, we are meeting Miriam at 10:30 and we will be visiting some of the highlights of the area. As for our accommodations, the room is almost 4 times the size of our room in Bourton. It is up 4 flights of stairs and the view will take your breath away if you have any left when you get up here.
And Mark? All is not lost.
Mark is coming home from Singapore this week, but he and Miriam are treating themselves to four days in Paris to make up for the month he has spent there alone. By chance, they are flying to Paris from Manchester, and their plans may give us one more opportunity to get together.
We were originally planning to leave Manchester on Sunday, September 20, but we are now considering staying in Manchester for an extra night and leaving on Monday instead. That would put us in Manchester when Mark and Miriam are preparing to leave for Paris, and we will do everything we can to arrange a dinner together.
Myrna's Coronation Street Experience is at 14:45 on Saturday, September 19, so we'll already be in Manchester for the weekend. If the timing works out, Sunday evening could be our chance to get all four of us together.
That would leave us with one final night for the drive south to Heathrow. Cambridge is now off the itinerary, and we'll find an interesting halfway point between Manchester and Heathrow for that last night.
So, once again, the itinerary is changing as we go. But that's part of the fun. What started as a carefully planned trip now has another possible reunion tucked into the middle of it.
Our Full Day in Aberdyfi
After a great breakfast in our B&B, Miriam picked us up to show us around. We went on a 6 km hike on the Precipice Walk. The sun was trying to peek through the entire time but even though we were in the fog we enjoyed our mountaintop picnic. Tonight, we had reservations for the restaurant next door, but we decided to take it easy and save the 'formal' outing with Mark in Manchester on Sunday. We are walking up to Miriam's in a few minutes for a quiet supper overlooking the bay.
On the way back from our walk, we stopped in a little town called Pennal, 10 minutes from here. The song Stairway to Heaven was written by Robert plant. The picture below, is the valley that inspired the song. Read all about it here.
