While sitting on my sofa and guzzling some
frozen mango and peach yoghurt, I find myself reminiscing about my summer
holiday. In July I returned to Wales for the first time in almost two years.
TWO YEARS! That’s almost as long as it took me to successfully navigate around
Chaoyang Park (truthfully speaking, it’s still hit and miss as to whether I can
efficiently maneuver from one place to another in that beast of a park!)
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| Om Nom Nom! |
Since coming back to Beijing, I haven’t had
much time to write a blog entry about Wales, so I am going to use these last few
hours of my four-day weekend (thanks to the parade marking the 70th
anniversary of the end of Japanese occupation) to write about my wonderful summer
experience…
The best part of being back home was of
course seeing my family. Living in Beijing is great and apart from the high-pollution
days, the only other negative about being here is the distance from loved ones.
Returning to my hometown was incredibly
relaxing, going back to “normality” and a lifestyle, language and culture that I am
completely familiar and comfortable with. The icing on the cake was being lucky
enough to enjoy Tenby town during a sunny period, as this is when it is most
beautiful.
I have to say that my favourite day of the
summer holidays was visiting Caldey Island with my parents, sister, her
boyfriend and my cousin. It was a sunny, clear day and so lovely to spend
quality time with my relatives.
On our hike around the island, we were able
to sample Caldey Island fudge, although my sister’s boyfriend Michael was
crestfallen to discover that the monks of Caldey Island were not beavering away
in the fudge factory. It was instead occupied by a horde of singing Oompa
Loompas. Just joking, a group of youths were busily attending to the fudge
making and selling. Michael was indeed disappointed that the cloaked monks were
nowhere to be found for the entire duration on the island.
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| The new series of The Darling Buds Of May, coming 2016. |
Walking around the cliff tops enabled us to
take in fantastic views of Tenby, other areas of Pembrokeshire and beyond.
After we rambled our way around the island, it was time to catch the boat back
to the mainland.
Once we returned to Castle Beach, I munched on a Mr Whippy ice cream while we waited
for the tide to recede far enough for us to visit St. Catherine’s Fort. It had
been closed to the public since 1979 so I was extremely interested in taking a
look inside this landmark that I have grown up seeing from afar.
The fort itself is still undergoing
renovations, but it was super interesting to look inside, learn about the history
of the building and listen to plans of how the fort will be utilised in the
future. It also presented mum and I with the opportunity to take the following photo...
I really did have an amazing summer back
home and too many fun memories to list in just one blog entry, so I will have
to write more about it soon.
It was great to return to Surrey and enjoy a pub quiz with Mr and Mrs Mann and Mrs Breen. Naturally, Mrs Breen and I were victorious!
My family decided to mark this special
occasion of having all the family back together, with a traditional Christmas
dinner…in July! Those midsummer glad tidings provided me with a roast dinner fix while also tending to my sweet tooth. Most importantly, I was able to spend it with my marvellous family!
Spending time back in Britain has
definitely made me realise that I cannot wait another two years before my next
return visit!
Luckily I took a stash of Caldey Island chocolate back to China with me for a timely binge whilst I recollect my summer holiday...
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