Swansea exploration

The train trip to Swansea was a surprise. On two levels; firstly because it entailed getting up and active much earlier than we were used too & secondly because the 3 carriages that were heading for Manchester were full, standing room only well before Swansea. The soundtrack was from what we think was a hen party heading off to wherever. One of them liked standing in the passageway and loudly telling everyone how much and how long all of her beauty treatments took. They were clearly either too cheap or too short. Or maybe it was the raw material.....

Wandering around Swansea in the sun was good. The Marina area development was impressive but the berths were full. We enquired about a spot for the winter and it looks like waiting to see who would be lifted out - no obvious gaps for a tubby Nordhavn yet. The museum had some floating exhibits (some only just floating though) including this cute little tug that needs lots of TLC:

Not much older than the captain, who thinks he is in slightly better nick:

They also have a nice vintage yacht called Olga that was returning from a trip when we walked around to the Tawe barrage lock:

The town is a strange mix of nice old and modern. Some works:

Sadly the 1960/70's concrete horror buildings are also present in vast numbers. Naturally, there has to be a Dylan Thomas theatre -pity about the building they picked:

It was just nice to see people out enjoying what might be the last warm & sunny day of the year:

Of course, we are praying for an Indian summer. Or one from any other warm, dry country. If you are reading this in a country that could help, please get in contact.