Pottering around Pembrokeshire - but by Fiat 500L

Several firsts in the next couple of days for us. The first first was being shown around a chunk of Wales by proper native guides who have the accent even if they cannot speak the local language (some feeble excuse about Welsh not being used in the Bridgend area etc etc). The second first (if there can be such a thing) was seeing some of the Pembrokeshire towns and villages. The third first was driving a Fiat 500L diesel courtesy of Enterprise rent a car. The third first was way less exciting than the first two firsts.

Stop number one was Saundersfoot - a beautiful little seaside resort that reminded the captain of how Caister-on-Sea used to be back in the days of his youth. What an amazing memory he must have for one so aged. Lunch was taken outside at St Brides spa hotel weblink and was excellent, as was the view from the terrace:

Wandering around the town later on, we found a shop that really excited Patrick. Sadly, he could find no evidence of his spaniel friend inside:

Remember that in his little penguin brain, she is the only Bronwen in the whole wide world.

Next stop was the picture postcard perfect Tenby with clear blue sky too:

The old lifeboat station in the foreground is now a private residence, having been converted at great expense and featured on the TV programme Grand Designs. Would have loved a look inside.....

Despite the nice weather and warm seas, the crew was not tempted to have a dip. Apparently one of the local residents put her off a little:

For info that was a pretty big jelly - about 3 feet long.

We had noticed that the Tenby folks were way bigger (read fatter rather than bigger if you are not very politically correct) than the Saundersfoot types. Perhaps Saundersfoot attracts a better class of visitor? Perhaps the locals in Tenby frequent the fish and chip shop too often? As we wandered around the town, this shopfront confirmed all our worst fears:

We didn't have any carrot cake whilst in Tenby, just in case...

Our Saturday was spent in Solva and then St Davids. Solva harbour area is simply stunning, especially on a nice sunny day. The entrance looking out to St Brides Bay was impressive:

It was a great day for messing about on the water, or in the case of these canoeists, in the water after a messy capsize:

The harbour area was being prepared for a film shoot too - Under Milk Wood. Again this tested the captain's memory as he had studied it for O level English many many moons ago. A few lines came back to mind though and seemed to fit the location perfectly (providing the girls recover and remove their canoe before filming starts of course). If you want to take part see Under Milk Wood filming but brush up on your languages as it will be recorded in Welsh and English apparently. Kind of rules out Andrew and Linda from a speaking role...

St Davids advertises itself as the smallest city in the UK. The cathedral is quite magnificent though. A church has existed there since the 6th century and the whole area just feels historic. Look at St Davids Cathedral history to get a feel for this great place:

A must visit if you are ever in the area. A must.

The little Fiat was called into service again to take Andrew and Linda to Swansea station on Sunday so they could get a train back to Plymouth and be reunited with their car / reality. Many thanks to them for being excellent crew / helmspeople / native guides / company over the last week. We might well need to borrow Andrew as a helmsman on future long passages...........