After a pleasant 2½-hour drive through the rolling Welsh hills (we only got lost the once!), we arrived at Portmeirion, and our home for the next two days: Castell Deudraeth. Our room was on the second floor, and looked out onto the hills in the distance. A great view, and a fantastic room: reasonably spacious, with comfortable and contemporary furnishings.

We’d arrived mid-afternoon, so after unpacking we went for a brief walk around the village. The weather — which for the previous two weeks had been nothing but glorious sunshine — was starting to turn: it was still sunny, but the wind had picked-up and the clouds were gathering. I’d been to Portmeirion once before when I was a kid, so everything seemed vaguely familiar. It’s a very pretty place, and I wish we’d had more time to explore, but we had to get back for dinner. We decided to have a proper look around the following day.

Unfortunately, the weather on the Monday was awful: cold, cloudy and windy, with occasional rain. We’d only packed “sunny-weather” clothes (shorts and T-shirts), and there was no way we were going exploring in those. So instead we went for a brief trip to Pwllheli in the car, where the weather was a little better. On the way back we stopped in Criccieth (gotta love these place names!), but it was blowing a gale so we didn’t stop long. Hopefully, our last day would bring sunny skies and we’d finally be able to wander around Portmeirion.

Waking on Tuesday our hopes were soon dashed. No change in the weather, and as we had to check-out by 11am there was no point in sticking around. So although we’d had a great time at the hotel, we were never really able to make the most of the village just down the road. Still, it was nice to get away for a few days, away from work and the house and everything, just the two of us. Hopefully we’ll be able to go back one day when the weather’s a bit better!