Day Ten

What a beautiful, sunny day. We went for a walk around the town but being a Sunday the shops were closed except for Woolworths which made me think of the Windmill Theatre. That never closed either. We walked along the Canal and saw four ducks swimming. Neither of us had seen ducks like these. We both had seen ducks with green heads but never ducks with such gorgeous blue heads. They were very pretty.
We went back to the Hotel and after coffee we asked the young lady at the desk if she would please ring for a taxi to take us to Powis Castle. She made several calls but failed. So she asked us to excuse her for a few minutes while she got someone to take her place at the desk; and then she took us to her own car and took us up to the Castle - having arranged for a taxi to pick us up at 4 o'clock at the Castle and not the car park. I thought how very kind the young lady was. She had gone out of her way to help us and her kindness was so spontaneous and much appreciated.
Powis Castle, which looks over the most breathtaking, beautiful countryside, is very old, dating back to the fourteenth century, and it was so interesting to see the well kept furniture and paintings of the Herbert family. Although the present Earl doesn't live there, we were told that he does keep a few private rooms for himself when he visits.
The grounds and gardens were beautifully kept and it was a peaceful sight to see the peacocks strutting about. We didn't have time to go around all the garden, so after walking along the first terrace we strolled back to the entrance gate where the Keeper was standing. We stopped to have a chat and suddenly he asked us our names. I said, "This is Margaret and I'm Olwen." Then he said, "Are you the two ladies going round Wales by bus using your Passes?" We said we were. Well he had read about us in the Shropshire News. He said he was very pleased to meet us. We laughed and went on our way.
The taxi had been booked to pick us up at 4 o'clock. We waited patiently but it didn't arrive. We kept looking down at the road below us but the driver had gone to the car park. We saw him leave and we were now stranded. Margaret became worried but I told her not to worry. Someone would take pity on two white-haired old dears, and we would be all right. Sure enough a lady soon came up to us and asked us if we were the two ladies going round Wales, and asked us if we would like a lift back to our Hotel. Her husband had gone to get their car from the car park and we soon arrived at our Hotel. We thanked the Good Samaritans for their kindness, went up to our room, and rested our weary legs which weren't used to such exercise. But we survived!