Part 2 - Day One

Day One
I went to open the door for my daughter as I thought, but there on the doorstep were three WI friends who had come to wish me well. Then two other friends came along and took photographs. My daughter had also arrived and we all went into Neath. When we got to Victoria Gardens Margaret arrived at the same time, and there were about twenty ladies altogether from the Soroptimists and the WI, and even a few husbands were there as well. While we were waiting, there was much laughter and talking. I couldn't believe how much interest our trip had engendered. We shall never forget the wonderful send-off we had.
We left Neath with loud cheers ringing in our ears. Only a few passengers were on the bus and the driver was interested to know what was going on, so we told him about our trip. He thought it was a great idea and when he very kindly helped us with our luggage in Swansea, he told the driver of the bus alongside about our trip and he, too, thought it was a great idea.
The day was fine, and it was such a pleasure to look at the beautiful countryside. Looking from the bridge which goes over the river I never get tired of the beautiful view of the Neath Valley, whatever time of year. When we left Neath behind us we soon saw the sea on the one side and the hills on the other; very different from the Neath Valley but just as lovely. We very soon arrived in Swansea.
People who are not familiar with South Wales would, perhaps, find Swansea an ideal centre to use their Bus Passes. Travelling from Swansea the whole of the Gower Coast would be attractive - specially for the younger "oldies" who still enjoy walking. They would see such beauty. Also from Swansea there are buses which take you through delightful countryside to Brecon, Builth and Abergavenny; and day trips to Pembrokeshire would not be impossible.
The scenery changed as we made our way to Carmarthen. It was lovely to look at the luscious green fields stretching away as far as we could see, and very soon we arrived in Carmarthen.
We found a cafe near the bus station and ordered a coffee and sandwiches. We had just started eating when my phone rang and it was Paul, the reporter from the Evening Post telling me that the article and pictures of us were on Pages one and three that day. Margaret nearly choked on her sandwich when I told her. What a laugh! About ten minutes later the phone rang again. This time it was a young man called Nick who worked for BBC Wales News. He had seen the article about us in the Evening Post and asked if he could come to interview us there and then. I told him he would have to be quick because we had to catch the 12.15pm bus as it was the only bus going to Haverfordwest that day. A young man kindly helped us down some steps with our luggage, and Nick got to the bus stop almost as soon as we did.
He took a picture of us, interviewed us and said that he would be reporting it on the Web Site. We were both laughing our heads off, but really we were very flattered and very pleased. Later on I phoned Lynwen to tell her what had happened, and very soon she was ringing me back to tell me she had seen it all on the Computer and had phoned my grandchildren to tell them to look on their Website.
When we arrived in Haverfordwest we found our Hotel, and after a short rest we went for a walk around the town. Haverfordwest is in the middle of Pembrokeshire and ideal for exploring places, and Margaret and I wished we had had more time to visit St. David's Cathedral and other places of interest.
In the evening we met a few ladies from the Soroptimist Club. It was lovely to meet old friends. We chatted away catching up on some news. Four of the ladies had made arrangements to go to other events but had taken the trouble to come to meet us first, which was so kind of them. One of the ladies, Norah, had nothing arranged so she joined us for dinner.