Mochdre
(North Wales, near Colwyn Bay)
July 2014
So, it's Wednesday early evening and we're looking for somewhere to eat. I had noticed this place on the old internet. I was intrigued. I could not recall going to a Pizzeria & Portuguese Grill before, although very possibly I did so technically in Portugal. But certainly not in Wales.
It was easy enough to find and we again got parking right outside, which is the clear advantage of going for your tea before 6pm.
We weren't going to the Metropole, though. One of these days I will do a Metropole tour of the country. But today isn't that day.
I was immediately very happy as they had Super Bock, a favoured beer from a 2000 trip to Portugal. I was so excited that I immediately texted the picture to my 2000 holiday buddy Liam (aka "the good doctor", aka "do you know who I am?") with the accompanying message "Costa del Colwyn Bay", to which he replied "That is top class". And he was right.
Gregory appears to be giving Lynne a look that says "I'll let him hold me for the time being, but keep an eye on how many beers he's having".
The food was amazing. Lynne had some seafood pasta thing, I think, which she partially regretted when she saw the amazingness of my suspended chicken kebab. It was beautifully marinated, and the accompaniments were all brill - spicy potatoes, garlic & chilli bread, a garlic mayo. Daisy even got what she wanted - a bespoke order of cheesy pasta (it wasn't on the menu). She is too contented to even look at the camera. It's making me salivate just thinking of the food we had.
And to top off the cheesy pasta, Daisy had one of her favourite desserts, strawberry ice-cream.
It was turning into a pleasant evening, so here's a shot of the back yard for you.
The next day, someone (Daisy) was ready for some sunshine action, which suggested that...
...yes, it was a glorious day with beautiful blue skies.
So obviously we headed down to Llandudno beach. It was pretty quiet before 11am, which does tend to be feature of our trips on holiday. It's not like we get away early, with all the process of getting two children ready for the great outdoors whilst also having breakfast and getting ready ourselves, but we do manage to beat the rush and get the best out of places in the morning.
More gloriousness.
Daisy was excitedly running on ahead to get to the beach (despite seemingly being ahead of time, we hadn't managed to find a decent parking space).
The Grand Hotel was looking a bit grander in the sunshine.
This guy was looking forlornly for some water. Not here, mate.
Daisy weighed up two handfuls of stones, asking herself which was the heavier.
This is how far the tide was out this morning, a little annoyingly.
So we set about building sandcastles. Lynne, as usual, wandered off to the shops with Gregory (the beach is not so hot for prams).
Nor is the consistency of the sand particularly great for castle building (too grainy, since you ask), but we did ok.
Here we have 1950s throwback Dame Daisy Allen...
Despite the lack of proximity to the sea, Daisy was determined to venture in.
And venture in she did. Unfortunately, at one point she caught her foot on a rock or stone underneath the water and got some grazes and mild lacerations. We didn't go in the sea any more.
Still, it looked pretty fabulous. We were being blessed with some cracking weather. It had been like this for good swathes of June and in particular July if I remember correctly, but had thought that the weather might turn a bit when we were on holiday. But no.
With the sea no longer an option, I set about cheering Daisy up with some frenetic sand castle building. Needless to say, she smashed them all down. In fact, I think she has just destroyed one.
We wandered up to the pub by the tram station to get some proper grub. Daisy tucked into fish, chips and peas (but barely made any headway if I remember rightly - they just don't do three-year old portion sizes).
I went for a walk with Gregory since he was getting a bit grumpy and took this shot over the rooftops.
The number 5 tram is ready for action. We weren't going up the Great Orme today, which was a slight shame given the weather, but we'd already done it once this week and we nearly didn't get back...
Exactly three hours later and the tide was much closer.
I think my favourite Welsh boating trip announcer was back from the first day. I'm fairly certain that this is the same boat, anyway.
A nice view of a big lump of rock.
The waves surged in powerfully. Well, certainly from the point of view of this poor bit of seaweed.
It was all getting a bit warm and busy on the beach. Our post-lunch visit to the sands did not last long and Daisy suddenly wanted to go.
So we headed into the amusement arcades, but Daisy had a bit of a face on, no matter what we did. As evidenced here.
It was decided that what was needed was to get some ice-creams and find some shade, not least so that poor Gregory could stretch his legs.
Where on earth did all that ice-cream go? This was taken by Lynne while I wandered all the way back to fetch the car. I don't think Daisy would have made it.
As I walked back to the car, I took one last picturesque shot.
Then followed some bathtime strops and we got a take-out, although I can't remember exactly what now. Pizza, I think.
Anyway, the next day - Friday, our last full day - we headed over to Conwy for a familiar (pram-friendly sub-section of the) walk around the castle.
You have to be kidding me.
Gregory was certainly unimpressed.
We headed down by the water where Lynne paid a woman (who doesn't live there) to go in the smallest house in Great Britain.
Here are Daisy and Lynne posing before they go in. The self-guided tour didn't last long. It's not a big place.
We had somehow managed to find a bit of sand for Daisy to run around in.
Whilst it was a cloudy morning, it was forecast for perhaps some rain (which never came) before warming up in the afternoon.
We wandered back into the centre of town for some lunch and, whilst munching on a sweet dessert from the bakery, we noticed this, a reminder of home.
In the afternoon, we headed over to Conwy Water Gardens, which was free to get in but suggested donations were made. (Daisy was very unhappy at the end to have to put in a pound coin and not get to keep it.)
Lynne thought she was just a bit too rock & roll, and had a go on the springy fish thing.
Daisy gravitated towards the slide, of course, which was rather devoid of thrills and spills.
There was a pleasant-looking fishing lake which presented some photo opportunities.
You could also purchase seeds to feed the ducks, which Daisy duly obliged.
A captured this strangely domestic scene amongst the ducks. They're not doing much; just chilling with their homies. I would imagine.
I've seen bigger waterfalls.
Which water gardens is complete without its own resident capybara, I ask you.
All in all, it was a nice place to spend an afternoon, although perhaps not on which the temperature was ratcheting up rapidly. It was soon absolutely bloody boiling in the sun. We were in the middle of a mini-heatwave. I'm pretty sure it got to 25 degrees (if not more). We were getting to the point that it was just too hot for our activity-laden holiday. So we headed back to the cottage to cool off.
Gergory was certainly happy to be kicking back on the sofa, looking resplendent in his Fred Flintstone and Thomas the Tank Engine combo.
Faced with a choice of trying somewhere new, going back to the Italian from the first evening, or coming back to Virgilio's, we chose the latter, so impressed were we with our visit. We more or less ordered the same again, although I switched my piri piri chicken for juicy steak (still on the suspended kebab), whilst Lynne inevitably ordered something similar, but with prawns. Daisy, once again, ordered cheesy pasta. The service was also excellent as they remembered us and offered Daisy what she had previously. (She also got the strawberry ice-cream again.) Lynne here is skilfully multi-tasking, feeding both Gregory and herself.
After all that excitement, I finish with an amusing excerpt from our welcome book. It's easy to mock, I know (so I will). It wasn't really that it was named after a couples' names merged together. It was the reference to the bungalow having been built on an orchid. That must have been some memorable flower...
And that brings these pages to a close. We had an enjoyable time, managing to find a number of things to do and places to visit that escaped us last time we came here. We got more than our fair share of good weather - the only times it rained were when we were in for the evening anyway, or overnight, and even then it didn't happen often.
Back to the Secret Portal.