Travel Journal April 26, 1999
Ferry to Wales.

Wales

Drove down to Rosslaire, dropped off my car, and took the ferry over to Wales. The sea was a bit rougher, and I got rather nauseous. However, this was ameliorated by the fact that I ran into two interesting travelling companions. The first was an elderly gentleman (who I learned at the end of the trip was a retired priest). The other was a 30-ish woman backpacker. Upon learning of my seasickness, she pull an interesting contraption out of her bag, an electric acupunture stimulator. Essentially it applies an electric current to the skin, and it emits a tone which varies in frequency (similar to a biofeedback device) which helps the operator locate the correct point.

I have to admit it did appear to be effective (although this may simply have been the result of the fact that poking an electrically charged metal tip into my skin was highly distracting), although for me the effects did not appear to last more than about 30 minutes.

Here's a shot of the inside of the Ferry.

I had actually shown some intelligence earlier that day by calling the auto rental place and telling them that I would be arriving that day. As a result, they sent a driver to pick me up from the ferry terminal. Here's the car that they gave me, a Renault Scenic, which looks like mini-van, but is really a small car.

Originally I had told Richard that I had wanted to take the southern route (to Fishguard), rather than to the North of Wales. However, after consulting my maps, I changed my mind and decided I did in fact want to see the north. Fortunately, this was nothing that a few hours of driving wouldn't cure.

I headed towards Portmeirion, which is a tiny village that was featured in the old British T.V. series "The Prisoner". By the time I arrived, the town gates were closed, but there's a nearby B&B with a spectacular view of the valley, and it's not more than 100 paces from where the Portmeirion exit leaves the main road. It's called Min Y Ddol, and the people there are very Welsh.