Sunday, February 05, 2006

Fresh Mountain Air

We had a bit of a change this weekend, as a slightly belated birthday treat for Mrs Dio, we had a night away from home. We had a trip up to Brecon, with Elis, staying over night at the Castle Of Brecon Hotel. As we have to adhere to Elis' afternoon nap routine, we didn't get to do much when we got there. We had a quick stroll around Brecon and an evening meal at the hotel was as adventurous as we got, but it was lovely to be away from home, and Elis loved the hotel. The view was amazing, across Brecon and the Beacons. The hotel was very nice as well, great food and a nice atmosphere at a reasonable price - would definitely recommend it and certainly go back again.

This morning after a hefty breakfast we set out in search of a mountain to take Elis too, as by this point he really wanted to go on a mountain. He didn't want to do anything else, it had to be a mountain or nothing else. We visited the National Park Visitors Centre, just above Libanus (nope, can't even pass through there without some sort of comment...)

There's a lot of common land up there where you can walk and get great views of the Beacons without actually getting into all the wild and remote places. Ideal for half-arsed day trippers like us, and no doubt a boon to the Mountain Rescue people. Great views though, and Elis loved it. The visitor centre is nice as well, good food and facilities - there seemed to be a lot of regulars there.

I didn't really shoot much, but there was a nice sunrise from our hotel room, so the first couple will give you an idea of the views we had, and the rest are from the walks around the vistors centre towards the Beacons. Weather was very grey and cold, which comes across in the pictures.

Sunrise over the town of Brecon and the River Usk - slightly enhanced colours

Across the River Usk looking towards the Brecon Beacons, view from the Castle Of Brecon Hotel

Grey clouds and a sweeping view of the Brecon Beacons

One of the walks above the National Park Visitors Centre at Libanus in the Brecon Beacons, Powys, Wales

A solitary ray of light breaks through the clouds on the slopes of the Brecon Beacons

Posted by Dio Bach at 23:02

3 Comments:

greg said...: Thanks again for more great pics, from a housebound travel nut. I can smell that brisk fresh air!; 6:39 PM
Elise Tomlinson said...: sigh...; 10:02 PM
Anonymous said...: diobach,

awesome pictures, made me feel very homesick.

idb; 4:10 AM