This June, Pepper, N and I travelled up to Wales to isolate ourselves from the world for a long weekend.
With Pepper being her very young, crazy self, we decided not to holiday abroad this year and instead have a ‘staycation’ in the UK so that we could take her with us.
It took me forever to decide where in the UK I wanted to go. This might sound awfully snobby, but living in Cornwall means we kind of already live in the holiday destination of choice in England. We knew we wanted to go somewhere with a similarly beautiful coast and countryside, but somewhere new, so Wales felt like the perfect choice.
I started my search for a self catering place to stay on Airbnb.co.uk, and instantly fell in love with one of the listings.
Firstly, the concrete, minimalist, modernist twist is right up my street; and secondly – hot tub!! The cottage had no TV or internet, so it was the perfect way for N and I to switch off for a couple of days.
Navigating the tiny, bending roads in Carmarthenshire (West Wales) to the cottage was interesting, but we found it relatively easily down a private dirt track surrounded by farmland. The quaint old cottage conversion was beautiful from the outside, and was equally as awesome and surprising on the inside!
Complete with bare stone walls, granite floors, exposed beams and woodwork, and a huge open plan kitchen with sliding patio doors onto the back garden – the place had been carefully restored and designed in such a unique style.
Because of the bare floors and minimalist layout, it was perfectly dog friendly too. Pepper spent hours and hours just sniffing the concrete floor, which sounds weird, but at least it kept her entertained!
Unfortunately on the Saturday the whole of Wales seemed to be trapped in some Silent Hill style fog, but we still managed to get several dips in the outdoor hot tub!
Sunday was a stunning day, so we headed down to Llansteffan, a beach-side village with castle ruins and access to Wales’ 870 mile coast path! Evidently we didn’t manage the whole walk…but a mile or two finishing off on the beach seemed just right for short-legged Pepper.
The only unfortunate thing was that we couldn’t let Pepper off the lead as the entire beach was covered with the largest jellyfish I’d ever seen! The photo above does not give it justice…they were like, pillow sized (I know that’s kind of a weird reference, but I’m writing this from bed and it’s the first thing that came into my head…).
Despite that and the pesky Saturday fog, we had an amazing time in the land of sheep, and I would love to go back there again some day. If you’re interested in finding a place to stay in West Wales, I can’t recommend this cottage enough!
New Girl In Toon says
June 23, 2015 at 1:11 pmWhat a gorgeous staycation, I think my boyfriend may struggle with no TV but I think it sounds like heaven. We’re staycationing this year too, a week at home in the North East but with lots of day trips exploring Northumberland and Yorkshire. I’ve only been living in this part of the country for 2 years and the novelty certainly hasn’t worn off!
Chloe x
newgirlintoon.co.uk
Anna says
June 23, 2015 at 3:20 pmAwh that sounds lovely! I hope you have a great staycation :)
We struggled with the concept of no TV too haha, so we brought my laptop with a couple of DVDs and the third series of New Girl …but shh don’t tell anyone! x
Sarah Elizabeth says
June 23, 2015 at 3:11 pmSo beautiful! And that WINDOW!! Can’t believe the jellyfish, either. Who knew Wales could be so dangerous
Anna says
June 23, 2015 at 3:19 pmHaha I know right! I mean, we get jellyfish in Cornwall a lot, but not that size! They were all chilling out in the rock pools too, so Pepper couldn’t play in there to cool off either :( x
Sarah Elizabeth says
June 23, 2015 at 4:04 pmIt actually makes me think of Dory…. which is a little chilling and funny at the same time :/ haha
cestantina says
June 23, 2015 at 5:20 pmWhat a fantastic find! It looks lovely indeed and so good that you could take the dog!
x
Céline from Larry & Co.
Anna says
June 25, 2015 at 8:30 amShe loved it! :) x
Holly Hollyson says
June 23, 2015 at 6:34 pmOh wow – what an amazing place! That window and the bed and you’ve gotta love that it is Pepper-friendly too! Not loving the jellyfish though.
Anna says
June 25, 2015 at 8:31 amIt was actually a sliding door, which was pretty cool! We couldn’t really open it though as there was a big pond on the other side and Pepper would have jumped right in (and she can’t swim so that would be interesting) haha x
Maiden in Cornwall says
June 26, 2015 at 12:04 pmI think I need to start looking for staycation inspiration on Airbnb after seeing this! That cottage is stunning and such a bargain!
Liv | http://www.maidenincornwall.co.uk
Anna says
June 26, 2015 at 2:46 pmYeah it wasn’t too bad, especially for a place with a hot tub! x
woodenwindowsills says
July 7, 2015 at 12:49 pmWow this looks lovely! We’ve got a long weekend off work and I’m going to look for somewhere lovely on Airbnb. Great that you could take Pepper too :) Alice xx
http://www.woodenwindowsills.co.uk
Karen Vause says
January 1, 2018 at 12:20 pmThis is where I want to live!