Portmeirion: an enchanting place

Portmeirion: an enchanting place

Hello everyone! Here I am, once again. In today's post, I'm going to tell you about my mini-trip to one of the most special places that I have ever been to: Portmeirion. Let's go!

Portmeirion is a village situated in North Wales. Its architecture was designed by Clough Williams-Ellis, who wanted to give this magical place an Italian style. I discovered this place whilst I was surfing the web looking for interesting destinations that I could visit in Wales. I remember that I was up to start working, I was in the kitchen writing my essays at about 1 in the morning (which for me who always goes to sleep by 11pm, this was VERY late) sitting with Lydia. (which for me who always goes to sleep by 11pm, this was VERY late) sitting with Lydia. Suddenly, we decided that we deserved a break. I already wanted to visit this place and Lydia is up for anything, so I proposed it and she didn't doubt it for a second: at the weekend we would visit Portmeirion.

How to get to Portmeirion

Lydia and I went by bus and we got up early, at about 6am. We packed our bag full of food, money, laptop and a few more things. It was like we were going on the pilgrimage in Santiago de Compostela. The way there was pretty long (4 hours of travelling and £10 on the way there) and we made the most of the journey by continuing with our work. I remember that the bus that took us was like the famous Vitrasa de Vigo... We knew that writing on these buses was an impossible mission, but we had no other choice.

After several naps and eating some snacks, we arrived in North Wales. The bus didn't drop us right at Portmeirion so we had to walk for a while. We were gobsmacked by how long it took us. The day before it had been raining cats and dogs, but that day the sun was shining brilliantly. Finally, we arrived. At that point, a bus load of people (full of pensioners and retired people) were going inside via a massive door, so we went with them. When we were inside, we realised that all the visitors had a brochure to guide themselves through the village better. We wanted it too, so we went to the office to ask for it. We told the boy and he told us:

How strange! Didn't they give you one when you paid to get in.

Suddenly Lydia and I looked at each other, because we hadn't paid anything. We came in through the wrong entrance, and clearly the elderly people that already had one, had a pre-paid visit! We made ourselves look stupid, as who wouldn't want it, and we told him that they didn't give us anything. The surprised receptionist said: You are the first people ever to not receive one!

We took the brochure and we finally we to visit the village. We saved ourselves £7, which is how much the visit costed, hehe. (Be careful, the price may vary depending on the season you go in, and during the summer it's more expensive... I don't think you'll be as lucky as we are)... "In Erasmus every penny counts, " Lydia said.

Finally, we went inside. We were astonished. The photos that I'd seen on the internet didn't do the village justice. It was all idyllic, every house, each fountain... They were all different colours, but all formed in exactly the same way, forming perfect harmony.

"A prototypal and almost utopian place to spend your retirement", I thought.

There's actaully a hotel, and Lydia and I had audacity to ask how much it costs per night, but the price was exorbitant for two Erasmus students, hahaha. Maybe another time.

Portmeirion has a plaza that was at the centre of the village, where people meet to talk on a bench or have a coffee (well, a tea, we are in the UK after all). What surprised me most was that the plaza was an architectural statue, which reminded me of the Pergamon Altar in Turkey.

In the middle of the plaza, there's a pond full of water lilies with a fountain. Everything is surrounded by vegetation, perfectly pruned plants and flowers. The floor is clean. The houses and little shops are distinct and vibrant colours. It was a very different kind of place to any I'd been to before. Many houses had drawings on them with a lot of detail. Everything was carefully thought out, all done on purpose.

We saw everything bit by bit, very slowly, and we noticed that it had a spa, a book shop, a souvenir shop, little shops where you can buy food, and even a restaurant!

Truth is, it reminded me a little bit of the mythical Tommy Mel's or where Mia Wallace and Vincent Vega go in Pulp Fiction. We ate well and cheaply (surprisingly).

We also went to the lower part of Portmeirion, where there's a house with a pool and a white hotel. It's one of my favourite parts of the village because you can see the river. When the water level is low, a small beach appears that I'm sure is great during the summer.

In short, I love Portmeirion. You can only understand the essence of this place once you're here, and you feel it. That "harmony". I tried to only choose four photos for this post, but I found it impossible. I wanted you all to see every detail of the village, so I'll leave you some of my favourites. I hope you like them.

(Ideal for having a coffee)

After spending all morning there, we decided to leave. And you're not going to believe it, but it started raining! We had incredible luck. We spent the whole way home absolutely dripping. I'll leave you this photo, we left feeling horrible but to me it was quite funny, although the rain wasn't appreciated.

On the way back to get the bus, we visited the castle and peered through at it. This is Deudraeth castle, with a Victorian style, and you can rent it out if you want to spend the night in Portmeirion. We only saw it from the outside, but on the Internet there were photos of the rooms... The decoration was amazing. And I'm sure that the price was also jawdropping as well, ha ha ha.

To conclude this post for today, I have to say that it was on this mini-trip that I realised that going to Aberystwyth was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I'll explain. Normally, Erasmus students choose a big city as their destination, because there are airports there so you can visit other big cities. For example, those who go to Poland visit Oslo or Copenhagen (which seems perfect to me as well). But, I chose Aberystwyth, where everything is out of reach, which made me want to visit these smaller parts of Wales, the special places that I would never have visited if I had to plan a trip from home. This is because you'd probably choose the bigger and better known cities, just like Oslo or Copenhagen. Once again I don't know why I'm explaining myself, you little devils.

And that's it for today! I hope that you've enjoyed Portmeirion and as you already know, if you ever have the chance to go, don't think twice! Thanks for reading, and see you for the next post.

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Photo gallery