A wedding in Wales (and the shoes I forgot)

I’m now finding out how difficult it is to stick to this blog writing stuff. Maybe I’m going to aim for around one a month. That seems plausible. Then again, it depends on how much I’m riding. My expectation is that I probably won’t be on the Vespa half as much in the winter.

But MY GOD am I having a good time now. Strap yourself in, this was a long one!

I’ve booked Thursday/Friday off work to venture off to Liam’s wedding. Originally it was meant to be both Eilish and I heading over by train, but struggling to find a dog sitter plus being in the middle of absolutely nowhere, we thought it best that I just venture over on my own. I wasn’t going to turn down a little Vespa trip through North Wales, of which are meant to be bloody great roads to go down on a motorbike.

I got myself all packed. I’m actually not a big fan of the top box on the Vespa but it is very handy for trips like this. I pretty much got everything in there and used the seat storage to hold my locks, that’s it. I pack pretty light usually regardless but to have more than enough storage was a treat.

I planned my trip using ol’ Calimoto, making sure to stop off at some spots that our client Gemma had mentioned along the way. Calimoto estimating around 4.5 hours on a normal motorbike, so I’m probably gonna get there in like, 5.5 hours? We’ll see.

First job, pick up my suit from the dry cleaners. As it’s going to be bloody hot when I’m there and I had no idea how messy it’ll be, I’ve opted for my cheap but decent pale pink suit from… Top man? No, next? I can’t remember. Always gets compliments, super lightweight and I generally like wearing it. Would have loved to wear the wedding suit but I’m always a bit nervous about doing anything to it when I wear. That’s a special occasion suit.

Picked it up from the dry cleaners and now I’m off! Heading through some of the windy forest roads beyong Knutsford and Northwich, I was already getting pretty giddy. Rolling through roads that cars would struggle to fit down, not that it mattered as it felt like no other cars were on the road! Leaving around 9am on a Thursday was a superb idea. I’m having an absolute blast.

This was the longest journey that I’ve set out on so far, only had my CBT for a few weeks and it feels glorious. Maybe going a tad too fast down these old country roads but WHATEVER! I feel so bloody free I can hardly… Shit… Did I pack my shoes?

If I’ve forgotten my fucking smart shoes again I’m going to be livid. This will be the second wedding in just a few bloody months that I’ve forgotten my smart shoes. I definitely brought them down from the kitchen, but my joy in how much space my top box may have sharply negated the fact that I forgot to pack my one’s and two’s. Pull over. Lo and behold, no fucking shoes.

Great, I absolutely loathe having to change plans on the fly. A normal, carefree sane person might just carry on their adventure and think “there’s going to be shoes somewhere on the way”. Not this guy. I’m the cynic that assumes that the Welsh residents in the particular town I’m visiting haven’t discovered footwear yet. As such, I must take to Google and find a Primark to find the most inexpensive shoes for a one night wedding.

Alas, Chester seems to be the place. Totally the opposite way of where I was planning to go but no matter. There’s gotta be stuff in Chester. I’ve actually heard of that place. I’ll head there and get me a meal deal whilst I’m at it.

Tesco car park, meal deal, wedding card, cash and everything was all looking very merry. It was bloody hot though. 28’c whilst I was there, and walking around in this motorcycle gear was not the vibe.

Walking to Primark I noticed that Chester was basically one big charity shop. That’s in no means a diss, I love charity shops. In fact, most town centers, including Sale, love a charity shop. My mind was more thinking, surely there are some charity shops that would have a more suitable pair of shoes than Primani.

Bosh, found a pair. Look exactly like the pair I was going to wear anyway. Tenner, can’t go wrong. They’re a bit big but I’m hardly going to blame my poorly executed dance moves on the slightly-too-big shoes. As such, I would call Chester a success. Back to the roads!

Chester and the bit outside it was a bit dull but the closer I got to actual Wales, the roads were starting to get better and better. Here was the first photo I got just outside a place called Cwmtirmynach.

I also went to visit a lake called “Llyn Tegid“. Was pretty nice but wasn’t the spectacle my colleague had portrayed. Still lovely, don’t get me wrong, but there was just so much more beauty in the hills and roads the followed it.

THIS trip, has made me want to invest in a camera and try vlogging. I’m not much of a talker, but then again, maybe vloggers didn’t start out as proper talkers. I thought that I’d much rather just be concentrating on the road and my music, but if I keep these going, I don’t think I’d mind just talking to myself. I’m pretty good at that, as this blog is proving.

Here’s another photo, this time of Eryri National Park (Snowdonia). It’s at this stage I stopped off for an extremely long loo break and a quick drink.

When turning round and observing the campsites and rest of the scenery, it’s at this stage I knew this would not be my final visit to Wales. Every time I come here, be it with friends, family, my stag do or a jaunty little trip on the Vespa, I’m absolutely gobsmacked by it’s beauty. I can’t wait to take a Vespa to the highlands, Tuscany, Rome, Vietnam, bloody everywhere. That little sentence just sent me in a little Google black hole. Apparently Vietnam isn’t too expensive for a week and there are scooter tours available!

AAAANYWAY, back to Wales.

I finally get to the hotel that I’m staying at. Nearly stacked it on the stone drive on the way in. So many stones, nearly went ass over tit but luckily was able to correct.

Get to reception, first question, how do I get a cab to the venue? Apparently it was only a 5 minute drive away so I thought it’d be easy peasy. Nope. Getting a cab round here is a nightmare. I should have planned for this but never mind. I’m sure one will pick me up!

10 cab numbers later, no chance. One was able to pick me up at 7:30pm (reception starts at 6pm), but there’s no guarantee I’d be able to get back!

Fuck it, it got me here, I’m knackered so drinking probably isn’t a good idea regardless. I’m going via Vespa.

I’ve got to admit, heading to the wedding in a pink suit on a Vespa was pretty class. When pulling into the venue, it was quite nice for someone to say “instantly the coolest person at the wedding”, although my sarcasm radar isn’t very finely tuned.

What a venue. Liam and Anna had picked a doozy. In fact, it was Anna’s grandad’s old farm that they had sold to a wedding organiser. It’s almost like it was made for weddings though.

All of Liam’s friends made me feel super welcome, which was great because Liam himself was the only person I knew at the whole wedding! That didn’t matter, everyone was in such great spirits and I had a wonderful time.

Shout out to the lamb dirty fries I had as well. Apparently Liam’s father in law shot it that week, ready to be cooked for the night. It was up there with the best lamb I had.

After chewing the ear off of all of Liam’s friends and family, I headed home around 11pm. I wanted to stay longer but I was absolutely knackered. It took 6.5 hours to get there in the end and I still needed to get back to the hotel in one piece!

Which was very easy tbf. Took all of 10 minutes. Biggest lesson of the trip, riding in nothing but a pink suit at 11pm is bloody freezing.