Well, I've been looking at the telly for Christmas, and to be honest, there's not a lot on. So Squeaky & I decided to have our very own Christmas Special edition of Gavin & Stacey, and had a little tour of Barry. Come & join us.
First of all, we packed the Symbio into the car. I just realised, I haven't shown you this before. If it fits in here, which it does with room to spare, it'll fit in your car too, unless you've got one of those Smart things with no space to fit a hamster wheel. (Well, actually, really first SqueakyDaddy scraped the ice off the car, but I didn't take pictures of that.)
This is Barry Island Pleasure Beach. Funfair by the sea, sadly closed for the winter, and barely open this summer, by the looks of the weeds growing through the paving. We wanted to go on the Pirate Ship. :(
Our first stop on the Gavin & Stacey tour was Marco's, where Stacey works when they come back to Barry. They do a fine cuppa, and are always busy, even though the seats are all outside & despite the sunshine, my car said it was Minus Zero. Yes, that's a real temperature, according to my car. We were VERY glad of our cosytoes.
Then, round the corner to Boofy's. Gavin & Stacey's favourite chippy, according to his sign. Mine too, truth be told. They do a lovely bacon bap, and the bloke working there was aces, & told me how to find Gwen's house. I knew roughly where it was, but he gave me proper directions & everything. And he smiled for a photo, which is always good.
A couple of doors further down, to Island Leisure which, when it's open, is where Nessa works in her little booth & stops people winning on the slot machines. Being a bitterly cold Sunday morning in December though, it was closed. I would've had a go on the machines otherwise. Really, it's hard to stop me feeding 2ps into the machines, in a very scientific experiment to see exactly how much fun can be had from £1. (Winner so far - somewhere in Torquay - £3.46 and a pool ball). Anyway, Nessa'a arcade.
I didn't go down on the beach, partly because it was so c-c-c-c-cold, and partly because I really didn't fancy brushing the sand off the wheels of the Symbio in the aforementioned cold. I want to keep my Symbio nice & shiny, thanks. Just before leaving the island, we spotted this gift shop. Most of Barry Island seems to have become a Gavin & Stacey theme park now, everywhere is full of mugs, t-shirts, rock, etc with catchphrases on, or someone's face. Strange old world.
Then we drove off the island, into Barry itself. And to Gwen's house. Oh My Gooses. I joke about living on the side of a mountain, but seriously. I've never driven up a road so steep in my life. I honestly didn't believe the car was going to get up the hill. Number 47, Gwen's house, and number 45 (just visible), Doris' house, are on a less steep bit, with Bryn's house just over the road. The lady who lives in number 47 is happy for visitors to knock her door & come in & have a look & sign her guest book, but we were just too cold to get out of the car. (I was parked when I took this, by the way, don't worry)
And after all that excitement, Squeaky & I went to Morrisons for a cuppa. Not at all related to Gavin & Stacey, but warm, convenient & cheap. Mama needs her coffee, and we shared a yogurt & fruit snack bag. Squeaky would also like to draw your attention to her top, which is the Feu Follet top we got in the Nearly New a couple of weeks back. She's very proud of her continental stylings.
And that concludes our adventure. I could've tried to find the Billericay house, which is somewhere in Dinas Powys, but the last time I went there I crashed my car, so probably not a good idea (I crashed it in Newport, but that's not the point). I could've gone to Marks & Sparks' at Culverhouse Cross, which also pretends to be in Billericay, but that involves dealing with horrible roundabouts that I'd rather avoid, so I didn't. I could've gone to Cardiff Gate services, which pretends to be Leigh Delamere or something in the last special, but that's a bit of a ride away. And I don't know which of the caravan sites Nessa & Dave's caravan is on, so I couldn't go there. So that's your lot. Squeaky, the Symbio, and a Gavin & Stacey tour all of our own. You can do this on an organised trip if you want, but we had loads of fun on our own. Where to next?
very amusing!
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