A Tale of an American in Wales

My husband and I had a wonderful time on a recent trip to Wales.  At first it seemed that no matter where we visited, he just couldn’t get excited about it.  Maybe it’s because as a young man, before we got married, he did the whole travelling across Europe while in University.  When I look at those pictures of that scrawny young man peering over the rim of his glasses now, it’s hard to believe he’s the same person. 

We’ll being typical Americans, it took us a while to adjust to Wales.  We rented a car, and made the rookie mistake of getting a large model, thinking it would hold all our goodies and make us feel safer.  Well, the roads in all the places we wanted to see are narrow, and some are so windy we thought we’d blow right over.

The steering wheel is on the opposite side of the car from what I’m used to.  He had some experience driving this way, so he adjusted more easily.  But his sight is not so great anymore, and we had more close calls than I care to remember.  I didn’t mean to yell as much as I did, and started to feel I was ruining the trip.  Then I saw an AO store and said “turn here!”  What did I say that for! It’s a pet-peeve of his, my waiting too late to give him directions, but once inside the parking lot, he perked up.

After he got inside the store and saw all those deals on appliances for the kitchen, electronics and digital devices, I couldn’t get him out of there.  Later, he went online to show our host the coupon codes available for items that would enhance the stay for the next guest.  AO had a fine lineup of digital and smart TV’s, set top boxes and offered free shipping on qualifying orders.

We saw castles and gardens and cathedrals galore.  We ate delicious pub ware and drank all kinds of beer. But what I’ll remember most is the way his face lit up after seeing the gadgets and trinkets and hardware.  He looked just like the schoolboy I fell in love with long ago.  Thanks AO.