When the Manics did the 20th anniversary tour of the Holy Bible last year, I was sad that all the gigs were far away. I was also slightly surprised that none were in Wales.. turns out they were just saving the best for last.
Cardiff Castle, on a warm Friday evening as the sun set. Wow.
First up, the Holy Bible played in full. It's probably not my favourite album (don't kill me, Manics fans) because some of the songs are just a bit too dark, but seeing the whole thing performed live was something else. And knowing that it was being shown live on the BBC, swear words and all... Fantastic!
Sadly one drunk guy near me decided to spend the break between sets having a go at a lady, telling her couldn't call herself a "real fan" because she was only here for the "famous songs" and therefore she shouldn't have come at all. What the actual fuck?! You don't need to know every word of every song that a band has produced over 25 years to justify attending a gig.... what an idiot.
Anyway, the 'greatest hits' set was obviously quite a contrast, but it was just as good 
Another bank holiday, another camping trip. This time in Snowdonia, staying at Dolgam near Capel Curig.
Saturday started with some mountain biking at Coed y Brenin. Firstly the green Yr Afon trail (at 5 year old pace!) then after lunch a much more exciting mix of MinorTaur (blue) and Cyflym Coch (red).
To cool down after that we went wild swimming in the Llugwy, just below the siphon-tastic mess that is Pont Cyfyng. Yuck. Others did actually swim, but I splashed around waist deep because it was rather cold.
On Sunday I turned down more mountain biking on grounds that the Penmacho trail would probably break me (and indeed, they had quite a few crashes). Instead we had a little wander around Betws y Coed and ate some welshcakes.
In the afternoon while others went to the Tryweryn, 3 of us walked up Moel Siabod, starting at Plas y Brenin and ending back at the campsite. 10k of steep up and down, with a bit of a scramble along the top and fantastic views. And a really good time of day for it, as all the big groups of walkers were on their way back down 
at the top, enjoying the view over non cloudy Snowdon!
More (savoury! yum yum) welshcakes on the Monday as I popped into Betws again before heading home.
We went to the 'Ale & Steam' weekend on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway.
Pretty self explanatory - there were trains, and at Toddington and Winchcombe stations there was a lot of beer (and cider). I didn't get any decent photos of the steam train though 
Bonnie enjoyed herself too!
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