Visit to Holylhell

This might be a slight exaggeration, but I'll leave you to judge.  No Kevin car today and so the adventure began with a trip on the number 61 bus, which was driven by Anglesey's female answer to Max Verstappen.  We careered along the A5025 as if being chased by Xenomorphs in Alien, hitting a couple of curbs on a roundabout as we entered the holy town.  I had examined the oracle, Google maps and she presented me with a veritable smorgasbord of pubs, restaurants and coffee shops where we would start with coffee, have a little wander, and then treat ourselves to a Holyhead pub lunch before returning to the campsite for a siesta and a light salad tea.  Oh, and as per usual, I would purchase a copy of the Guardian for perusing whilst caffeinating.

We were tempted by a coffee shop called 'The Hive' with a coffee brand called 'Cuffedin Coffee'.  A strange man sat outside tried to explain why the name 'Cuffedin' - you know because when you have your hands cuffed it looks like you are holding in all the flavor...eeergh yes I suppose so!  We escaped his serious entreaties to 'abandon our fears' and try the coffee.  We thought we would find somewhere else amongst the surplus of coffee places.  This turned out to be a surplus of none, but my search for a Guardian seemed to be equally frustrating.  The only convenience store open in the center of town had an eclectic mixture of items including tens of model cars, some odd electronic gadgets and various ways to imbibe CBD.  After wandering around various streets with the help of our dear friend Google maps, we discovered not one or two but three more convenience stores/newsagents.  They were all closed!  In the end, last resort, the Co-op, and there lying waiting was my Guardian.  So back to the Hive to get 'Cuffed In'.  An affogato later, we thought it might be worth making plans for lunch even if we weren't completely ready.  Holyhead is an important port for the Irish ferries and so we imagined there would be a number of options avialble.

We decided on a very promising sounding place called 'Harbourfront Bistro'  despite the 10 minute walk, and found it attached to the Harbour Museum.  The museum was open, but alas the restaurant was closed until Wednesday.  Too long for us to wait, we headed off to the next establishment on the map just further up along the harbor - closed.  Oh and we passed a fish and chip shop called 'Chippy Chippy' which was also, yes, you guessed it, closed.  To avoid any confusion over potential misplaced expectations, we are talking about 1 pm here - my idea of Central Lunch Time (CLT).

After much more wandering, not only were we now very much ready for lunch, but we were both also beginning to crave other conveniences notable for relieving oneself.  So, becoming a little desperate on both counts, we decided to give the center of the town another try, as we had noticed a large number of pubs along the main high street.  

We turned a corner and to our joint relief spied a toilet.  It looked clean and plush, but sadly, it was also closed with a sign informing us that this was due to vandalism.  Onward we trekked to the high street and began a very dry pub crawl.  First pub was closed for refurbishment, the second had simply locked doors and no sign of life, the third....same locked door.  A sports bar had plenty to offer in terms of liquid refreshment, and if you wanted to play snooker instead of eating, you would be well taken care of.  Then another boarded up, and then, yes an open pub, but no, we don't do food.  The last pub was actually well populated by locals drinking beer, but when I enquired after their culinary achievements, the landlady informed me that no they did not do food either.  We then spent five minutes bemoaning the absolute absence of anywhere in Holyhead to eat any food, apart from the sandwich shop up the road, which did not have any appeal after all this.

A new plan emerged.  We would grab some sourdough bread from the Co-op and head back on the next bus - they run every 2 hours and there was by this time a number 61 heading back to the campsite in about 15 minutes.  Our final walk through the food bereft lanes of this, the largest town on the island took us to the bus stop, now pretty hungry as it was 2 pm and for certain in need of facilities for relieving oneself.  Our spirits rose as we approached the bus stop, as there, right before our very eyes, was a public toilets.  At least one issue would finally be taken care of.  However, I am sure you are now familiar with the result of all our exploration.  This public toilet was also barred and locked.

And so, finding it hard not to laugh at our fruitless, (and vegless, meatless, anythingless) search we boarded a bus in order to get to the only toilets we knew were operational back at the campsite.  And then we had a lovely lunch with salad back in the van.

All comedy aside, Holyhead is seriously rundown and is suffering from a decline that is becoming a vicious circle.  Even the locals in the pub bemoaned their own lack of options for eating themselves.  The problem, of course, is that our experience is not a one off, and as many who come and meet the same lack of options, the town will continue to see an exodus of any tourist interest and thus the engine that generates the finances to keep these places open has nothing to feed it and so it goes.

Anyway, the campsite is very accommodating, with beautiful new facilities, which we used in haste on our return and the views - this one taken as the sun began to sink behind clouds is both peaceful and uplifting.  Extra of L making up the bed in the van after it had been subjected to pressure airing from the rather windy day - but the sun shone throughout and we did manage to exceed 10,000 steps in our Holyhell wanderings.  It as a good day experiencing the ups and downs together.  Oh and despite poor cell coverage, I was able to complete BG payroll and finances.  

Grateful for scenery, experiences and fast buses.  Also, the excitement of England cricket playing Australia in the Ashes with what can only be called swashbuckling abandon.  Oh and lastly, England also won a European qualifier 7 - 0 against North Macedonia.  Oh and L beat me at Backgammon