Last weekend I travelled to Machynlleth, the old capital of the former Kingdom Wales, until the English conquered Wales. The Welsh’s were very visionary at that time (1404!), they already had a parliament, a constitution and equal rights for men and women. Very rare at that time!
It is easier to get to New York then to Machynlleth in Wales, which takes a whole day, even though it’s just 1,700 km away from Fitou.
I stayed in a beautiful middle of nowhere, it rained nearly all time and was very cold, but also very romantic. That part of Wales seems to be one of the last natural paradise.
Those Brits, which could afford it, bought old farm houses to live far away from civilization, enjoying a natural life (one of them is the boss of Tesco). Hence, the prices for land and houses increases dramatically which makes it nearly impossible for young locals to buy a property.
I went there for meeting old colleagues-friends, Sara & Zeynel, and some guys I only knew via Skype and e-mail: Deri, who is scanning everything (especially boats and houses) and Julio & Ramon from Spain. Julio is responsible for the restoration and conservation of tiles and plaster work at the Alhambra in Granada and works with Julio on educational issues. We came together because we all love old houses and are convinced, that conservation and preservation of cultural witnesses are essential for a rich life. From this main common ground we created a new educational project, hard two days work, but that will be a great new project, with very interesting people!
An on top of all, Shan came over on Saturday evening for having dinner with us.
Sunday afternoon we had some time for visiting the Centre of Alternative Technologies. The ironic thing on that is, in the seventies, hippies occupied the houses in that area and celebrate their alternative way of living (growing local food, living by respecting the nature, etc.) Over the years they were trying to find other possibilities to produce energy and I do not know how, but now that area is a learning space for everyone who wants to get information about better and more sustainable ways of living, including the use of alternative energy. A great place for old and young!
The hippies are still there, driving posh cars and living in modern, low energy houses.