Christmas Day in Tenby

"Was this wise? - - - No!" said the elderly gentleman cheerfully, answering his own question as he picked his way along the icy path on the headland above Tenby.

It was our second walk of the day. At the hotel we've had breakfast, then coffee, then a visit from Santa Claus (he had a strong Welsh accent), then delicious punch (orange juice, cider, rum, brandy - - and I hardly ever drink!), then Christmas lunch with turkey and everything you might expect and more, and some hours later, dinner (we had lamb).

In between all this feasting we went for two long walks round Tenby. It's been another not-a-cloud-in-the-sky day and in the early morning, looking right across the bay from the hotel, we could see mist above the sea: this is on full zoom on my camera:

We decided to go down the cliff path to see if we could do it without breaking any limbs. Luckily, we could! It zig-zags down the cliff but had less snow than most places as the trees shelter it. I kept thinking of all the hundreds of times I've been up and down that path during the past forty-five years, though usually in hot July temperatures. As a child, I often ran it, barefoot.

When we reached the bottom of the path the tide had gone out just far enough to let us walk along the beach. On the seafront, there didn't seem to be much demand for deckchairs:

The light and the water made wonderful patterns on the beach: this is the newish (2005) lifeboat station:

In the evening when we returned to Park Hotel after our second walk of the day, there was a lovely pink light in the sky - the sun was by now well below the horizon.

I took this photo on full zoom with very little light and no tripod - - for I am a bit of a Human Tripod and have always been able to hold the camera steady in this way!

You could perhaps count it a skill - - but the real reason is probably that I have such slow reactions that I don't really notice the click till it's finished clicking!

You can click on these photos to enlarge them if you wish.

It's been a wonderful day and my mother is still in the ballroom, dancing the night away.

I've missed seeing Olli and Gareth today (they are at Gareth's parents' in Gloucestershire and sounded really happy). Of course, I've missed the Communist: he loved Christmas.

But, as I said, it's been a wonderful day. Hurrah for Tenby and grateful thanks to all the fantastic staff at Park Hotel.