I’m sitting here in the hotel room, and suddenly it starts to rain. I mean, I looked up because I heard another noise outside, and seconds later it was raining. It only lasted half an hour. Welcome to Wales!

Somehow, I missed the past couple of days. They were fairly uneventful, really. Monday was mostly finishing up various things, and Tuesday was packing and going to the airport.

The flight, etc., was mostly uneventful. We got to the airport well in time and had Wolfgang Puck pizza and Caesar salad because were _starving_. Then we hung out in the Air New Zealand premiere lounge. I’ve never been in one of these before. One of the perks of flying with Ken. There was a copious amount of free booze. And little individual packs of Milano cookies. Comfier chairs than those right by the gate. Bathrooms with small rooms instead of stalls, and a shower.

We watched two movies on the plane: a Denzel Washington thriller and an Ashley Judd thriller. Neither turned out to be that great, which was disappointing. But, it helped keep up amused. As usual, I really didn’t get much sleep, ‘though I dozed a bit. I read, poked at AETW, etc.

Arrived, picked up car, headed out. We alternated between being awake and being kinda draggy. We stopped at the Ploughman’s Pub near Chippenham for lunch—just a random choice. I had a steak pie and Ken had sausages. Good food, filling and warming.

We’re staying at the ritzy Celtic Manor Hotel, where I used to come for massages and spa treatments. We’re not staying at the main building, however, but down inThe Manor, which I think may be an historic building. I’m not good with architecture, but I think either 18th or 19th century. At any rate, it’s gorgeous inside, with dark panelled walls and nooks and side rooms with chairs and tables, and a double staircase with a wall of painted glass at the wide landing.

To get to the main hotel, up the hill, you have to walk through a maze of passages and ride up four escalators. Weird. But the carpet is Celtic knotwork, and I want some to take home.

The bed is comfortable, with crisp white cotton sheets. Mmmm…

We checked in, and I took a nap for 2–3 hours. I think I slept through my alarm, because Ken, who’d gone to Trikon for a bit, had to wake me up when he got back. I took a quick shower and then we headed back out. To combat jet lag, we knew we had to stay up until 10 or 11 p.m. With that in mind, we checked the movie schedule, then had dinner before seeing “Shrek 2”. Which was even better and funnier than I expected.