Rest day in Newport, Wales, Pembrokshire coastal hike, April 21, 2024

 After a hard first two days of hiking we had a rest day in Newport.  We relaxed, walked around town, and had our second meal at the Golden Lion, a local pub that had a restaurant area in the pub.  Both meals were very good and it was a popular dinner spot as we had to have reservations both nights we ate there.  The middle night we ate at another local pub, the Royal Oak, and were seated next to another couple, and as we adjusted benches and seats to give them more room, we realized they were one of the only two groups of people we had seen on our second day of hiking.  They were a Welsh couple, Chris and Jean, who lived on the Wales/England border.  We talked for several hours and had a lot of common interests and views, and I know Jean wanted to become our best friends.  We really liked them but didn’t pursue anything like we probably would have in the old days.   It was the only time the whole trip where anyone asked about our children, and we just lied and said they were all doing well…..just didn’t want to go down the tragedy path.  Jean was our age (70) but Chris was only 55.         We also enjoyed meeting a gay couple who stayed at our bnb while we were there, and also ate at the Golden Lion on our third night in Newport.  One guy was a family doctor and and his partner was a law office business manager.  They were a lot of fun to talk with as well.  Another thing we would have done in the old days would have been to take a picture of our proprietors, Michael and Judith, who we really liked, and some of the folks we met a long the way, but not this trip.