Carmarthenshire in South Wales is absolutely beautiful at every time of year, but at the weekend we set off for a taste of the big city. We drove over the pick up the train at Newport and then took the train to London. It took just 3 hours door to door. As we only go once a year we pre-booked a couple of first class seats and were spoiled with coffee and complimentary newspapers. Arriving on the Saturday morning it was a beautiful day, dry and cold, and the taxi sped us over to the gorgeous Milestone Hotel. The concierge recommended Maggie Jones for lunch. From the outside it is unprepossessing, but when you enter the ambiance is enigmatic - British to the core with artifacts from between the wars and candlelight, it is such a nostalgia trip. The food could have prepared with recipes from my grandmother's kitchen when we used to visit her in London as children in the fifties. After a revitalising snooze, it was off to the Albert Hall for a concert, then back to Bwlch Tre Banau http://www.walesholidaycottages.com/ on Sunday. No matter where we travel, it is always the best feeling in the world when entering the driveway and looking down over the valleys and out to the magnificent Brecon Beacons. When people ask "How come you live out in the wilds of Carmarthenshire" and I always tell them that it is the most utterly idyllic spot in the United Kingdom. When they come to see it for themselves, they have to agree.