While snow outstretched all over UK. And some wise people decided to stay in and have a cup of hot chocolate with warm blankets and watch favorite TV shows, there were some crazy ‘nutters’ who decided to use this rare opportunity and go out exploring!

So, yeah, this is how I ended up stuck in a car on an icy road, which ultimately led me to an amazing forest in Wales, I haven’t explored yet.
The day set out normal, I just came back from a long plane journey from Poland, only having 4 hours of sleep, I thought to myself how wonderful it would be to stay in bed… but a rare opportunity like that couldn’t go to waste.
I set out on a journey to a forest I visit often, but little did I forget that some roads were completely frozen or shut off due to weather, so instead I blindly followed the road that would take me to another forest nearby, that I’ve never been to before. The problem was…. half-way through the journey… I got stuck.

The icy hill was making it impossible to carry on by the car, the wheels kept spinning but the car wouldn’t budge forwards….and since I was tired of looking for accessible places to take a walk at, we parked the car on the bottom of the hill, and went by foot.

Going into the unknown, I thought to myself that walking up the road is better than not walking at all … This de-tour turned out to be much more rewarding than I imagined though …. because I was met by the most amazing views of winter I could imagine. Honestly…. it felt like I was on a movie set.

Everything was covered in a pile of snow and gentle sun, peaked from the clouds making the snow shimmer…. Which was just pure magic.
I don’t know the exact location we were in… but the village sign we went past was Llanafan. We just carried walking up the hill till we reached a forest path.
It was a very cold day, but the scenery being as beautiful as it was, filled me with such excitement, I was like an energiser bunny on cocaine and didn’t care about cold at all (that’s the best description I could think of…sorry). ALSO- I had wayyy too much coffee to compensate for the very poor sleep I had after landing in UK the night before.
I carried on walking through a path, and everywhere I looked was like a ‘postcard material’ view.

From white friendly snow landscapes to dark forests which looked like something out of a horror movie….Then I reached the viewpoint.

I sat on the bench, embracing the atmosphere and the beautiful view of Welsh valleys covered gently in a layer of snow. Such an unusual view, such a special experience. The sun was strong and blinding, but comfortable, gently warming up my frozen cheeks. I sat there for a while. It was so quiet, so still. I immersed myself in the beauty of nature, the fresh cold, crisp air and warmth of the sun. The snow which was glistening. I loved every moment of that experience.

After that wonderful moment, I decided to carry on walking along the path. More frozen views made an appearance with even colder air. As it turns out, it was time to head back anyway, since it started getting dark… yup, I’ve been driving for half a day, looking for roads which aren’t deadly.
Upon getting back, the sky started getting blue and pink hues… suddenly I’ve felt as if I was on mountain peaks in Austria or something…. The wintery landscape of this sort is such a rare occurrence where I live…. It was just so beautiful to see.

I managed to get back safely, me and my amazing company had even an intense snow fight…. It got quite painful… we were very competitive.
Then it was time for coffee, I got my Toffee Nut late with extra coffee so I could last until the end of the day, before I finally collapsed onto bed upon my return home.

(Tired face selfie)

I hope you enjoyed this post!

Cheers!

Marta x