Life begins at 40 for the North Wales tourists

The past week was a real change for us: we partied Simon into his 40th year and didn't work for three days. Instead we became tourists.

Simon's birthday was celebrated with a surprise party, organised with great difficulty - as those of you who have only one business/personal telephone number will understand.

I started the planning last year, inviting friends from far and wide to visit Wales. Cryptic messages were passed down phone lines and Simon may have thought I had found a few hours to have an affair in, as each time he entered a room the phone went down.

The look on his face as our friends arrived at Caer Rhun Hall (near Conwy in Gwynedd) was something I shall never forget. He couldn't believe the efforts our friends had made to share his celebrations.

I had been feeding him disinformation about many people's whereabouts for weeks, so the guests were truly a surprise. The food was wonderful, the seating plan worked and the band was great!

I don't think we have ever sat in a dining room full of people we like, who are all smiling. What a change from work.

Two of our chums had come from New York - hence our becoming tourists. For the past few days we have been battling around North Wales, looking at the principality through very different eyes.

I know that they don't have many sheep in Brooklyn, but I didn't realise that we had so many photogenic ones here. We have visited castles, tourist attractions, and in Chester we shopped till we dropped. (I am a "little league" shopper next to my friend Judy's world-class performance: £600 in under 15 minutes.)

Our knowledge of our history has become almost encyclopaedic through secretly reading school books to relate the stories of our kings and princes of Gwynedd. We have climbed every battlement of every castle within driving distance, and walked the walls of Conwy and Chester. And seeing it through other people's eyes, I am very proud to be involved in this business of tourism.

The courtesy and kindness that has been extended to our Americans has been remarkable: from the local butcher who chatted to them on the road for hours and did not think they were odd being photographed with the cows, to the waitress who explained, without laughing, that the jug of hot water with their tea was not for washing.

The only blot on the landscape was the lack of knowledge exhibited by some shops about the Export Shopping Scheme, and the officiousness of some of those that did.

I am grateful to have had the opportunity to open my eyes again to the things that make this area such a wonderful place for a holiday.

A hefty dose of reality is awaiting me on my desk with six days' mail reaching the top of my in-tray, but it's been a great week. Our thanks go to all who helped make it possible.