Summertime and the living is easy ... not in north Wales, it wasn't. As Bryn Terfel sang the opening lines of Gershwin's classic summer rhapsody at the opening night of last year's three-day Faenol Festival, the heavens opened and the 10,000 or so fans of the Welsh bass baritone reached for their umbrellas.
The locals always knew, of course - the festival veterans next to us were both wearing bright yellow sou'westers - but just as mid-winter dreams of Wimbledon, Goodwood and Glyndebourne always seem to foolishly omit the British weather, so rain had, naively perhaps, never seemed an option for most of us festival goers.
If only we had gone this year, with José Carreras and heatwaves headlining, we would have made use of our sunhats, enjoyed to the last the medley of arias and big-show standards, and certainly stayed for the evening's climactic firework display.
Last year's damp finale was a pity as the late August evening had started so promisingly. With the Pimms poured and the picnic rugs spread out, a mass of people had gathered on a grassy slope in the beautiful grounds of Faenol House, just outside Bangor, eager to hear the local hero show why he is respected by opera lovers all over the world.
Supported by the orchestra of the Welsh National Opera and accompanied by star American soprano Renee Fleming, Terfel began the evening with a mix of operatic crowd pleasers sprinkled with a handful of his own personal favourites, ranging from Wagner and Verdi to Strauss and Mozart.
As the rain clouds loomed ever closer, Terfel moved on after the interval to some classic showstoppers from the golden age of the musical. But being southern softies, by the time he had reached the encores, we had already trudged back, defeated, to the car and were on our way back to our hotel half an hour away on the Llandudno peninsula.
Bodysgallen Hall was a welcome sanctuary. The four star, Grade I-listed 17th-century country manor boasts everything that a saturated opera buff or hill hiker could want: cosy panelled drawing rooms and lashings of tea and cakes. It is unlikely that north Wales offers more comforting accommodation. Part of the Relais & Chteaux group of hotels, Bodysgallen Hall sits high over Llandudno and Conwy in 200 acres of parkland. To the west of the hall lay its stunning formal and vegetable gardens.
After our three-and-a-half hour train trip up from London two days before the concert (remarkably free of delays given that part of the journey was on the terminally ill west-coast main line), we had headed straight for the terraced lawn overlooking the gardens and ordered the most intimidating afternoon tea imaginable.
Once we had eaten our way through the sandwich selection of cucumber, poached salmon, and egg and tomato, we were then confronted by scones and cream, raspberry tarts, chocolate eclairs, Bara Brith Welsh bread and home-made butter biscuits, all washed down with a huge pot of darjeeling. We both confided afterwards that we had probably never been party to such gluttony.
After a slow stroll around the gardens with its sculpted box hedges, orchards heaving with fruit and walled vegetable garden filled with sweat peas, artichokes and onions, the residual guilt of our afternoon tea finally led us to the hotel's spa. Two hours spent in rotation between the pool, the steam room and the Jacuzzi finished us off, and we were asleep by 9pm.
When the drawing of the curtains confirmed more rain clouds the next morning, we were highly tempted to bunker down for the rest of the weekend in the now-familiar womb of the hotel. However, we had already hired a car, so we set off - after a cooked breakfast of poached eggs, apple-smoked Welsh bacon and Conwy sausage - along the A470 and into Snowdonia National Park.
Even though the rolling clouds and mist obscured most of the peaks and long mountain vistas that we had hoped to see, by the time we had reached the busy tourist town of Betws-y-Coed, the dramatic scale of the surrounding landscape was obvious just by looking up the slopes and screes from the valley road below.
An hour or so on from Betws-y-Coed, and after coming down off the hills via the huge slate quarries of Blaenau Ffestiniog, we reached Portmeirion. Made famous by the cult sixties TV show, The Prisoner, the miniature village folly was built over 70 years by architect and conservationist Sir Clough Williams-Ellis to show how a beautiful natural setting didn't necessarily have to be spoilt by development.
The village and its extensive gardens and woodlands are a joy to pootle around with an ice-cream in your hand. The views across the Traeth Bach estuary and - when the sun fleetingly broke through - its glistening mud flats were particularly memorable.
On the drive back, we took the A498 in the hope that Snowdon would deign to show his face. However, the weather stubbornly refused to comply and instead of making the normal tourist detour to Llanberis to catch the ride up to the summit on the mountain railway, we headed back to Llandudno to take in the Victorian promenade and drive the panoramic toll road around the Great Orme, the giant limestone headland that acts as a huge natural windbreak for the town.
From the blustery car park at the top of the Great Orme, even though it was wrapped in a murky sea-mist, we could see Anglesey to the west, over to Rhyl and Prestatyn's seemingly endless stretch of caravan parks in the east.
On a good day, the man in the souvenir shop said the Great Orme promised views of Snowdon, the Wirral and even the Isle of Man. Having no reason to doubt him, and with the daylight rapidly disappearing off behind Anglesey, we headed back to Bodysgallen Hall for lamb cutlets and Welsh black beef in the hotel's two-AA-rosette restaurant.
Actually, on reflection, George Gershwin can keep his jumping fish and high cotton - bad weather or not, summertime living in north Wales was certainly easy for us.
· This year's Faenol Festival takes place August 23-25
Getting there: Bodysgallen Hall is two miles outside Llandudno, just off the A470. The nearest train station is Llandudno Junction, which is served by Virgin Trains (08457 222333, virgin.com/trains). The hotel is a £5 taxi fare away, but it can also arrange for an Avis hire car to be available on arrival.
Where to stay: Bodysgallen Hall (01492 584466, bodysgallen.com) has 19 bedrooms and 16 private cottages. Double rooms from £145 per night, double cottages from £170 per night. Dinner at the restaurant costs £35pp.
Festival information: This year's Faenol Festival (020-8233 5156, brynfest.com) line-up includes José Carreras. Reserved seating £38.50 per concert, promenade tickets £21.50.
Further information: Betws-y-Coed and District Tourism Association (01690 710426, wales-tourist-information.co.uk). Bangor Tourist Information Centre, 01248 352786. Caernarfon Tourist Information Centre, 01286 672232.
