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cardiff castle
richard and jamieJian and I do not get homesick much on our trip. We are too wildly caught up in the adventure of travel to realistically allow our minds to stew the way an unoccupied mind will (I’ve done a lot of mental stewing in the past- actually it was probably more porridge than stew…). But that trip from Amsterdam to Cardiff station was looonng. Very long. Why? Because we were stirring the emotional cooking pot, brewing. Thoughts of friends back home, our families. All brought on by the fact that as when we stepped off the bus at Cardiff there would be friends from Sydney standing there with open arms waiting for us. I think I speak for both of us when we say… we actually HAVE been homesick, it’s just that we have been too busy to realize it.
So stepping off that bus bore with it a wave of excitement, nostalgia, giddy happiness- but also a small tinge of sadness. We miss everyone back home, not so much because we have been gone for this period of time, but because we know that there is a long way to go before we get to see them again. “It’s bound
cardiff castle
the soup - vegetable and meat broth to get a lot darker before it gets lighter?” That’s from the Wizard of Oz, and I guess that emerald metaphor fits this situation as well as those Ruby Slippers did that homesick girl from Kansas.
Meeting up with Jamie and Richard has been like a much needed double shot of red-bull straight into our veins! These boys, who brought with them so many well wishes from all those back home (we thank you all!), gave us a big dose of Australia and at the same time, made us feel not like travelers but excited holidayers on the first day of their exotic vacation! It was great!
Together this troublesome foursome burst upon the Wales scene, with Jamie at the forefront- who we gladly joined on his often and always wonderfully nostalgic trips. It’s great to see a country through the eyes of someone who once lived there. Even more so than a current resident; as someone who has moved away will look upon the local with a certain magic that we all have tied to the places of our childhoods. Distance makes the heart grow fonder, as they say. It also makes a great guide when the
cardiff castle
lights at the castle time comes to show your friends around. I also think it was great for Jamie as well having a blending of past and present coming together on such a wonderful (and oh so sunny) landscape!
We have been truly blessed with the weather here. As far as we are concerned the entire country of Wales is a cloudless, sunny place. APPARENTLY we are mistaken. Though I do have my doubts.
Our first night Jamie and Richard took us to Cardiff Castle, which incongruously sits amid modern buildings and nightclubs. It was highly refreshing to be entering an ancient establishment of a different flavor. As horrible as it sounds, it becomes very easy to become ‘churched out’, or to be ‘totally ruined’. Wales is different. It all has a fantastical element to it. Dragons and jousting. Green open spaces and harped song. All of which was evident in the diner at the castle. There was an insanely filling and beautiful meal, history and mead to share. The night was the perfect welcome to Wales, although by the end of it I was convinced I would never eat again.
Our time in Cardiff was part culture, part fun, part
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the main - roast dinner catch-up and part meeting new people. A great thing about traveling with the boys is that Jamie is introducing us to all of his old friends. It is so interesting to see the similarities between us and them. I can comfortably say we very much approve of his taste in people.
Jamie’s friends, Mags and Richard were kind enough to put us up for the entirety of our stay. Mags works for the Wales BBC and Richard is in a band, who we went to see perform in London. For me personally, I loved that my first taste of London was in the dimly lit rooms of an underground music joint, with the clinking of glasses nearby and some truly great music stirring up the dust. It felt real. Unlike the bus trip there and back, which was nothing short of unreal; though hilarious and enormous fun. We met wonderful people, gave out facebook addresses as though they were going out of fashion, laughed and drank- though I was incredibly tired and a little under the weather. The Welsh are the first to say how well they drink, as an Australian I can honestly say their modesty is well
earned. They certainly know how to put away a beer, or a cider, or a couple of bottles of champagne or a reefer or too. What’s a reefer, I hear you ask?
Ask Jamie. I’m sure he will gladly demonstrate. But just incase you don’t run into him, allow our special guest (who has flown in from London- just for us- to divulge). Please welcome, NIGELLA LAWSON!
“Oh thankyou boys, jolly good of you to let me drop by. Now, getting down to business- woops- sorry about that, my boobs got in the way- ha! Yes, business. I’m going to tell you how to prepare a ‘Reefer’- which is most commonly consumed by teenagers with fake ID’s. But as they say, you’re never too old to try! Now ‘Reef’ is a vodka mix drink, similar to a cruiser- as you daft Aussies would call it, only it uses juice as opposed to carbonated liquids- like ale, coke or lemonade. Take two straws (bendy ones preferred) and put them in the bottle. Bend them over the rim so it looks as though you have two Christmas candy canes sticking out. Now put it all in your mouth, hold the
cardiff castle
view to one of the smaller castles ends of the straws in your fingers and lift the bottle up and watch as the glorious alcohol slips straight into your mouth without giving you the chance to swallow. The time it takes to drink the entire bottle should take approximatly… oh shall we say three to eight seconds. See, essentially, the straws get rid of the ‘glug-glug-glug’ you get when you up-end a bottle. And voila! You have instant intoxication!’
Thanks Nigella! (She waves goodbye, flicks her hair and gives us all a little boob shake. Oh you cheeky Nigella!)
Now where were we? Oh yes! Cardiff! We also went to Castel Coch, which crests a Hill on the outskirts of the city. It is surrounded by a Farthington Wood style layout of closely densed trees and lush rolling hills. You expect Robin Hood to jump out at any moment or to have some Maiden let down her hair from one of the castles upper spires. Within are Beatrix Potter style paintings, golden globed beds and winding stairways straight out of the climax of ‘Labyrinth’. Truly magical.
Jamie’s friends took us out for a night on the town, whereupon we danced (why is Lady GaGa
ever-fucking-where?!!!!), drank and ended up at ‘Chippy Lane’ (a small street where everyone goes to get their post-drink food- potato chips covered in chicken curry is very popular). We went to an Aussie bar where they sold shots in test-tube glasses (and they came to you instead of you having to buy them at the bar), saw the same young man take off his pants for no particular reason- multiple times- and in a typical act of Aaron inspired co-ordination managed to knock a girl flat on her backside (‘I’m soooo sorry’). All in all a great night.
And all in all, a less than fresh preceding morning.
Somehow amid the carnage we wreaked upon Cardiff, we also managed to squish in an astounding Diane Arbus exhibition at the Local Museum (photographer from the 60’s- very powerful), do some shopping (I got myself a Nightmare on Elm Street box set for ten pounds!- oh nerdy me!), a home cooked meal (Thankyou Richard (Mag’s Richard-not Jamie’s Richard, although Jamie’s Richard ate Mags Richard’s dinner more than well! Good on you, Richard (that one can go out to both Richards- Jamie’s and Mag’s included)) and managed to put away far
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outside castle the next day too-ooo much alcohol (oh there’s know such thing when your traveling with the boys!)! )
But more than anything else. It’s seeing Richard and Jamie that is doing it for us. Listening to Jamie sing in the mornings, me giving Richard a stir (although- the boy bites back! I’ll wear him down- trust me; that tearless boy shall shed buckets by the time I’m through with him), or sharing a drink and a late night alcohol induced (though often sober) dirty talk… It’s brilliant to feel at home-- away from home. It is more than a link back to our friends in Australia, but a solid, passionate link from them to us, here on the dark side of the moon. Proving that the best going away gift anyone could give us, is the feeling that we never left in the first place.
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Emma
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How hot does Jamie and Dicky Look in that first pic! What stunners! And omg that food! *drools*