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Cardiff Crew
Claire, Lottie, and Merson at Cardiff Castle Monday morning, I recovered a little from the lovely but busy weekend in the Cotswolds and prepared for my trip to Wales. Because of London's large size, I walked to the train, then took a train, two different tubes and another train to meet up with Claire, my old co-counselor from KSA, who was going to drive us both to Lottie (another KSA pal) who comes from Cardiff, the capital of Wales. After a quick stop at her house in Stokes Pogie (just fun to say that town), we were on our way in the beamer, cruising the M4 for 2 hours through to Wales. We went over a beautiful bridge and then managed to get ourselves in the lovely town of Newport. We straightened ourselves out and were back on the correct route to Penarth. Side note: Streets here would drive Americans crazy...they change names very often, many of which don't even have real names and no one uses street names when giving directions. It would be nearly impossible for us to figure out how to get from Point A to Point B with mapquest directions. OKay, so finally we arrived at the home of the Fords and Lottie was
Miggity Merson and Fatty Ford
Lottie and Erica at Penarth Pier ready for us, with a gourmet meal of stuffed peppers, salads, and lamb skewers and of course, white wine spritzers, her specialty. We had a nice meal out in the garden, caught up a bit and went to bed, as we had a very busy day ahead of us.
The next day we got up bright and early, had our coffee and set off to a lovely park and medieval village, taking Lott's dog Archie for a long walk around the area. Then it was back to Casa Ford for some breakfast. We hopped in the car and drove into the city center of Cardiff, first stop the New York Deli in honor of the 4th of July. Quite funny for me celebrating our independence day in the nation from who were gaining our independence. We had some classic American Colombo Frozen Yogurt (major yummmy) and headed towards Cardiff Castle. We took a tour around the interior and all of us had to execute major self control not to laugh hysterically once the tour guide opened his mouth. His enthusiasm and tone of voice was cause for major chuckles. The hour long tour was very informative and the castle
Big Bird and Merson
Claire and Erica at the park with the medieval village where we walked Archie, the dog. itself is gorgeous. We then walked around the grounds, through some beautiful parks and then boarded and open-top bus for a tour of the city. Cardiff is a very lovely city, with a lot of construction insinuating an even more upcoming place to be. We took the bus to the bay where we walked around a bit, seeing the church in which Roald Dahl was christened and stopped for lunch at a restaurant where we sat outside on a terrace overlooking the water. After it was back on the bus to the city for a bit of shopping before stopping briefly back at Lott's for a drink and a minute sitdown. We then drove to Barry Island, a "beautiful" beach with a boardwalk and lots of interesting people watching. There is a carnival feel to it, with some rides and arcades. We walked along the water (while Claire and Lottie tried to win yet another radio prize) and then out to the headlands with beautiful views. We grabbed some groceries and settled in back at Lott's to watch the Italy v Germany game. It was such an awesome game and by the end, we were all exhausted having executed so
Fab Three
Lottie, Brutus and Claire in her garden at the birthday celebration much energy while cheering. Claire and Lottie did a fantastic job making me feel like it was a national holiday, even though I was far from home. And Lottie did an incredible job of organizing a wonderfully busy day of sightseeing for Claire and I.
The next day, we went for another long walk along the Penarth Pier with Archie before we had to say goodbye. I returned after a hop, skip, and a jump from Cardiff to Carly's in London in only 5 hours time and had a lovely meal with Carly, her mom, and Matt.
Thursday morning was a bit lazy for me, but headed into London to Oxford Circus (and with the summer sales that have just started, truly resembles a circus) for a bit of shopping and a trip up and down Carnaby Street. I had it in mind to find a Ben Sherman shop as my studly boyfriend looks best in that brand and since it's a British company, thought it may be cheaper here and did not leave the store empty handed. After walking around that area a bit, I figured that since I had a few hours to kill before I needed to be at St. Paul's cathedral, I would attempt to walk there. Unfortunately, I fell victim to the complicated street layout and realized an hour too late that I was walking in the wrong direction. A helpful policeman with a map turned me around, and two hours later, I was sitting on the stairs of the cathedral after poking my head in. I met up with Neil McInnes, another KSA blast from the past for a few drinks on the Thames. It felt both strange yet refreshing being allowed to order a drink and carry it outside away from the bar and enjoy it in a pretty public place. It was really nice to catch up with him and a perfect ending to a long, hot day in the city.
My last full day away found me dedicating some serious time and effort into packing myself up. As you all can imagine, I've managed to accumulate quite a bit of stuff on top of what I already overpacked my backpack with from the start. Well, it all fit. Thank god! I headed out towards Islington to meet up with yet another KSA alum, Tre Wesley and it was good to catch up as an amazing 5 years had gone by since we had last seen each other. It was then onto Lottie Ford's birthday barbeque which was a blast. She had about 20 people over to her flat and the rain did not disappoint. With her friends playing bartender, it was a perfect way to start a wild evening of karaoke. After the bbq, we all headed into the Soho district and got ourselves comfortable for a night of bad songs, bad singing voices, and even worse dancing. I unfortunately had to cut out early but based on the bit that I was there for, I can only imagine the direction the night was headed. It was a great last night in London with my friends.
Well, unfortunately all good things must come to an end so you can expect one last wrap up blog entry when I'm back in the USA, hopefully devoid of any horror airport stories causing me trouble getting home. It's been an incredible trip and I cannot believe it's over already! By the time most of you even read this, I'LL BE HOME!
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