Blogs from Wales, United Kingdom, Europe - page 97
December 29th 2005
Merry Christmas to all! I hope you all enjoyed fabulous occasions with beloved family and friends . Well, I have to admit that I had a fantastic time despite being so many miles away from all of you I love most, and know you want to hear all about it! As I mentioned in the last entry, I headed to North Wales with a group of Australians. What a time we had! There were 8 of us from South Australia, and one (SA-wannabe) from QLD. I was there from Friday night until Tuesday morning and loved every minute of it. I caught the train from Guildford to Oxford, then drove the remaining three hours with the two girls I had met before. I was only aware that I knew one of the crew originally, but Adelaide ... read more
Home sweet home...well, my second home that is
Published: November 29th 2005Europe » United Kingdom » Wales
November 28th 2005
Well, good news i guess, im back home in Abergavenny, Wales! Sorry it has been such a long time (again) between entries to this blog, but things got pretty fast moving after i left Italy and into France, i was moving towns every day or two and internet is pretty pricey there, so not much blogging was done as you know. Of course i kept with my written journal, i guess its only about 2 weeks behind now (trust me, thats pretty good for me!) From Rome i flew to Barcelona for the weekend, to meet up with Becky whom i met in Florence who was in Barcelona for the weekend also. She had encouraged me to go there and after careful consideration, i figured i needed a holiday from my holiday hhehehehe man its a ... read more
November 7th 2005
Well it was off to Cardiff on Friday night to our home away from home. This weekend was a bit special because not only did we get to see the mighty All Blacks play again but even more special was the chance to see little Jake, John and Kim's first. It is really nice having family so close to us and it does make it easier when we feel a little homesick. Cardiff was certainly rocking by the time we arrived and there was certainly a sea of black in the capial of Wales. it looked like a lot more kiwi's made the trip to Cardiff this year than last and it certainly made for a great weekend. But first things first, and little Jake took the spotlight. Anna was straight in and if she had ... read more
Wales and the All Blacks for the big 25
Published: November 10th 2005Europe » United Kingdom » Wales » Cardiff
November 7th 2005
Well................What better way to celebrate my quarter century. A weekend in Cardiff, watching the All Blacks play the Welsh (Im half Welsh) with 75,000 others, chilling with James, Anna, Russ and my Welsh cousin John Paul and his wife Kim. The weekend was made all the better by the fact that we wasted the Welsh which made for an awesome all-nighter that evening. The day started with a 8am bus trip to Cardiff - I meet up with a couple of dudes who I went to primary scool with - Crazy- but cool. Then we had 5 hours till kick off so it was off to a awesome pub packed with Welsh supporters to soak up the atmosphere.. It was awesome to catch up with my cousin John Paul. Then it was off to the stadium ... read more
October 24th 2005
Heya! Wales this weekend was great - so glad we went. We got a bit lost & ended up on a tikki-tour when we first arrived in Cardiff. The weather had turned really terrible & there was driving rain & gale force winds, but we made it to the hotel safely. The hotel was up a bit of a hill, so we had a nice view of most of the city. The rooms had a lot of antique type furniture & was pretty much like you imagine an old mansion to be, although it was kind of like that scary mansion on that Stephen King movie, the Shining. The next day was sunny & the view was really nice over the city, although there was a lot of early morning mist. The hotel had breakfast included ... read more
October 21st 2005
have just been exploring the country of Wales. Did a 3 day tour checking out some of the sites with 21 others. saw some pretty cool stuff - old ruined abbeys and a few national parks. Wales has some pretty cool history - all about kings and queens etc. visited this really cool place called Port Meirion, which is a village that some rich fella decided to build because he wanted his own village - imagine that! when you walk into the place its like you're in some mediteranian country because of the style of the buildings and the bright colours. the only downside is that its aimed at tourists and you have to pay to get in, but other than that its choice! visited some national parks - brecon beacon and mount snowdonia, stopped in ... read more
October 19th 2005
Rain, rain, rain. My first trip to Wales was very wet. Despite the conditions I enjoyed Cardiff.... read more
Wailing About the End of a Week in Wales
Published: October 18th 2005Europe » United Kingdom » Wales » Denbighshire » Llangollen
September 24th 2005
First of all, I want to say there should be a flag of Wales for this entry, not the UK flag. It is so cool, with the bright red dragon. So you could see it, I'm trying to put a link here and by the way you can also get a recipe for Welsh Cakes at this site and boy are they good. If we had known how good, we would have bought a lot more than we did the day we left. http://www.grossi.co.uk/wales/recipe.htm Where does the time go? And don't you get tired of hearing people say that? We had the nicest (only 1-yr old) self catered cottage in Llangollen. Self catered is like home away from home, fully furnished, including linens, pots and pans, even a nice welcome basket of goodies from the owner ... read more
August 19th 2005
It often feels like I've never left - steadfast old friends have established themselves here over the last couple of years, with PhDs, work, homes and even building their own home on their own land! Dspite our adult pretensions, we still muck about like crazy when we gather together on the beaches and streets of cozy Swansea - and this week has seen plenty of partying, music, sleeping-in and talking about life, love, books and nonsense. Hot-wheeling from Cheltenham to Symonds Yat on Wednesday 10th was a great way to explore the little raods that surrounded my home county of Gloucestershire, then a couple of days with my old and new friends at Kat's 25th birthday party had me climbing into caves, singing new songs and dancing on the banks of the river Wye. On Friday ... read more
July 30th 2005
Today my tour guide Adam was well prepared and well organised and had planned a fun filled day showing off Welsh history. Adam's parents suggested that we take an umbrella to which I declined saying that I had faith that the weather would hold out (even though Adam had previously told me that we were expecting 4 days of heavy rain). First stop was Caerleon Roman Fortress & Baths. Caerleon is one of Europe's most fascinating and revealing Roman sites. To the Romans the town was known as Isca. At Caerleon, the Romans created not just a military camp but an entire township, complete with amphitehatre and bath house. The variety of remains on view here is unparalleled within these isles, giving visitors a vivid picture of life in Roman Britain almost 2,000 years ago. The ... read more
