Wales.....

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Jan. 29
So yes there has been quite a gap since the last time I wrote, but I can explain…….Wales. Yes it’s true I took a trip to Cardiff, Wales this past weekend and it was unbelievable. So we left Friday (today is Monday) when I got out of class. Our train to London was at 3:45. Monica, Whitney, and I were the ones going to Wales but Matt was actually going to London too so he caught the train with us. It was more than a little bit corny but Monica, Whitney, and I were all about to bust with excitement- it was our first big weekend trip in Europe……hurray! Anyway while we were waiting we found a vending machine that had ferrero rocher chocolates in it…….a pack of 4 to be exact so we decided they must be bought in celebration of our impending adventure. Like I said…..corny…..but seriously we were giddy with excitement. Once in London we had about 2 hours before our bus was leaving so we took the time to figure out where the bus station was and then go get something to eat……smart travelers, yeah? After dinner I encountered my first pay toilet…..something I hear is quite common over here. Anyway, we went ahead and walked to the bus station b/c we wanted good seats and they were first come first serve --- let me tell you it was worth it. We got the front seats on the top level…..talk about arriving in style! Those seats are the most coveted among silly foreign travelers who are still endlessly amused by the fact that the buses are two levels and that if you get the far right seat on the front row you can pretend you are driving the bus………I drove to Cardiff! On the way there we made friends with the two guys sitting behind us who ended up being just as nice as could be, Llyr and Arwel…….both fluent in Welsh which was very interesting to listen too. They told us stuff to do in Cardiff and we played BS to pass the time. We used the tiny little cards I got in my Christmas stocking….we decided that they earned to honor of official ice breaker--- everyone was laughing at how small they were and the game took a while so we got to have a nice conversation. Once we got to Cardiff Arwel actually offered to help us find our hostel and then show us around the city. Not only was it sweet of him but if was also very fortunate for us……the directions we had to the hostel weren’t the best but he was able to figure them out. Once we checked into the hostel and set our stuff down Arwel took us to a pub where we waited for some of his friends to show up. They’re all dentists……which we just though was hysterical b/c they seemed so young. In the states you would be closer to 30 before you got out of school but theses guys were all 23 or 24 and out of school already working in a practice. It was also fun b/c they continually complimented us on our teeth --- apparently it’s easy to tell we aren’t from here b/c our teeth are so nice……ha ha ha. Anyway, after the pub Arwel, Emron and Craig took the three of us to a dance club that was just around the corner. Before we got there they were all telling us repeatedly that this isn’t really a place they usually hang out they just knew that it was cheap. It turns out the place was a quasi grunge club…….no wonder they were afraid we would think they were weird for hanging out there. It actually ended up being great fun…..b/c like I said it was only quasi grunge --- almost wannabe. They played some really popular music that did nothing for the heavy metal appearance. After the club the guys walked us back to our hostel…..we were really so lucky to meet such nice guys. Since we didn’t actually get to Cardiff till about 11 it was fairly late by the time we got back to the hostel so we had to tip toe around to get ready for bed. We woke up at like 8:30 the next morning so we could get a jump on our day. We had to wait around for the showers for a bit but we made it to the breakfast the hostel had…..which was toast and coffee but it was free so we didn’t really complain. After breakfast we walked down the road to Cardiff Castle….that’s right --- walked down the road. Cardiff castle is right in the middle of the city. It’s crazy! The castle was so neat though. The wall of the castle is built right on the ruins of an old Roman fort that used to be there--- that piece of land has been important for quite some time. The Butte family that actually owned the castle before they donated it to the city built a Victorian mansion house right into the outer wall of the castle is so strange. The rooms of the house in the outer wall are decorated in the Victorian style but in the middle of the grounds the actual castle keep from the 10th or 11th century still stands. Talk about a fort to play with in the back yard……those Butte kids had it made. We went on a tour of the house and then went and climbed all the way up to the tower of the castle. The weather was so beautiful by the time we got up there that we had our jackets off…….we got to take some gorgeous pictures. The sky was so clear we could see for ever. The inside of the house was so pretty too. The family decorated each room in a style of some place in the world they had traveled too and liked. Sadly we weren’t allowed to take pictures but I bought some post cards. Inside the castle grounds there was also a little museum on the Cardiff regiment (I think that’s what they called it). We didn’t spend too much time in there though b/c we were more than a little bit ready to go eat. We met up with Arwel and Craig for lunch before Arwel had to catch the train home. We bought Arwel lunch to say thanks for showing us around. After lunch we walked around an indoor market for a bit and then headed down to the marina which actually ended up being quite a walk. It was neat to look around at things though. At the marina we saw the old Assembly building and an old Norman church. There is also this huge building that I think was called the millennium building. It seems to be some sort of a cultural arts center. There was a big theater and a few dance companies…….the building was pretty too. We actually just walked in to use the bathroom but ended up looking around for a little while. We went down to look at the water and then decided to go get a pint at this cute little pub on the bay. We were about ready for a rest………there were A LOT of stairs in the castle and we had walked a few mile to get to the bay. After the pub we caught the bus back to the part of town our hostel was in. On the way back to the hostel we stopped to have tea and scones at this little restaurant called the Truffle. I actually ended up ordering some chips (that’s fries to you) b/c I didn’t really want anything sweet. I asked for some salad dressing to dip them in and they looked at me like I was crazy……there’s no accounting for some people. 😊 After dinner we just hung out at the hostel for a bit. We were going to meet up with Craig to go out that night so we put on nicer clothes, but when we rang up Craig it turned out that he got his face split open playing basketball that day and had to go to the emergency room……so he wasn’t really up for a night out. Poor guy! We went and hung out in the hostel bar for a while. We made friends with TJ, the guy behind the desk, who happened to also be the bar tender (small staff) so we talked to him for a while. He told us the fun places to go in town…….so we set off on our own. So adventurous! We actually walked a fair ways across town to this place called Buffalo Bar b/c TJ told us it was SO great……we weren’t overwhelmed but we stayed there for about 40 min. b/c had walked all the way there. After we left we were looking for some dance club but we got side tracked at a place called Varsity b/c when we walked past the door we wanted to hear the rest of the song that was playing so we went in……..marketing at its finest really. That bar was more fun….it played lots of crazy early 90’s music that we hadn’t heard in forever. We actually met the group of guys we spent the rest of the night with b/c they were laughing at our singing….actually it was our accents but they still choose to make fun of us. Scott, Tim, and Jamie were the 3 that we talked with the most but there were anywhere from 5-8 guys in there group through out the night. I think I didn’t meet anyone else b/c there were new friends of theirs in each club. Anyway after the Varsity we went to a place called O’Neil’s and the Philharmonic after that. At the philharmonic we were graced with such favorite American tunes as Sweet Home Alabama and Freebird……..not to mention a Dirty Dancing medley --- they must have heard I was coming😊 We also saw one of the players from the Welsh national rugby team in the club—he was huge! When the club closed the guys walked us back to the hostel and we got a few hours of sleep before our next adventure. We got up in the morning and caught the train to the nearby town of Caerphilly to see its castle. The Caerphilly castle was neat b/c it was so different than the Cardiff castle. It is as old as the keep of the Cardiff castle but it’s much bigger. It is supposed to be one of the most fortified castles in the UK I think……..it had a moat --- which is a large part of the reason that we went. We walked up into the towers of that and took some pictures. We were all pretty tired by Sunday though so we only spent 2 hours or so in the castle. After that we walked through the little town to find some lunch. We caught the train back to Cardiff and had about an hour and a half to kill before the bus left --- so we just sort of vegged out on the couch in the hostel and had some tea before we left. The bus ride home was much less social than the one there. We all stretched across two seats and passed out…..or did our best --- there were some loud girls singing on the bus. Once we got back to London there was only one train left for the night so we had to run a little to make sure we caught it. We had to take the bus back from the Brighton train station b/c we got there after the last train to Falmer. We all felt like we had been traveling for ever by then……funny enough we actually ran into Matt getting on the bus so he got back to the dorm with us too. I was completely exhausted when I got home but the entire thing was worth it………SO MUCH FUN!!
What I miss: customer service— servers don’t have to work for tips here
What I love: Wales!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Photos

first night out
the 3 of us when we first went out with the dentists

Cardiff Castle
this is the house in the outer wall of the castle grounds

Cardiff Castle Keep
the older castle in the middle of the grounds

on the castle tower
we climbed all the way to the top. the weather was beautiful

Caerphilly Castle
check out the moat!!