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wedding double decker
enough seating for the whole party So, one Saturday I board a plane in Madrid. When I get on the plane, it is about 80 degrees outside. Two hours later when I get off the plane in Bristol, England, it's 32 degrees out. Keep in mind that this was during my "spring" break. I was pissy.
Balancing out the frosty chills of English weather, though, was the abundance of warm English hospitality with which I was greeted at the airport. My friend Sam lives in Bristol, and since I was coming back to England through his home city, I planned to spend a couple nights at his house and have a look around his stomping grounds and nearby Cardiff. Sam and his mom met me at the airport and drove me back to their warm, snug house. Also, all day long I had been thinking, "Gee, I sure would like some spaghetti for dinner once I'm back in England." We got to their house and lo and behold, there was left over spaghetti sauce waiting to be re-heated and put on freshly cooked pasta! It was awesome.
The next day Sam and I hopped a bus to Cardiff. This was my idea because Cardiff
is the capital of Wales, and I had never been to Wales before but thought I should see it once before I leave. Our visit was unfortunately on a Sunday, which meant that 1) transportation was slower than on other days 2) half of the interesting stuff to see in town was closed and 3) most everybody was gone to London to watch the Cardiff team of some sport or another play a game. But I can say I've been to Wales, and that's all that really matters.
So, what's in Cardiff? Well, they have a castle. I can't say much about it, though, because I was too cheap to pay for entry. They've got a bay/harbour area. It was pretty and is probably a nice place to hang out during warmer weather, but when we were there it was too cold for us to really enjoy hanging outside. They've got a Primark (really cheap clothing store). I felt bad for making Sam go into Primark with me, but then he ended up being the one making me wait around while he went t-shirt shopping (he had recently lost two tshirt when, after dislocating his shoulder during a game
of rugby, the people at the hospital cut the shirts he was wearing off of him so they could fix his shoulder). They've got a pretty good Chinese Buffet, where Sam and I feasted for lunch. They've got a lot of Welsh speakers. And they've got a strong liking for Brains.
Brains is the local brand of beer (as Newcastle Brown Ale is to Newcastle), and all around town are signs and buildings labelled with "BRAINS." I found this hilarious. Sam did not. Sam is older than most of the other kids on our floors, and he likes to roll his eyes a lot and give himself airs about how he's so much more mature than the rest of us, including me, although I am two years his senior. But somehow Sam's eye-rolling is endearing and not annoying, and I was pleased to see how embarassed he was when I took a picture of my glass of Brains beer. As with a 13 year-old embarassed by his less-than-hip mom, I think his chagrin is good for him. And even if it's not, it amuses me.
About the time that we found a pub where we could drink
some brains, it started snowing. I whined and moaned a lot about how the weather was better in Spain, and then made Sam take a picture of me standing in the snow (unfortunately, the snow isn't visible in the picture). After we had finished our pints it was still snowing, and we were bored of Cardiff, so we took an early bus back to Bristol.
We walked around Bristol for awhile when we got back. It's a nice city. It has a harbour and hills AND it contains a park which is infamous for having the highest incident of gay rape in all of Europe. So boys, watch your back if you're ever in Bristol. On the bus back to Sam's house a drunk guy started talking to us and it made me nervous.
Sam produced a lovely traditional Sunday roast for our dinner, and I was quite impressed. Geez, I love lamb. Why don't we eat more lamb in the U.S.? I guess it's umm, not very hippie-ish to like lamb, but I don't care! It is flavorful and wonderful.
After dinner, I had the rare treat of getting to watch some tv. Sam and I
watched this documentary-type show hosted by this guy named Louis Theroux about people who hunt lions and rhinos and other animals like that on these big game reserves in Africa. This Louis guy purported to want to understand why these people were so pleased by shooting lions, but during the whole show he had this unbelievable look of disgust glued on his face. Heh. Then Sam wanted to watch some show about cars (ugh) so I read.
It was a good day.
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Kim
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The adventures of Sarah continue! Your blog has been a study break for me today. I'm taking the NCLEX (kind of a big deal nursing test, so you can actually be a nurse in real life) next week - ahh!! So, during the day, I need something to distract my mind before it goes numb. Thanks, Sarah Jo! Oh, I loved the picture of the man glaring at you at the ham place!