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Published: December 3rd 2008
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Cardiff Castle lookout
You can't see the stairs from here but they were nuts.... WEll, I can't remember all of what I have been up to since I last updated my blog but I will try to recall most of it!
I went to a jazz festival night at a pub in Surrey with my friend Gabi. It was a really nice pub and the piano player played some amazing jazz type pieces, really made me miss playing the piano! I look forward to getting back into that for sure!
The rest of the week is a bit of a blur, I had a bit of a lonely time but met up with a new aupair from Serbia who lives in St. Albans/ I haven't been there yet but we met in Potters Bar. The problem with these cute little towns is that nothing is open late except McDonald's. I am becoming quite a connoisseur of mcflurries and milkshakes. Luckily I don't do that all the time! It was a great visit and we talked for nearly 3 hours. It was raining like crazy afterwards and I got soaked and then waited for like 30 minutes for a bus home, apparently they only run every half an hour. So much to getting to
bed very early!
I also got together with my friend Jenni from Switz. We went to the movie theatre by my house and watched The Changeling. It was really quite disturbing I thought and it was not at all what I had expected. I don't want to ruin it for anybody that is still planning to see it but be prepared there are some ugly spots. With that being said, I had an excuse I (not that I needed one though) to phone home and chat with Mom and Richard to debrief. Haha, lucky them.
So, that was last week very briefly, had the usual gym.charity shop and Alpha classes, all good stuff! Oh, I must mention I finally finished my volunteer training for my first offender's panel training so that is very cool as the training was every Saturday with lots of reading. I got an appointment to see an officer at the council office and now I just wait for my criminal record check before starting another adventure here. I expect that I will start the panels in Jan or Feb for sure.
The exciting part....I went to Wales with the family over the weekend.
Castle lookout at night
Quite pretty I think... It was quite cool although because it was such an early morning, I slept most of the way there. I woke up just in time to drive over the longest bridge I've ever been on in my life and view the welcome to Wales signs! It was quite neat. I tried to get pics but it was difficult with the dirty windows and fast driving. I must mention the breakfast on the way was excellent, got a sausage mcmuffin meal w/OJ. Unfortunately, they don't sell my fav egg mcmuffins but I survived just fine. I haven't had my MCD's breakfast since the day I left home which was over 3 months ago so that's not bad I figure! Back to the important stuff. WE arrived in Cardiff where the international rugby game between Wales and Australia was playing. Lynne and Dave were attending the game and I got to babysit. I am not a huge rugby fan so I didn't really care to miss the game but the pre-game excitement in town was neat to see. I learned a lot about Cardiff/Wales, huge coal industry there, etc. I took the kids to a couple shops for warm clothes as they
were cold, made our skating booking and we finally arrived at Cardiff Castle. It was a neat place, got a great tour and then climbed another tower within the Castle that was just crazy. I have to say the stairs were all stone and really steep, I was amazed when the kids did so well getting up there but it reminded me of Peru which was cool. After the castle adventure where the kids were totally won over, we met up with D and L. Wales won, whoo hoo. As I was in Wales, I wasn't too disappointed that Australia lost, it was a close game anyhow. After a quick shot in the pub, we ran over to the skating rink where I took the kids for their first ice skating experience. It was quite cool! I had a total blast, Alex did really well on his own and Rhiannon needed quite a bit of help but after 40 minutes, I got 20 minutes to myself for skating like a maniac. The skates here are really different and WAY easier to put on, no laces or anything just snaps! Apparently not many people know how to skate either. I was
Interesting homes...
I thought these were really neat! whipping around there with all the guys! Haha. Good fun as they say. Enjoyed a nice dinner at Pizza HUt and got a taxi home which was neat, adventures in the dark.
We stayed in Bridgend with Dave's friend Mark. He was quite a fellow, total bachelor who never cooks (obvious by all the cobwebs on the kitchen utensils and lack of food other than fruit). He was very nice though. I had my own room which was cool, literally as well. I scored a heater from somewhere which helped. On Sunday we made him a good hearty breakfast and got off to a little road trip around where Dave grew up, went to school and even the beach that he went to! I got some pretty cool pics but I can't get them all on my blog. If you are on FB, check out my album there. Anyhow, after a nice drive around seeing interesting houses, etc. we met up with Dave's aunt and uncle who were really nice. We had an amazing roast beef lunch (well, I did) which was great too. There were other options but I have got quite a liking to roast beef lately. After the meal we got on the road again and drove towards home, stopping at Dave's sisters for a brief hello and finally arriving back home Sunday night. I was completely wiped! I am still recovering as well as filling my days and nights completely so I will update for this week later on, maybe this weekend. Hugs, Chloe
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