A Wale of a Tale

Our trip to Wales started out with everyone's alarms going off at 5 am Thursday morning. After throwing a few things into my backpack for our overnight trip, I ran to the kitchen to pack lunch and grab breakfast which was chaotic as always on our early mornings. We got on the coach by 6am and headed West. The drive was about three hours long and I happily spent it sleeping.

Tintern Abbey...our first stop. I guess it's a good thing that pictures don't do this place justice because what would be the point of going if pictures were the same? Henry VIII destroyed most of this abbey during his rampage so the ceilings and a lot of walls are missing...I think this was one of my favorite parts though because as you stood inside you were surrounded by grass and could look up at see the sky (which was blue!) I loved having the windows missing too because you looked out and could see the mountains with the red trees...this landscape reminded me of the northwest and made me miss it! It was beautiful! One of our assignments for British Literature was to take ten minutes to ourselves and observe our surroundings and write down impressions and experiences the landscape reminded us of, and later we'll write an essay or poem about what we thought about during our time there. I'm actually excited for it!

We got back to the coach and started towards ... The Big Pit! This is one of the few deep coal mines left in Wales, and it's now a museum. This has been one of my favorite things we've done in the semester...I can't imagine what it must've been like to work down in the mines for a living. Actually...I could now that I've been done in one! Our guide, Wayne, was hilarious and loved to make fun of our American clothes and shoes. He had worked in the mines for 15 years and had a lot to tell us. We got our helmets and headlamps and battery packs (which were surprisingly heavy) and took the elevator down about 300 feet!

Once we were down we turned off our lamps to see how dark it would've been for the poor unfortunate souls who didn't have a source of light down there. Wayne said children would come down to the mines and their parents would leave them in one spot for a few hours with no source of light...that made me sad to hear. Poor kids. And horses were used to pull the carts of coal, they worked 50 weeks out of the year...poor animals. Anyway...enough of the sad stuff. Some students kept hitting their heads on the ceiling since some spots were pretty low...that was funny to see and hear. Wayne showed us how to use a candle lamp to test the carbon monoxide levels and kept laughing at his own jokes...I liked him.

I was sad to leave the Big Pit...but the coach needed some company. We hopped back on and I climbed over everyone to get to my seat by the window. Our last scheduled stop as a group for the day was the Museum of Welsh life. I booked it to the gift shop first thing, good thing I did because I got the last Welsh flag patch and some stickers! And a random postcard that had a really cool yellow quilt on it. I think it would be so cool to learn how to quilt...I don't know if I would have the patience though. I sewed a small baby quilt a few years ago and I sewed up the fourth side before I turned it right side out...don't know how I'd do with someone a little more complicated. Back to the Welsh Museum! They had galleries of....I'm not quite sure what because I never went there!

I spent most of my time there wandering around the Welsh community! Actual houses and shops and buildings were moved to this site from long ago! There was a castle and it had the most beautiful gardens! Even though it's winter and all the flowers are sleeping, it was still so pretty. It's always green here like Washington because of all the rain, and since it's the off season there aren't a bunch of tourists. So being here in the winter is actually really nice!

I do think when I come back in a few years it will be in the spring though...I can imagine the flowers in bloom and it's magnifique! We found these dried flowers though and thought they were just as pretty as live ones! After exploring the gardens we went into the castle, and found out the Welsh are shorties! The doorways were barely above my head and that's saying something. There were tapestries and quilts that were amazing-I don't know how any human could possibly have handmade them. Quilts have become one of my favorite things to look at, the designs were so complicated and it must've taken so long to complete just a little patch on one. My grandma crocheted all of her grandkids an afghan and mine has a million colors and is so complicated...it's such a talent. Moving on from one of my many tangents...

Cardiff was our home for the night. And we stayed in an actual hotel...not a hostel! You know what that means... only two people per room. It was heaven. One big bed to myself and I didn't have to climb a ladder to get to it! It was a nice break from having eight girls in one room to only sharing with one. I forgot what it was like to have a little bit of space! It was so exciting to have the bathroom to myself and not have a chorus of alarms wake me up...We didn't have enough time at this hotel! But I'm not complaining!

But before we could sleep we had to eat! We got a map and started walking! After a few attempts to cross the road we all finally made it to the same side and found the shopping and restaurant district. After much debate we decided on a Mexicano restaurant "Chimichanga" and I got a burrito....mmph! I was so excited for some real food after having granola bars and apples all day. *I really need to stop making that face in all my pictures. How embarrassing* Although the food was good...I have decided that once I'm home in April I will never want to eat out again. Actually, I'd really like to never eat out again starting now. Going on these day trips and traveling so much makes it so we have to find food on the road which usually means eating an overpriced meal with too much butter! I'll be happy to be able to cook in my own kitchen and make my own meals!