Wales: Day 37 Communist Cardiff

Monday, August 9, 2010 was a nice lazy day. We woke up to another random 2let2 employee walking into our house (2let2 is the company that lets - leases - our housing). I guess because we were leaving soon and they needed to find some new people to move in, and they were taking pictures and showing our house. They just walk in without knocking all the time. And they're super sketchy.

So besides our free day in London on Wednesday and then traveling home on the weekend, we had nothing to do all week. We were expected to use the time to work on our big project - the textbook. We were expected to create a textbook on ten major periods, including information from our expository text and brochures from locations, as well as pictures we took when we traveled around. It's a pretty hefty project. Everyone was actually really pissed about it, because it's essentially regurgitating our huge textbook and inserting pictures with formatting. We also needed to finish our 2 books by the end of the week, so we had plenty to do. After some breakfast I set about reading "Princesses of Wales" which was actually really, really cool.

I walked down to the business district to get lunch and groceries. My favorite sandwich shop that is only a couple streets from Penylan is called "The Sandwich Story." I get the hummus & salad (lettuce, carrots, corn, diced tomatoes, etc.) baguette with potato wedges and sweet Thai chili sauce. So delicious. It's my favorite. So I go walking down there (it's a Monday around 2 in the afternoon, mind you), only to find that it's CLOSED. CLOSED! What the? Completely unacceptable. Prime lunch hours and you're closed? No sign, no explanation, no holiday, nothing. I walk to another juice and sandwich shop down the street. I walk in to see them wiping down counters and putting away chairs. Surely they wouldn't be closing, right? I turn to look at the menu board and the waitress walks up to me before I reach the counter with a "Sorry!"

Me - bewildered, hungry expression.

Waitress - "Sorry."

Me - still bewildered. Brow furrowed. Confused.

Waitress - "We close at 2:30 today. Sorry."

Me - open mouth gaping. Nod. Turn on my heel and walk out.

Problems with this situation:

1. Really? You close at 2:30? Isn't that kind of arbitrary? Why not 3:17? 12:42? Why would any restaurant close at 2:30?
2. Ok. You close at 2:30. Well. It's approximately 2:10 at this point. Is making me a sandwich going to take you over 20 minutes? Because my clock and my stomach both hate you right now.
3. Is this Communist Russia? Do businesses just randomly close whenever they feel like it on a random Monday? Did they run out of bread? They just felt like taking a vacation day? Who says you can do that? God bless America.

Hungry and pissed, I walked down to the Tesco Metro to get a replacement lunch and some groceries and then came back to catch up on my blog and email. After showering and reading some more I fell asleep for a few hours. I love the liberty of that. Some of my roommates were surprised that I'd walk through Cardiff by myself. I really liked it. It took me until my last week to feel 100% comfortable with the city, and though it'd be another thing entirely to be walking it in the dark, an afternoon food-and-groceries run was fully within the boundaries of my comfort zone. It was really cool. I felt like an actual adult. Weird, I know.

We made chicken noodle soup for dinner, hung out and complained about our textbook assignment and then trudged back to our rooms to work on them. We needed to email the textbook assignment to Tom the following Monday, and at that point I had 2 1/2 of the 10 chapters done. So almost done, right?

.... Sure.

My motivation for this SUCKED. Seriously. I was the Michael Jordan of finding things to distract me and I spent so much time just daydreaming about going to London and then going home at the end of the week. I think I did almost nothing that day. I kept thinking "Well I have tomorrow, Thursday and Friday to work on it, plus my long layover in Minnesota will be boring so I'll probably work on it then too...."

Well. This story has a somewhat-happy ending, so stay tuned.

Wales: Day 22-24 Got Myself A Home Life

Cardiff on Sunday morning is an entirely different city than the one we walked through at 11 pm on Saturday night. When we all filed off the train from Dover, a large number of inebriated men were waiting to board the train. As girl after girl stepped down, they all catcalled and cheered and laughed at the number of young single females that this traincar contained. We smiled and laughed. This kind of good-natured teasing and attention is nothing. We walked through downtown Cardiff, through pub and club queues, multiple "hen parties" and were the target of many shouted invitations and descriptions throughout our journey.

I'll just say this. According to my observation, there are no good-looking people in Cardiff. None. Everyone is SO GROSS. Women dress in these tiny, tiny, tight dresses that do not suit their age or body type, climb onto teetering heels, wear too much makeup and walk around with uneasy and uneven steps with their bodies spilling around everywhere. Sorry. That's what it is. Oh and a "hen party" is a group of girls that dress up for a bachelorette party. Usually even more outrageously inappropriate than the general populace.

The men are pigs. Generally. I'll just say that. We don't need to go into detail. Don't worry, Dad. We didn't feel unsafe. We were in big groups, and hello, has anyone seen me when I get fierce? Psh. A fumbling drunk Taffy is no match for Danica Budge. And Katie. Approximate number of inagropes = 1. So that's pretty good.

Walking to church taking a very similar route less than 12 hours later was just so amusing to us. Still gross, though. Cardiff is hands down the grossest place I've ever been. Some parts of Provo or Salt Lake I thought were pretty ghetto. Mesquite is significantly white trash. Other cities I thought were really crappy or awful don't even compare. I've been pretty hesitant to actually describe how gross and retarded Cardiff is, because I didn't want anyone thinking I was in an unsafe environment or that I was complaining. We're in a SKETCHY part of town and I will never complain about another city ever again. But don't get me wrong. It's adding to the experience and we just laugh and laugh.

At one point last week, Tom left his camera somewhere and I happened to be the last one out of the area and noticed it lying in the grass. I snagged it. Didn't tell him. We took it back to Penny Lane and proceeded to take pictures of all the grossest stuff in our house, and took several action shots of the things and people we encountered on our walk to 57 (one of the other houses the program has). Highlights include the ubiquitous piles of garbage on the streets, broken street and store signs, and - my personal favorite: A woman dragging a big cardboard box down the sidewalk on Albany. hahaha We couldn't stop laughing. When we got to 57, I sneakily slipped Tom's camera back into his bag and he had no idea. Can't wait till he sees the excellent photos we took for him. We told him earlier that we want him to post ALL his pictures, so hopefully I'll be able to get them and post them here so you guys can experience The Joys of Cardiff.

Anyway. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday were unscheduled. The Welsh students were taking an all day, weeklong class at the University, so we had free time to study for the big quiz and to work on our projects. Hence the studying abroad. I was able to catch up on my sleep and get a lot of studying done, which was nice. If we passed the quiz, scheduled for Friday morning, we didn't have to take the final and automatically got an A on it, so everyone was studying super hard for that excellent prize. I left the house very little this week. I don't mind though. A few days this week I got up and walked down off Albany to a little fresh produce Farmer's Market and my favorite sandwich shop for a hummus baguette (my favorite). Good stuff.

We did, however, take a break on Tuesday night and went to see INCEPTION. Everyone has been FREAKING OUT about it and asking me about it. I am a movie freak. I love them, see tons of them and love to talk about them. But I'm out of the loop here! I need to see a ton. I've been going through cinema withdrawal. Hulu. Netflix. Nothing works here. So it was awesome to go see it. I really, really liked it. I'd like to see it again. It was entertaining, fresh and witty. Loved it, even.

Wales: Day 9 The Castle on the Corner

Monday was fabulous. We were able to sleep in a little and our only requirement for the morning was to watch a movie with our roommates about the history of the Welsh language. It was 4 hours and kind of boring, but was a nice change of pace from barreling across the country in a huge van for the duration of the morning. But that's pretty fun too. :)

After our movie, we got ready and headed to downtown Cardiff. It was finally our day to see the famed Cardiff Castle! But first we had lunch. Everyone's been asking me about the food here. Well nothing is really too different. We do love these cookie/biscuit things called Digestives, and the sodas and drinks here are really weird. Bakery items here are the most delicious. Cornish Pasties are probably the best "foreign" food here. Traditional Pasties are like croissants sort of, but filled with beef-stew-like contents, such as beef, potatoes and carrots. I got a spicy vegetable one.

Some girls like the cheese and onion, and a few got the pork and apple. All the ones I've tasted have been pretty delicious. I want to find a recipe and make them when I get home. Tom bought us all pasties for lunch and we hung out downtown to eat them before heading to the castle.

Then we did some SHOPPING. Which you know I love. I scored. I got almost everything I needed souvenir wise, and found some other great stuff. Primark is kind of like their Forever XXI and we were in there for like 2 hours, and then went back after the castle tour. What's up sunglasses for 1 pound? (Don't worry. I only bought 3 pairs. And only 1 pair was for me!)

Finally it was time for Cardiff Castle! William the Conquerer's eldest son Robert was held captive and killed here by his little brother, William I in order to maintain the latter's claim on the throne. It was later inhabited by Scottish nobility who had a RIDICULOUS amount of money, and is therefore furnished lavishly. Some of these rooms were worth more than entire cities. This is the Banquet Hall, and people pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to get married here.

Other rooms were comparably ornate, especially the Arab Room, which was gilded in flakes of 24 carat gold.

On one tower of the castle was a Roman-style garden and fountain at the very top, now very weather-beaten and protected from further wear. I loved it though!

There was stained glass almost everywhere. No, I'm still not tired of it. These panels depict the final scenes of the story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac. Hopefully they aren't too blurry for you to see. Beautiful.


Shout out to my library peeps! This was a spectacular private library with tons of antique tomes.

Our tour guide was this cute older gentleman, who was really smart and very funny. He told us tons of stories about the castle and its inhabitants. One story, about the men's cigar room was hilarious. This elaborate room was created for the men to retreat and smoke cigars and talk after dinner. To discourage the women from eavesdropping, the owner carved and placed this on the ceiling directly above where the women would be perched listening, and then a small stair behind that, in the hopes that they'd look up, see THIS

and then trip backwards over the stair and learn their lesson about eavesdropping on the men's conversations.

Great, relaxing day of castle-seeing and shopping. I love Cardiff!

Wales: Day 6 The Heartiff of Cardiff

Friday morning was quite strange, because I woke up and got ready in my usual routine, but then when I checked my calendar I realized it had been a week since I'd left home! It was such a bizarre fact for me to grasp. With all the ground we'd covered and how little sleep we'd gotten, it had felt like a month already, but also had been so busy that it had felt much like two long continuous days. As I write this the following Tuesday, the same affect on my concept of time prevails.

We began the day by meeting up with the BYU English Language study abroad students that are based in London. It was fun to see new but friendly faces and talk about the places we'd all been. Their program sounded pretty cool, but ours is definitely the best. :) I was absolutely thrilled to notice that one of the girls was an HBLL employee! It made me feel right at home. We jumped right in talking about her bosses and department, and you guys know I LOVE my library. I probably freaked the H out of her, what with my exuberant and obnoxious ways, but it was worth the great picture. Good times.

At Tinkinswood, we saw a great dolmen - or a huge rock used as a burial site. There we sang a few rounds of "Blae my Daniel" with the ELang students and then went on our way.

St. Fagan's is a unique museum, and I'm so glad we had the opportunity to go there. There are life-sized representations of houses and other buildings from several different time periods. One building in particular has 10 small apartments along its ground floor, each one decorated according to a successive time period. So every few steps you could poke your head in and see how things had changed. It was absolutely fascinating. They also had buildings like the corn (wheat) mill, which was taken apart from the coast and rebuilt piece by piece on musuem property. And is still a functioning mill! Incredible.

As we were preparing to meet the rest of the group to go home, we ran into 2 girls from our group that asked us if we'd seen the castle and gardens. We were tired and didn't really care to, but she insisted that we check it out. "You'll feel like you're in Beauty and the Beast." Ok. That got me. I'll bite.

Turning the corner, I saw that beautiful scene beyond the hedge. The force of the image hit me. I would say I swooned, but that's retarded. I was certainly affected in the sinus area by allergies quite quickly, but it was completely worth the emotional experience of this gorgeous little castle. We traipsed along the pond and fountain, singing "Something There That Wasn't There Before" from Beauty and the Beast, and then we ran up the short steps to face this -

The covered archway was the most singularly beautiful and romantic thing I've seen since we've been here. I have always loved the twinkling arches that you ride under in "Storybook Land" at Disneyland. They've been my secret romantic guilty pleasure, even more so than the Disney castle. These blew them away. The delicate flowers took our breath away and seemed to cushion us from the cacophony of the playing children without the walls. We couldn't help but imagine scenes and scenarios that would appropriately take place in such an amazing setting. Following the frenzy and speed of Oxford and Winchester, the peace and beauty was calming and welcome. Truly it was one of the best moments of my summer.

Had our day ended there, it would have been a success. But of course we still had an entire afternoon to take advantage of. We walked into downtown Cardiff to enjoy the pleasures of festival season. In Europe, towns and counties have festivals to promote local goods, music and culture. It can be compared to our fairs and carnivals back home to some extent.

Viva la Cardiff Food Festival! Weirdly cool European music was being played at one end of the square, while tents and booths filled the remaining space.

I enjoyed roaming the festival by myself, perusing the strange crafts and foods that were available in each tent. I was able to buy some cool souvenirs for some of you guys back home, and I tried some famed double chocolate Cow Pots (a prominent Welsh ice cream brand). Thank goodness the Welsh like their ice cream. It's like a little piece of home for me. Other strange finds included lamb burgers, licorice ice cream, free samples of whiskey and cider (!) and these themed beers.


We ran into some street performers that particularly liked teasing Americans and their blonde hair. Yeah, me. One man in a suit and skintight black leggings seemed bent on embarrassing me with his immodesty. Needless to say, it worked. haha. They were absolutely ridiculous. I was pleased to find that the person who took the pictures for me captured two photos. In the first, you can clearly see me and Zoe's reaction to the pelvic thrust of said gentleman. The second photo is the intended cute group one. :)

Above the square is the pier. Cardiff Bay Pier is SO COOL. I loved it. We sat and ate our lunches and strange food samples while overlooking the ocean and listening to the interesting Jew-rock coming from the square below us. I found a 1.5 liter Diet Coke for cheaper than a normal-sized bottle, so I was a happy camper for the remainder of the afternoon.

Midafternoon, we took a tour of the Welsh National Assembly. This building was really cool and symbolic. The Welsh people are trying very hard to preserve some individuality and to assert that the language of Welsh is not inferior to English or any other language. They conduct their proceedings in both languages, simultaneously translated and projected on screens around their conference rooms. It's pretty cool. Almost the entire building is made of glass, which our guide said was symbolic of transparency. I think that's a great concept and I wish them well.

Wales: Day 1

Today we got up and went to church in a tiny little college. I've never been to such a small ward, but it was awesome. The members were so dedicated. It was awesome. Plus the accent makes listening so much more fun. I was able to stay awake because I forced myself to stay up until about 10 pm on Saturday night so that I could get in a good night's sleep and kick my jet lag. Slowly but surely. :)

After church we ate a quick PB&J (a lunchtime staple) and then walked around Cardiff. This is a great city.

The facade of this chapel is made of stones from all over the world. It was my favorite church in Cardiff.



Downtown Cardiff is very urban and cool. Tons of chic shops, H&M, Topshop, department stores, and this awesome record store. It claims to be the oldest record store in Wales.

These used to be the Queen's Apartments when she would come stay in Wales. Now it's a baby Gap. Little bit different haha. But beautiful. These are right in downtown. It's so incredible to see these older buildings incorporated into modern districts. I really love it.



I was super tired, but Cardiff was beautiful and I am so lucky to be here. :) Sorry it took so long to get these up! Hopefully I can catch up quickly and stay up to date. Love you all!