"smell my breath!" A Wales of a Weekend! 22 October 2007
06 November 2007
This entry is lonnnng overdue, but it was too good not to blog about! Some basics:
1. Rachel has some relatives who live in Cardiff who were eager to see her [after about 18 years!] and they were generous to offer their place for us to crash at.
2. Rachel and I had a Reading Week [no lecture for one of our classes where, in theory, we’re all supposed to be catching up on readings and such. But for us, Reading Week = Travel Week].
The weekend was amazing on a number of levels. First, for the whole weekend, I think I only had to spend about 30pd for travel and a couple postcards. Rachel’s second cousin, Sarah, who we got to stay with, was a BEAUTY to us for a) housing us for the whole weekend, b) treating us to everything we did/ate, and c) introducing us to her 2 amazing children, Steffan [6 y.o] and Phoebe [4 y.o]. they were quite possibly the 2 cutest, blondest little buggers I’ve ever seen. Phoebe would say the craziest things. Example: each morning we could hear outside our door Phoebe saying “are they awake??” or Sarah explaining to Phoebe why we’re still asleep…Phoebe answered, “Rachel can’t sleep in because she’s family so she isn’t on holiday”….on the second morning Kristin, Rachel, and I were almost done getting ready for the day out when we hear from down below, “THERE’S NO TIME TO PUT ON YOUR CLOTHES AND BRA.” Naturally, I look downstairs to see what the co-mmo is about and there’s Pheebs staring up at me wearing pink tinted sunglasses. Could this girl get any cooler? YES.
Basically, at one point in the trip, we took a tour of a coal mine [a little out of the ordinary for us, but fantastic nonetheless: its Wales’s history!] and we were down in the depths learning about the goings-on [like how Rachel is a direct descendent of the guy who invented the Davy Lamp, tool used to detect poisonous gases in mines that is STILL used today. That’s right.]. being the clever guy he is, he brought along bags of Cadbury toffees and tic tacs for the young ones to keep them occupied. Naturally, Steffan and Phoebe are given their lollies//tic tacs and munch away as Robert gives his spiel about pack ponies and Phoebe taps on his leg and so very eloquently says, “smell my breath” and opens her mouth for Robert to smell. The best part about it is that she has this tiny, little British accented voice which automatically makes things a bajillion times better//cuter.
The rest of the trip consisted of the royal treatment courtesy of Sarah and her awesome tour guide skills, showing us Caerphilly Castle with the leaning tower that Rachel’s other ancestor, Oliver Cromwell [you may have heard of him] ordered to be destroyed, curry and chips [!!!], dancing the night away at O’Neills to a handful of American-themed songs as requested by Sarah, and LOTS AND LOTS OF AMAZING TAPAS at La Tasca!
I have to say, even though I had just met Sarah and her family, who were all SO warm and welcoming to us, it felt so great to be back in a house with a family. It made me sentimental for my family and home. Everything seemed so much more relaxed and easy-going where all you had to worry about was what the kids were putting in their mouths. It was a grand time!
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