Day Forty Seven: Let me tell you about WALES

PICTURES: 1) This is the Caerphilly Castle. 2) This shows you guys how pretty everything is in Wales. 3) One of the houses from the Wale's Museum. 4) Me standing in an old Abbey which is located in the Wye Valley. 5) The old Roman Amphitheater. (THESE PICTURES ARE NOT IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER)

I hope you enjoy my new header in dedication towards my time in Wales!

DAY ONE: I woke up at 6:20am to meet up with my tour group at 7:15. I only had to go to the Penryhn Road campus so it was not to far of a walk. We stopped at several other campus' in the area to get more students and by the end we had picked up about 51 students who were going on the tour. It was about a three hour bus ride, and I slept basically the entire way. We arrived at the Roman Ruins first. They were really interesting, we learned that they would fit 8 men in what had to be a 7x7 square. Keep in mind that they are burly warriors. Those rooms had to be a mess. It was also nice to be in the real country air again, and the grass was so green, which you can see from my pictures. A few feet away was the Roman Amphitheater, which was huge. This is where they would do their gladiator fighting, battling with anything from other men to wild boars. They even fought with domesticated cows when they were exceptionally bored (I don't know about you but I can't really see excitement in that last bit... cows?)

We got back on the bus and next traveled to the Caerphilly Castle. It was huge and I was really excited when I walked down the path and then it was just there. I had been sleeping so I had no idea where we were going, haha. It was beautiful. We learned a horrific story about the royalty that used to live there. There was the King and Queen (I cannot remember which one) but the King had a favorite man. Apparently in this age favorite meant their lover, so the King had a gay lover. The Queen was not happy about it, and the favorite man was gotten rid of. It did not take long before the King found a new favorite man and the caused his wife to act against them in force, a battle of sorts. The King and his lover fled, leaving the lover's son to guard the treasure. The Queen won and told the son she would not kill him if he gave her the treasure. He gave her the treasure, she killed him. Later the King was killed as well, in a not so pleasant manor. Anyway, haha, the castle was really fun to run around. The pictures I took came out beautifully, those with a facebook can see them. It was in this town that I began to realize two things. 1) Welsh accents are fantastic and now it is my new favorite. 2) The Welsh people are really friendly people.

After the Castle we headed to the Welsh Museum, which was basically like a Farmer's Museum. They did have a row of houses showing the progression of the Welsh home from way back in the beginning to present day. I liked being there because it was like being at the Farmer's Museum or Williamsburg, only everyone was Welsh. The funny thing was how small all the doorways were in the old Welsh homes, I almost had to duck to get through them. If I did not duck I felt the top of the threshold brush my hair, so they were around 5 feet 5 inches tall, really short for a doorway. It was here I bought my Welsh gifts. It was also here that I realized I had left my debit card in Kingston, haha. Luckily my friend Ruth helped me pay for my food, also luckily enough I had enough cash and change to pay for all my gifts. So, all you with a Welsh heritage, expect a gift.

At the end of the day we ended up in the city of Shwayze which is on the coast of Wales. Our tour guide told us that it was the last major civilization before you hit the Wilderness of Northern Wales. Also, I would like to point out that I asked a Welshman and he told me that our ancestors came from Northern Wales. If I get the opportunity I will be trying to find them and get to them, it may be a very long bus ride. Also, they may speak Welsh there, so it could present a problem, haha. In Shwayze we went to a pub for dinner, I got Fish and Chips, and as we sat there Halloween appeared around us. People kept coming in dressed up and it was a lot of fun watching them. By the end of the night I had been spoken to in Welsh and we had made a few new friends. These people are so friendly. Also to all who care, Welsh boys are the most attractive boys I have seen sense I have reached this country. I definitely went to the wrong country, hahaha. I was sad that I did not have my own costume, but it was okay in the end. That night it was hard to sleep though, because they were partying on the streets until 4 am, and my bed was right next to the window that was on the street that they were partying in. Oddly enough, I was not upset I could not sleep. I was just so happy I was in Wales.

"We are on the bus right now, and you can see the reminiscent shadows of once great castles, estates and abbeys. It is like a fantasy land, Wales is beautiful."

"There is something majestic and exciting to stand where histories and legends took place. Their (castles) history goes further back than any structure that we have in the US."

DAY TWO: I woke up at 7:00 so I could take a shower before breakfast. We got a free breakfast at the hotel and that was really awesome. As soon as we got on the bus everyone fell silent but I began writing about day one diligently in my journal so I would not forget what happened so I could put it in my blog. It was an hour and a half drive to the Big Pitt. The Big Pitt is a coal mine which has been closed down as a working mine, but opened up to the public as a museum. I thought it was really important to see, and I was right. As we headed down into the mine, my stomach flipped, it was a scary cage (that is what we were told to call it). One thing that was fun about it was that we got to wear those headlights, which I really enjoyed, hahaha. In the mine we learned all about the horrible working conditions and we were kind of able to experience how the conditions were as they worked. The tunnels went from low to high randomly, I hit my helmeted head a few times, and the floors were slippery with the water that came down from the surface rain, though I did not slip because of my awesome castle running shoes. Our tour guide was really funny, and a great singer. He actually was once a minor, he told us that if you dad was a minor no matter how much education you had, you would have probably been a minor as well. We could have been minors. Also, the tour guide reminded me a lot of Uncle Steve, haha, cept with a Welsh Accent and older.

We got back in the bus and after a very long and scenic ride, full of sheep, we ended up in the renown Wye Valley. It was the place people would go from all over the UK for its picturesque views. A very talented and well known artist Turner spent a lot of time in this valley. We were headed for an old monastery that lay in the valley. It came up very suddenly and I was immediately taken back by how large and beautiful it was. One thing we learned that I found very interesting was that all the Monks had taken vows of silence. It must have been an interesting experience to be surrounded by 80 people and not one of them spoke, that is what I would consider an awkward silence. We got to explore it grandeur for awhile, it was quite large and then the tour guide took those of us who liked to explore up the side of one of the mountains to get a bird's eye view of the place. It was a long, slippery, steep climb up but at the top we found an old church and graveyard. It was very haunting. Many of the stones were dated very far back, but I did not explore them too much, because I felt as if I was intruding.

Then it was time to get back on the bus to bring us back to Kingston. I did not want to go, I almost wanted to intentionally not get on the bus so I could stay. But, I did get on the bus and as we drove away it got darker, kind of like how I felt inside. Wales is a great country. I was so glad to experience that part of my heritage, and I am really happy I have that. I am now thinking graduate school in Wales? hahaha, I guess I will see.

A few points to note: The Welsh are incredible singers, so that explains a lot coughunclestevencough, haha. Also, all you Jones, you are all very, very Welsh looking! You represent yourselves well! Which if you take the comment I said before about the Welsh being very attractive... well there you go, haha.

Hope you enjoyed the recount of my adventure in Wales! <3 you guys!