Considering plans are being made for this weekend’s trip to York, I thought I should go ahead and post last weekend’s blogs about Wales and Bath. we didn’t have internet so i just wrote them down and am just now getting around to posting them.
side note: it’s kind of funny having to manuver around tourists at Oxford. There are soooo many people that come on tours here. I just walked past a guide speaking German, I think, but there were a few Asains in the group, so either they were German-speaking asians, or it was a language I can’t recognize that sounds like German. hahaha
 
7/18/09
Hello all,
Today Jennifer and I paired up on a trip to Wales. We started off the day at Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. It is a cute but slightly dirty city. Of course, we were downtown. Jennifer is really into Doctor Who so we went to the museum next to a huge concert hall that is featured in the British TV series. Since it was near the bay, we saw the Atlantic Ocean. We then walked around the city to the Hard Rock Cafe to get a teddy bear from their shop. Then we stopped by Cardiff Castle randomly since it was on our British Heritage pass and we had an extra hour. It was an awesome Norman castle that has an amazing view at the top, but since we were backpacking it was harder than it would have been otherwise. Those tiny spiral stairs from back in the day are hard to get up and down anyway without the small planet (as I affectionately refer to my backpack) strapped on. We then got on the train for Tinturn Abbey at Chepstow. It was one of the most amazing places I’ve ever seen. The way the ruins rose against the green hills and silver sky, the astonishing amount of it all still left intact and the granduer of its former state was overwhelming.

7/19/09
Today, Jennifer, Amy, Kaitlyn and I are on our way back from Bath.
Yesterday I got off the train to Bath and had to stop writing so I’m sorry I stopped so short. I meant to add that after Tinturn we went to Chepstow Castle. We had the same taxi driver coming and going to the abbey. He led us safely through the insane traffic situation in Wales. The amount of one lane roads with two directions of traffic are astonishing. On the walk from the ticket place to the castle we crossed over a bridge that put us half in Wales and half in England! The castle was fun because the info plaques brought back memories of Renaissance Faire at Mesa Elementary and the research the teachers made us do throughout junior high on the medieval period. It also had a breathtaking view of the Weys River and the English countryside below.
We then had about an hour to get dinner at a grocery store. That was a fun challenge: what do you buy for one night’s dinner when you have no utensils, oven, microwave, plates, bowls, or any way of storing leftovers? We couldn’t take it with us far because our backpacks had little to no more room. haha
Instead we ate our assortment of items while waiting at the train station and listening to two girls chat loudly in Welsh. When we got off at Bath, we were so tired that  we just caught a bus to the university where we were staying. It took us a while to find the accomadation office but once we were there and in our little dorm rooms we did homework and listened to music until my laptop died and I finished my essay.
Today we went to church at Bath Abbey, the same site where Edward I was crowned the first king of all England! I’m sort of getting used to the Anglican thing, but I miss Antioch greatly. I am going to try to go to the Methodist church close to campus this Sunday, which would mean coming back to Oxford early from York on Saturday alone. We will see.