Fake Roses All Around
Posted by Jackie , 28 September 2010 11:32 AM
My latest adventure was a weekend trip into Wales. With Elissa and two of her Notre Dame friends, Grace and Katie, I went to the unofficial Welsh capital of Cardiff. We took a train from Paddington Station, and it only took us two hours to get to Cardiff. Elissa and I had fun watching the British country-side fly by and compare it with our knowledge of the UK from Jasper Fforde novels (which is really not much at all). Once off the train, we were a twenty minute walk to our hostel. We left our bags there and headed out to the city center for the evening.
Overall, Cardiff reminded me of a smaller, quieter version of London. I guess I should have expected it, with Cardiff being run by the same overall government as London, but it pleasantly surprised me nonetheless. There was a small shopping area on a more modern street when, lo and behold, we ran into a castle! Yep, Castle Cardiff, standing since the 11th century, was smack dab in the middle of Cardiff. After asking for a restaurant recommendation at the castle gift shop, we wandered around till we found the Owain Glyndwr pub. We stopped there mainly because it had an awesome name and partly because we wanted some traditional pub fare. After an excellent meal of fish and chips, we headed over to a pub called The Goat Major. Apparently, back in the day, troop regiments would have a mascot animal that would actually go into battle with them. The Royal 41st regiment of Wales carried a live goat through the Crimean War and actually introduced it to Queen Victoria.
The pub drew a crowd as crazy as its name (excepting current company, of course). While there, a group of office buddies came in to enjoy the rugby game after a day at work. One of the guys came over and asked for our best pick-up line (aka a "chat-up line" in Anglo-English. Totally threw us off for a second). This led to a rousing conversation with a few of the other guys, in which I was asked
1. If I was Canadian;
2. If I knew Jerry Springer (after they learned I was from Chicago);
3. If I'd slept with my brother;
4. If I lived in a trailer.
Interesting, to say the least. Right before we left, one of the men offered us each a fake rose that he had bought just outside the pub (imagine what you might have bought at a gas station). It was sweet, yet not enough to make us stay! Passing by the countless clubs in Cardiff - we didn't want to stay out late because we had an early morning planned - we settled for desert at a small italian restaurant on our way back to the hostel.
The next morning we were up and out of the hostel by 10 because we had big things ahead. First, some intense shopping along the way to Cardiff Castle. The castle was our ultimate destination, however, as there was a massive British Cheese Festival! Just imagine my delight, eating fabulous British cheese in a beautiful castle in Wales. We had so much fun, doing tastings and walking through the cheese market and around the castle. At one point, we laid down on the grass and napped a bit to digest from all the delicious food. Cheese can only support one for so long, however, and we left after a few hours to see some more of Cardiff. We made our way down to the bay area, where there are a few shops and restaurants. It was nice to see the water for a bit, but after a while of sitting and chatting we decided to grab a train back home.
Since then, I've mainly been resting my feet. I spent Sunday and Monday reading ahead for my Modern Lit class. Today, I explored around UCL before a meeting with the Economics department. My next outing is to Edinburgh next weekend, so look for a update soon after.
