![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Wales, Day 2
Mar. 7th, 2007 01:57 amToday was your steorotypical chilly, rainy Great Britain day. Luckily, I had brought an umbrella and the rain stopped mid-afternoon.
Bunkbeds are dangerous. I was in a lower bunk in my room, with my head at the end with the ladder. When my alarm clock went off in the morning, I automatically rolled over and bounced my head off the ladder. OW OW OW. I´m still surprised that there wasn´t a bump. (At breakfast, I hit my knee against the table leg when getting up.)
If you are ever in Cardiff, I strongly recommend going on the tour of the castle. The place is enormous, its buildings ranging from the 1200s to the 1800s. I took some good photographs of the outside, but we aren´t allowed to take photos indoors. As an incentive to spend more money, when you buy a tour ticket you are given a coupon for a free Welsh cake if you buy a drink in the castle Tea Room. Welsh cakes are good.
On the grounds was a man in an open shed with six or seven owls and other birds of prey. Very nice man, and he told me about each bird. Such lovely animals. Several are rescued birds, such as their barn owl, which has one wing lower than the other. I especially like this next part: As in any city, there are pigeons. They cause a problem with shitting on the castle, so as a combination of exercise and meals, every day the falcons are let out to chase off/hunt down the pests!
For the most part, I resisted impulse buying. The exception was in one store that had various British fairies "captured" in jars. Little statues of piskies, knockers, blue caps, etc. in small glass containers. I bought one containing a Cait Sith. The tag reads, "Unfortunately we cannot guarantee what will be in this jar; the Cait Sith is a Highland fairy cat, though it is rumoured to be a transformed witch!" The tag for every jar also says, "Warning: Do not let it escape from its jar as we cannot be responsible for the consequences. Good luck!" The Cait Sith seems content enough to sit on my desk, though her face is still somewhat surprised. It´s like the creators combined The Spiderwick Chronicles and Lady Cottingham´s Pressed Fairy Book. Between this and the barn owl, I half-expected to see Hoggle spraying fairies when I went around a corner!
Bute Park is next to Cardiff Castle, and is gorgeous. Despite everything being muddy, I had a good time. Some spring flowers were beginning to come up from the ground, such as crocuses.
Today my German roommates moved into a two-person room for the same price. My new roommates are two young women originally from Spain and France, who now teach their native languages to high school students in Cornwall. Their summary of that area: Very beautiful, but nothing to do after 10 p.m.
It is so very odd being in a place where everyone speaks English, as I´ve been (almost) completely immersed in Spanish for so long. I keep responding in Spanish to the hostel bartender!
Bartender: One Welsh cider, right?
Me: Si.
Bartender and Me: ...
Bunkbeds are dangerous. I was in a lower bunk in my room, with my head at the end with the ladder. When my alarm clock went off in the morning, I automatically rolled over and bounced my head off the ladder. OW OW OW. I´m still surprised that there wasn´t a bump. (At breakfast, I hit my knee against the table leg when getting up.)
If you are ever in Cardiff, I strongly recommend going on the tour of the castle. The place is enormous, its buildings ranging from the 1200s to the 1800s. I took some good photographs of the outside, but we aren´t allowed to take photos indoors. As an incentive to spend more money, when you buy a tour ticket you are given a coupon for a free Welsh cake if you buy a drink in the castle Tea Room. Welsh cakes are good.
On the grounds was a man in an open shed with six or seven owls and other birds of prey. Very nice man, and he told me about each bird. Such lovely animals. Several are rescued birds, such as their barn owl, which has one wing lower than the other. I especially like this next part: As in any city, there are pigeons. They cause a problem with shitting on the castle, so as a combination of exercise and meals, every day the falcons are let out to chase off/hunt down the pests!
For the most part, I resisted impulse buying. The exception was in one store that had various British fairies "captured" in jars. Little statues of piskies, knockers, blue caps, etc. in small glass containers. I bought one containing a Cait Sith. The tag reads, "Unfortunately we cannot guarantee what will be in this jar; the Cait Sith is a Highland fairy cat, though it is rumoured to be a transformed witch!" The tag for every jar also says, "Warning: Do not let it escape from its jar as we cannot be responsible for the consequences. Good luck!" The Cait Sith seems content enough to sit on my desk, though her face is still somewhat surprised. It´s like the creators combined The Spiderwick Chronicles and Lady Cottingham´s Pressed Fairy Book. Between this and the barn owl, I half-expected to see Hoggle spraying fairies when I went around a corner!
Bute Park is next to Cardiff Castle, and is gorgeous. Despite everything being muddy, I had a good time. Some spring flowers were beginning to come up from the ground, such as crocuses.
Today my German roommates moved into a two-person room for the same price. My new roommates are two young women originally from Spain and France, who now teach their native languages to high school students in Cornwall. Their summary of that area: Very beautiful, but nothing to do after 10 p.m.
It is so very odd being in a place where everyone speaks English, as I´ve been (almost) completely immersed in Spanish for so long. I keep responding in Spanish to the hostel bartender!
Bartender: One Welsh cider, right?
Me: Si.
Bartender and Me: ...
