This past weekend we had our first extended trip with the group, it was our West trip. We started out the day by getting onto the coach at six in the morning. After three-four hours of driving, I woke up to Wales.
[ the Welsh flag has a dragon on it]
Our first stop was Tintern Abbey. This has by far been my favorite church, which is hard to say because i have been to a bajillion churches. This particular church is hauntingly beautiful (that's what Karoke means in Japanese--How I Met Your Mother anyone?) Most of the church was destroyed during Henry VII's dissolution of the monasteries, Henry ruined everything. Today the church is merely ruins. Set on a hillside in the middle of the field just the walls still stand. The roof is completely gone which makes it breathtaking. Man I just used a lot of cliches. Take a look for yourself.
[ Nave of Tintern Abbey ]
For my Brit Lit class we read William Wordsworth's poem Tintern Abbey and was given the assignment to reflect while at the abbey and write our own essay or poem after Wordsworth. I scribbled a few thoughts down while I was there, trying despartely to sound poetic and thoughtful and I'm nearly positive that I just sound like a pompous..... person. I'll eventually make it into something worth reading before its due.
At this point I would like to tell you about Susan Howe, since she's in this picture. Susan is my english teacher. But she's more than that, for serious, not trying to sound all cheesy and cliche. I'm sure that fact that we live in the same house. Susan, and yes she told me to call her that- there is no lack of respect here, is wonderfully hilarious and well words can not describe. She's wicked smart, a well published poet and super cool. She's way friendly and always chats. I went to go see a play with her one time, and the conversation that came after it made me feel like an equal and not her student but still her student at the same time. Which is a very rare quality that college professors have. Point of the ramble- I love Susan.
After Tintern we went to the Big Pit. Its a coal mine. I think we went there because about half our ancestors may have worked there at one point or maybe somewhere like it....maybe.
[ The Big Pit ]
We got to put on silly hats and head lights and go down into the mines. Our tour guide was super welsh, I had to concentrate to understand him. He had worked in mines since he was 15, so he was about as hardcore as miners come. It was very informational and little bit scary. He told us pretty much all the ways we cold die down there, but its ok, the mine gets checked for safety twice a day.
[ we're hardcore because we gone down into mines ]
After the mine we went to the museum of Welsh life. The musuem had a really lame indoor exhibit but all outside was pretty gardens and a little Welsh village and a manor house they falsely called a castle. It was nice to just wander around and look at pretty Wales. Oh and we watched a guy weave a blanket.
After all these adventures we headed out to our hotel, yes we stayed in an actual hotel and with only two people to each room. It was a pretty swag place. Most people went out on the town to eat, but us select really awesome people just ordered pizza and had a hotel party. We bunkered down in Cameron's hotel room, Me, Cam, Brit, Mary, Laura and Calvin, the six of us with five extra large pizzas. Thats about $100 worth of pizza but in pounds it doesn't sound that bad. I ate eight pieces of El Carnivoro, yes that means it was loaded with all kinds of meat. Not to be outdone by a skinny little girl each boy also ate eight pieces. The rest of the girls did their best to do the same but failed. We then had basically an entire pizza leftover which I ate for breakfast yesterday. We watched weird Welsh MTV called The Scuzz and had delightful conversation, best night ever.
On day two we got up and ate our free breakfast and then headed back out to the coach. The day's first activity was Caerphilly Castle in Cardiff, Wales. We were let loss like bus full of little kids and we just ran around the castle having crazy fun.
[Caerphilly Castle, it has a real moat ]
[That's me and Cameron, no not my brother.]
[That's me, I'm storming a castle, I was storming so good I made it split in two.]
[That's not me, it's Brit, but i liked the picture anyway. ]
After the castle we went on a church history tour through a tiny bit of Wales and western England. We picked up Peter in Glouscestershire and we hit a few places that all have to do with the second mission to the UK back in the 1840s. I learned more from Peter than I actually did in my class the whole two months previous and it was all on the same subject. To say the least, Peter was a great guide. We went to an old church were the converts attended before they were converts. We went to a LDS chapel were you have to punch the answers to a little questionnaire that only Mormons would know the answer to into the keypad to get into, that was pretty cool. We went to a farm where Wilford Woodruff stayed and baptized hundreds in its pond. And we also went to the top of this huge hill called Herefordshire Beacon, no still Americans you do not pronounce each syllable, its really Hair-fur-sure. It was a strenuous hike up to the top and once up there it was super windy. This hill is significant because the missionaries would hold meetings up there. It was pretty neat to see all these places.
[ Hill Farm, where Wilford lived ]
That night we hopped back on the bus and four hours later we were back in London, oh and of course we stopped for dinner, at KFC.
Beautiful! Remember that time I almost got to go to Wales after HS with my aunt and uncle and then I didn't? I do. But fo realz girl, it seems beautiful!
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