Country Leisure and City Life

Wow! Okay, only a few days have passed in between blog updates, but I have lots to fill you in on! First, we went on our first expedition on Thursday to Brecon Beacon National Park to get a little stroll in.. you know, to break in our new boots, get our new hiking gear all dirty and whatnot. Was it ever fun and pretty much amazing! It was about a 45 minute drive, located not too far from Swansea. When we arrived, Graham, our instructor, gave us all detailed explorer maps and asked us to point out where we thought we were. Okay, I won't lie, he gave us a few hints, such as the section of the map where we were to look, and he also told us to take into consideration the shape of the road and the nearby fences and elevations (all these things were shown on the map). It took us awhile, but we finally managed to figure out where we were.. it helped that we knew we were going for a waterfall walk.. most of us just found where all the waterfalls were on the map and guessed from there. Ha ha ha!
Then we set off onto the trail. About 10 minutes in, we came to our first kinda big obstacle: a very steep and rocky hillside/cliff. A little bit of light climbing was needed here, so we got to sort of test our abilities right off the bat. We all made it down in once piece, thankfully, and at the bottom, we came across our first waterfall! Lemme tell you, these are not like the little, pathetic waterfalls at Turkey Run State Park.. we're talking actual waterfalls... that flow all the time, not just when there's a torrential downpour. We continued hiking from there. We all had to practice our navigation skills in order locate the footbridge we had to cross to get to the other side of the river. Because as a group, we're pretty much awesome, we didn't get lost once! So we crossed the river and set out to find a unique waterfall within the National Park. It's unique because it's one of the few that you can actually walk behind... like in Pocahontas, when she hides behind the waterfall.. know what I'm talking about? Probably not, but just trust me on this one. ANYHOW... after about 25 minutes of some intense hiking (these trails were on the edges of cliffs, and up and down steep hills.. it was incredible!), we found the waterfall we had set off to find! Boy, was it cool! To think of how much water spilled over that fall in a day was mind-blowing. We were about 50 feet out from it, and we were still getting wet from the spray. No, it wasn't Niagara Falls by any means, but it was one of the biggest waterfalls I have ever seen! After exploring the area, we had a bit of lunch and then headed back towards the footbridge. Once again, finding it without any trouble! Once there, our instructors left us to go get the van and showed us a point on the map where they were going to meet us. So now we really had to put those navigation skills to use! But again, seamlessly, we found our way and in great time too!
So our first expedition was great.. and judging by the schedule, that's probably one of the least interesting one planned. Not saying that it is uninteresting, because I definitely had a blast! But all the other days we're rock climbing or kayaking or coasteering! So look forward to the blogs that follow those activities!
But today, I did a 180 and headed into Wales' capitol city, Cardiff. Although I flew into Cardiff, I didn't get the chance to see too much from the windows of the plane or train. We first stopped at St. Fagan's open-air museum of Welsh history. Before today, I don't think I've ever been to an open-air museum, so I didn't know quite what to expect. Turns out, it was outdoors (duh, hence the name). My favorite part was probably the time-line sequence they had set up, where you walked through a row of houses, first starting with the typical house in the 1800s and progressing through the decades, all the way up to the mid-20th century. At first, I didn't understand what was going on. I thought the subsequent house was just an example of a higher-class lifestyle. But then I went into a house that had a television, and I was like, 'wait a minute.. they definitely did not have t.v.'s in the 1800s,' and I finally came to the realization that it was a sort of time-line... duh.
From the museum, we headed towards downtown Cardiff. We were dropped off by the castle in the center of the city (imagine that, ANOTHER castle? Those things are as common as Wal-Marts around here). From that point, the city kinda just opened up.. shops everywhere, a Starbucks every 100 ft., Burger King, McDonalds, and KFC one after another. But I was proud of myself. The only American place I visited was H&M, where surprisingly, I did not purchase anything. I actually came across a GREAT shop, or department store, I guess, called Primark. Bought a couple cute shirts and a pair of sunglasses, but boy, was that place CRAZY! Going into the store, I only had a half hour left before I had to be back at the bus. This gave me limited time to look around because the checkout line was probably just as long as Kohls' return line the day after Christmas! And believe it or not, the line for the dressing rooms was even worse! So I didn't try my stuff on but instead, just bought it, crossing my fingers that it'd fit! (It all does, for the record!) And my last stop before boarding the bus for home, was a little Welsh gift shop, where I bought my first charm for my charm bracelet! I am now the proud owner of a little Sterling silver Welsh dragon replica. It's pretty awesome, if I do say so myself!
So tomorrow brings running, homework, and a bit more shopping. Gotta get going on buying a crock-pot and making good meals for a change! So until next time!