Easter Break Itinerary!

What you are looking at, ladies and gentlemen, is a map of Europe. What's even more exciting though, are those little blue pins scattered around the continent. Wanna know why? Because where each of those pins are, marks a city that Lacey and I will soon be exploring over Easter Break!

Now, you may realize that there are 20 or so pins, and we only have 20 or so days. BUT! do not fret! We have it all figured out. We've spent hours upon hours planning this trip and we feel like we've finally gotten it perfected. Let me give you a little insight on our itinerary:

April 3-8: Valencia, Spain (Lacey won't be accompanying me on this little trip. Sadly, she'll be stuck in little Canterbury for one more week)
April 8-10: Paris, France
April 10-11: Luxembourg City, Luxembourg (that's just another country to add to the books)
April 11-12: Belgium, Brussels
April 12: Amsterdam, Netherlands (we're not even going to risk spending a night here)
April 12-14: Berlin, Germany
April 14-15: Prague, Czech Republic (overnight train to Vienna)
April 16: Vienna, Austria (in Vienna for the day, then another overnight train to Venice)
April 17-19: Venice, Italy
April 19-20: Florence, Italy (with a little day trip to Pisa!)
April 20-23: Naples, Italy (on the 21st, we're going to see Pompeii and on the 22nd we'll be spending the day on the island of Capri)
April 23-25: Rome, Italy
April 25: BACK TO SCHOOL : (

Ahhhhh, the adventures we'll have! Be sure to keep checking back, as I will most definitely be updating as we travel along!

Until next time!

A Day on/in the River

Yep, got it written! I may update it tomorrow with some pictures, so keep an eye out for those!

Hiyah there! Just got back from a wonderful day of adventure! Because it has been raining for the last four consecutive days, we weren’t able to climb again this Thursday, so we decided to do some river-activities instead. And since it had been raining, the river was at a perfect height and the current was pretty decent as well. Honestly though, I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t too hyped up for the day. I figured if the day was going to be anything like the past few days, I was going to be cold and wet - two things I absolutely hate being at the same time. However, when I woke up this morning, the sun was shining and it was actually quite warm. And then, by the time I squeezed into two, yes two, wetsuits, I was more than ready to dive into the unknown conditions of the river before me.

The shop, where we got ready.** Jacque, there on the left, yah, he was a pro kayaker. And then the girl in the blue top and white helmet, yah, she fell out of her kayak too. Good thing she had that helmet on. And don't be fooled by the white-water raft in the background.. or the fact that none of the internationals are in this pic. Or that "Llandysul Paddlers" looks like it's been photo-shopped on. . .

Our venue was amazing! It was located in a little town, about 30 minutes north of Carmarthen called, Llandysul . It was situated right upon a “river,” (or so they say.. I’d call it an extremely swift and deep creek) and was clearly used for kayak runs and other fun activities, as they had good access points and “gates,” or markers that you try to get through when you’re kayaking (see below**).

The best thing I can compare them to are slalom buoys for competitive water-skiing. Anyhow, after we suited up, which took awhile we started off the days activities with a brief session on how to save someone from the edge of the water. We then progressed onto actually getting in the water. We started underneath the bridge, as seen below**,

(The view from the bridge, looking downstream.**)

and we had a quick lesson on how to swim in strong currents – also known as aggressive swimming. We then had a little lesson on defensive swimming, which consisted of pretty much floating down the water, feet first, on our back, casually steering with our arms. Once we finished, we put our newly acquired skills to the test. We proceeded to “swim” downstream, eddy by eddy, until we reached the end. Keep in mind now, that this stream/river does not just consist of smooth water. Quite on the contrary, there were some decent rapids to go through (as you can see below and yep, that's me.. I'm so hardcore**).

They were so much fun! It kind of reminded me of a wave pool, but SO much better.

Once we made it down to the end, we climbed out and hiked back up to the bridge where we started. We were then given the option of jumping from the bridge if we wanted, since the water was plenty high enough, and of course, we all did. Crazy fun, that was! It wasn’t much higher than the docks at the lake, but still kind of exhilarating because once you surfaced, you had to start swimming for the nearby eddy, or else you were going to go for a swim all the way down.

We then took a break for lunch. We went inside, had a cup of tea, some food, and warmed up then went right back out again. Only this time, we did a bit of kayaking. However, unlike the kayak I’m used to, where I’m settled “in” a kayak on smooth water, we opted instead for kayaks in which had no covering, so you were practically sitting on top, and then we took them down the river, over the white water. Again, awesome. We put our kayaks in on the little man-made lake that was right behind the place where we geared up, practiced for a bit, then made our way down to the river via a little stream between the two bodies of water. Again, like the swimming, we practiced how to turn quickly in a current and how to direct our canoe upstream in order to paddle directly across the river, both very important techniques to learn if you hope to make it down any fast water safely.

After all that practice, we set off, just as we did swimming and went from eddy to eddy. We got to attempt paddling straight up stream (which definitely did NOT work out, I totally tipped my kayak on that one), and we got to go through some pretty hefty rapids near the end. It was pretty darn neat. I enjoyed it thoroughly, that’s for sure. I’d definitely say that next to rock climbing, this was my favorite activity thus far in the semester. Although, we’ve got some pretty tough competition coming up. . . kayak and board surfing and coasteering. We shall see who wins…. Until next time!

**Okay, not gonna lie, I didn't take any of these pictures. Since we were in the water all day, it really wasn't sensible to take my camera with me. But the kayaking picture, yah, that's really me, someone else just took it. Okay, not really. It's just some other hard core person..that I wish I could be. Ha ha ha!

Caving!

Okay, one last blog to catch you up on my adventures. Just know that I've already started a blog from today's adventures, which will most likely be posted later on tonight.
Anyhow, last week, for Outdoor Pursuits, we went caving! Not so sure on how keen I was for this activity. The last time I had been in a cave was when I was about 8. We stopped by Mammoth Cave (in Kentucky) on our drive home from a family visit to Florida. All I really remember was this story about how this guy got stuck/lost in that very cave and had finally found a tunnel that he thought would take him out. Well, the tunnel got smaller and smaller, until poor "Abe," I think his name was, got stuck and suffocated. Little did he know, he was only about 100 m away from an exit.
So, great story. Are you a bit uncomfortable yet? If not, now imagine after remembering that story all throughout your childhood and adult years and finding yourself face to face with an environment fully capable of putting you in the same, exact situation. Yah, not so fun. However, the entire ride there, I rationalized with myself that if they were still taking us there, then there was a good chance that no one has ever gotten stuck and suffocated before. That helped a little.
So we arrived in the Brecon Beacon National Park once more, about half past 5 in the evening. We had previously decided to wait until after dark to go so that we'd have the caves to ourselves. Good decision. That, in combination with the fact that last Thursday was a crummy, rainy day, resulted in absolutely no one else besides our group in that cave.
Because of this, we were able to enter the cave in a non-traditional way. We loyally followed our instructor to a mere hole in the ground. Seriously, it looks like the hole Alice fell into in Alice in Wonderland. I was just waiting to see a rabbit wearing a waistcoat or a Cheshire Cat. However, we soon learned that absolutely NOTHING lives within the cave. So it was very important that no food was dropped or trash or anything, because bacteria can't even survive in these conditions and break things down. So what was left in the cave, stayed in the cave. It was quickly pointed out though, to many of our dismay, that things could live near the openings of the cave. What, you might ask? Spiders. HUGE, nasty looking spiders. Ewwww. Yah, that freaked a few of us out.. but once we got further in the cave (by repelling down through the hole), the spiders were gone and we were already looking at our first challenge.
Our first challenge was the most narrow passage in the entire cave. Well, at least I'd get my fears over and done with first thing. In order to go any further in the cave, we had to go one at a time through a gap that was no bigger than 1.5-2 feet between two giant slabs of rock. We even had to have someone push us from the other side in order squeeze through. Since I was determined to conquer this fear, I volunteered to go first. Believe it or not, I didn't get stuck and die!
In fact, quite the opposite happened. After I made it through that first, and certainly for me, the most intimidating obstacle, the rest of the caving we did was cake. We did some more tightly confined crawling, and then later on towards the end, we got into the "wet" side of the cave. Oh, I don't think I mentioned that this cave has a river that runs through it. Somewhere above, the river just kind of starts seeping through the ground and then has carved a path through the cave, which consists mostly of sedimentary limestone. It then exits from the mouth and main entrance of the cave. But it was here, on the wet side of the cave, not far from the river, that, despite our extremely attractive caving suits and rubber boots, we got soaked from the waist down. We started at a place called, "the toilet," - a hole in the floor that has water at the bottom and a tunnel to climb through to get back to where you started. And then later, we actually got to experience walking against the current of the water that was rushing into the cave and got to see where exactly in the cave it comes in. That was probably my favorite part. Even though we were all soaked afterward, I feel like the caving experience wouldn't have been complete without it.
Welp, it looks like I finally have you caught up with everything so far. Like I said, I'm almost complete with today's entry, however, I'm now thinking that I probably won't post it until tomorrow. So, until next time!

St. David's

Saturday was yet another international trip to the city of St. David’s and nearby Whitesands Bay. Known as the smallest city in the UK, St. David’s is named after, you guessed it, the Welsh Patron Saint, David. However, he was not born here. He was actually born a few miles away in near a place called Non’s Chapel, not far from the Pembrokeshire coastal trail. Here (as seen above), a chapel still stands as does the well that was said to have sprung up out of nowhere during a thunderstorm on the night little Davie was born (see below). However, this wasn’t just any ordinary well, it was a well of magical healing powers. The blind could splash its water upon their eyes and see again, and the lame could walk after a quick dip.
St. David, himself, was said to have super-natural powers himself. It was rumored that he raised someone from the dead back in his prime. His real “claim to fame” though, was when it was being decided whether or not he would become archbishop, there were concerns that not everyone would be able to see and hear him speak. Miraculously, the earth rose so that everyone could see him. Needless to say, he became archbishop (http://sucs.org/~rhys/stdavid.html). And yes, I did just cite that. This guy seems to know it all!

So, back to St. David’s. In this town, there stands a cathedral dedicated to David. In fact, before it was built, the monastery David attended was stood there. Now, however, this MASSIVE cathedral still hold Sunday services as well as the occasional choral concert and is open to the public most days of the week. Beyond the newer part, stand the ruins of the first cathedral built. And all throughout the grounds there are several tombstones and other ominous, foreboding objects.. it’s quite scary actually. I definitely wouldn’t want to be there alone at night. But inside the cathedral, it’s beautiful! The alter is absolutely astonishing, as is the gigantic stain glass window that’s at the opposite end.

However, the rest of town isn’t much. There are a few shops and cafes and two candy shops, which I most definitely checked out. My favorite place though, was where we stopped in for tea. It was a locally run café/restaurant/pub/ice cream shop called The Bench, and boy, was it delicious! The girls I were with all got coffee and dessert, but I had to order some food, since I hadn’t eaten since breakfast and it was now nearing 2 o’clock. So I ordered a cup of tea, with extra sugar of course, and a ham and cheese baguette. YUM! It was delightful! And the atmosphere of the place was so neat! There were big, comfy couches everywhere, an outdoor patio, and no two tables were exactly the same (see below for a close up of a table-top). It was buzzing with originality. Even the employees were unique and very welcoming.
Then of course, on our way out, I HAD to get some ice cream. I had been craving it for I don’t know how long. They had lots of flavors, so that made it difficult to choose, but after about 5 minutes of debating, I went with the traditional Welsh honey and lavender. I wasn’t going to.. I thought it sort of sounded a bit odd, to tell you the truth. But I asked the scooper if he recommended it and he said he definitely did, so I decided to try it. It was DEEEELICIOUS! I honestly think it may be my new favorite flavor. Too bad I can’t find it at the local supermarket though. Perhaps I’ll write in to Ben and Jerry’s and suggest that they make it a new flavor!
Well, that’s really all I’ve got for now. So, until next time!

Rock Climbing!

Yes, this IS, in fact, post #2 within 12 hours! Amazing, I know. Actually, I had it written last night, but figured I'd give you some time in between. Looks like my impatience won here..
Let's see, the most interesting thing to happen the week before last was our expedition on Thursday for Outdoor Pursuits. We went rock climbing!! I had been waiting for this all semester, so I was SUPER excited! However, not gonna lie, I was a bit nervous too. My only rock climbing experience included maybe a 20 foot, transportable wall that had brightly colored, obvious hand and foot holds, and of course, a trained professional who "belayed" me (we'll get into what that means in a moment). However, it could have been that since I was only 12 at the time, I THOUGHT the person below me was a trained professional.. for all I know, they were just some circus drop-out, giving rock climbing a try.

But let me tell you, outdoor climbing is WAYYY different than climbing indoors. For one, you're at a MUCH greater risk of hurting yourself, or at least, it seems that way. We set off to climb somewhat early in the morning. Graham, our main instructor, wasn't able to make it, so Simon, (along with the help of two Trinity Outdoor Pursuits students, who specialized in rock climbing) got us geared up and on our way. The place we went to climb was right along the Pembrokeshire coast, not too far from where we had hiked (see above). Actually, I'm pretty sure we hiked right past it on our overnight trip. Simon organized it so that we had a couple different challenges. With the experienced Trinity students, we had about a 30 foot climb as well as a 40 foot climb, and later, a 55 foot climb, all in which, they belayed us from above. Belaying is the feeding of the rope through a "B" clip - if you've ever been climbing, you know what I'm talking about. If done properly, should the climber fall, the stress on the rope kind of "locks" the rope in place, sparing your hands from rope burn caused by trying to support the person from falling any further. Then, a few yards away, from another cliff, Simon set up a situation in which we could practice the technique of belaying from below.

That being said, I wasn't quite ready for the responsibility of Simon's area, so I practiced first on the 30 foot cliff - one that dropped straight down into the ocean (as shown to the left).

Little bit nerve-wracking... especially when I first started. In order to ensure that the rope was as taut as possible, I had to plant my feet, and lean back over the edge, trusting

that the rope, and the Trinity student, was going to hold me. Thankfully, they both lived up to their expectations, and I was at the bottom, ready to climb up before I knew it.

Which leads me to difference #2. Believe it or not, hand and foot holds aren't highlighted in neon colors when you're climbing a steep cliff face. I found this out the hard way... So I was scaling up, not doing too bad for my first, legitimate time rock climbing, and all of a sudden, I'm stuck. My left toe is balancing delicately upon a lip, maybe 5 cm wide, and my right hand has a hold of the only hand hold I could see. Within seconds, my right leg, which I have just pressed up against the rock, starts shaking uncontrollably. The Trinity students call it "Elvis Leg."

Rightfully named, my leg was bouncing all over the place. But at this point, I was in panic mode. I didn't have control of my body, and I knew if I stayed in one spot too long, trying to hold on, I would wear myself out. So I called up to my belayer, asking him for any suggestions of possible options. He pointed out that there was a GREAT handhold about 2 and a half feet up, which, unfortunately, was just out of reach for me. At that point in time though, it was my only way up and I refused to back track and try a different route. So, I dug my toes into the wall as hard as I could (seeing as there was no good foot hold) and pushed off my right hand (which had a good

hold), and reached as far as possible with my left hand for the AWESOME handhold that waited above for me. Here's how the sequence of events played out: Grabbed the handhold with my left hand. Feet slipped out from under me. Panicked, grabbed ahold of the handhold with my right hand too. Sat there dangling, in sheer terror, for about half a second before I realized that I was going nowhere. Then I dug in again with my feet, able to pull myself up until I found a good foothold and then, made it the rest of the way up. It was exhilarating!

After a few more runs on that cliff, I ventured over to where Simon was and tried that face out for size. After learning how to belay him from below, Simon took off up the wall, and along the way, placed these tools called “nuts” into strategically located crevices. From these devices, he clipped in the rope he was trailing, which would then be used as the lead rope for the next

person to climb up. Once Simon reached the top, the next

person started up, following the same path. It was the second person’s job to replace the lead rope with the rope he was trailing, which would then become my lead rope. Once the second person reached the top, and the rope was

switched out, I started up. By this point in time, I felt like an expert. I was only hesitant to c

ross the MASSIVE crevice at the beginning of the climb, but from there, it was easy as cake. On the way up, my job was to

remove the nuts as I reached them. Simon pretty much told

me I was an expert! The trick was to see which was they went into the crevice, then you just push them out the same way they went in. But if that didn’t work, I had a handy, dandy tool that made it easier. I really didn’t think twice about it, and before I knew it, I was at the top!

Ahhhh.. was it an experience! I've found that I enjoy rock climbing because it has the perfect balance of riskiness. On one hand, you can slip and be holding on for dear life, but on the other hand, you know that rope has you and you're never going to fall too far. Kind of like a dream. You can get into all kinds of trouble in a dream, but you know that you’re only a pinch away from waking up. I’m pretty sure rock climbing has been my favorite thing to do thus far! And I like it so much, that I’m seriously considering buying my own climbing shoes and harness when I get home. After all, I am a part of the rock-climbing club at school, I just haven’t taken advantage of it yet! Plus, Hoosier Heights, an indoor facility in Bloomington, is just a 40 minute drive away! I’m pumped! And we're climbing again this Thursday!! So look for yet another

awesome blog! Until next time!

The tallest/highest challenge

Kidwelly Castle

Yep, as you can see from the title, I'm starting to lose the ability to put effort into these blogs. Have no fear though, once I do finally get caught up, which WILL be by the end of this week, I will bounce back to my usual self, and come up with some more creative titles.. But as for now, this will have to suffice.

After my adventure on Sunday, I was ready to do a bit more exploring. So on Wednesday, my day off, I decided to take a train to the nearby town of Kidwelly and see the castle. Got dropped off at the tiny station (only because I told the conductor I needed to be) around 12 and made my way up the empty streets towards the castle off in the distance. Compared to Carmarthen, Kidwelly was tiny and desolate. I passed by only a few cafes and shops, but really, the castle was the only thing going for them.

The castle itself is one of the few Welsh castles in Wales (the rest were built by the Normans). I learned in my Welsh history course that a distinctive trademark of Welsh castles are that they were built in the shape of a "D." This was definitely the case here. Not only were the castle walls still intact, but the interiors of the castle were preserved as well! It was amazing!

Somehow though, despite the fact that I brought two cameras, I managed to drain the battery life out of both of them. Luckily for you however, my Kodak runs on double AAs, so I was able to buy a pack at the gift shop, and still get loads of pictures. I could try to explain all of it, but I think this blog would be better off as a picture blog. So here you go! Enjoy!

As much castle as I could fit in!

Again, from a different view.

The Chapel

Inside the Castle Walls

I really kinda stink at these...

Okay, well. Let's see, we left off last at London, I do believe. Sooo... the following week.. Oh! Yes! The following week was reading week for my Outdoor Pursuits class, so I have nothing too exciting to fill you in on there, but the Monday of that week, March 1st, was the Welsh National holiday, St. David's Day! And the next day, I, along with a few other international students, attended a reception in Wales' capitol, Cardiff, to hear the First Minister speak... kinda like the Prime Minister, but since Wales technically isn't its own country...
The venue was beautiful! The reception was held at The Senedd in Cardiff Bay, which is a newly constructed, eco-friendly legislative building that overlooks the water. We hadn't inquired before hand whether or not the reception was going to serve food, so we went to a place called, "Wagamama's." Deeeee-licious! It's an Asian restaurant, that has really fast service, but AMAZING food. I opted for a veggie dish.. something with eggplant, squash, sweet potato, and curry sauce...never really thought I'd ever just order something like that, but I was feeling pretty daring. And yes, in case you didn't gather already, it was really, really good!
So we finished up at Wagamama's and then headed to the event. We were a little bit late, but still caught the majority of the First Minister's speech. Shortly afterward, we learned that they were serving samples of tradition Welsh foods. Soooo no big deal, but we definitely went around and tried everything. My favorite was, well, I can't remember the name for it, but it was a hunk of grilled salmon in a creamy leek sauce, topped with a sprig of "fireburst," I think it was called. Normally, I would look it up and try to find the proper name, but I could not find it anywhere. Just know though it looks like a miniature stalk of bamboo, is choc-full with iron, is a little salty tasting, and grows along the coast here in Wales. Anyhow, it's good and cool, because it's kind of native to Wales and it grows wildly.
So, we went to the reception, stuffed ourselves even more, and had a chance to talk with internationals who were from other universities in Wales. It was a great opportunity to learn how the Welsh government works and to see the amazing building in which they hold their meetings.
The next exciting didn't really happen until the weekend. On Saturday, a few other girls and myself grabbed a train to Swansea for the afternoon. A couple of them just wanted to have a look around in the shops, but Anita (an international from Hobart Williams Smith in New York) and me went to go see Alice in Wonderland in 3-D! It sure was interesting. . . First, the movie theatres here are a bit different than back home. They're still outrageously priced, but rightfully so, as they have a candy buffet, preference seating, and a Ben & Jerry's on locations. Ha. I really just couldn't believe it! When I was looking up times earlier that day, I even saw the option of having a bean bag seat. Hmmm..
But the movie was great! Or at least, I thought so. Clearly, a Tim Burton film. You've got to be prepared in order to appreciate it, I think. I hadn't watched the original Disney version in a LONG time, so I watched part of it the night before to kind of jog my memory. I had forgotten how messed up that version was. But I really enjoyed the movie!
Let's see, and the last thing I'll leave you with is my hitchhiking story. Yep, hitchhiking. So, a couple of friends of mine and myself decided it would be fun to get up, pack a lunch, and walk all the way to Llansteffan, the coastal town that is about 8 miles away, that way, we could sit on the beach, eat our lunch, and then go check out the castle a bit more. That in itself was a fabulous idea. Besides the locals who don't abide by the general rule that, "pedestrians have the right-away," our walk there was pretty good! The last 3 or so miles seemed forever long, but again, I think it was because we were walking on a sort of highway (since there were no other ways of getting there). And, seeing as it was a beautiful day, EVERYONE was headed to the beach, and people were honking at us and giving us dirty looks the entire time.. sorry for walking.
But we finally made it into town, did all the fun things we went there to do, but kind of lost track of time. Woops. So, there it was, about half past four when we finally looked down at our watch, and seeing as it took us 2 and a half hours to walk there, we figured that there was no way we'd make it back into town by dark. So we set off promptly and Rhea, who is an experienced hitch hiker, started explaining all the techniques of hitchhiking.. make sure you make eye contact, smile, look more for bigger cars or those who don't have a lot of passengers, and so on. Ha, well for those who know me, you know I'm terrible with rejection, so this was a little hard at first, but then, when there were people taking pictures of us and others laughing uncontrollably, I was like, who cares, they obviously find it entertaining. So we kinda made a game out of it. We'd all take turns sticking out our thumbs and then cursing the lone drivers who passed three, well-dressed and groomed girls up. Ohhhh well..
The sun was starting to set and we were just outside of the halfway point, a little town called Llangain, when FINALLY someone pulled up, and was like, "need a ride?" Yes, sir, we do! So we climbed in, and his wife started explaining to us that they were headed into Llangain to have a drink at the pub and then they'd be headed towards Carmarthen. So we were like, yah, yah, that's totally fine. So we get to the pub, the guy PAYS for our drinks and then we sat and had a nice, long chat about where we were from, what we were doing in Wales, Barack Obama, music, EVERYTHING. Turns out, the guy is a digital music artist. He's just getting started, but he gave us his card, and so we're supposed to watch for him in the US.. he says he's gonna be there before too long!
But it was just too funny. While the guy was extremely loud, cursed like a sailor, drank, and smoked, his wife was the complete, polar opposite. She was very soft-spoken and didn't drink nor smoke. But you could see that they fit so well together. Ha ha ha. Yes, I was analyzing this the entire time.. I'm an odd one.
Anyhow, we finished our drinks and the ride into town was a short one. They dropped us off right in front of school and wished us luck, as we did them and went on their way. I've gotta say, if all hitchhiking is like that, I've GOT to do it more often! Nahh, but in all seriousness, I realize it can be quite risky, but I wouldn't have done it if I wasn't with two other girls and just outside of town. As my first experience with hitchhiking though, it was pretty awesome!
Well now, I've caught you up on a little bit. Keep your eye out for more. It's coming.. I have yet to fill you in on last week, and the activities that have already occurred this week! Until next time!

Foggy London-Town

Phi Bears in front of Big Ben
The London Eye overlooking the Thames

Platform 9 & 3/4, of course.

The Tower Bridge (the London Bridge isn't anything special.. ha)

Okay, time for the second installment of my adventurous week. The southwest part of it. . .
So we left Snowdonia early Friday morning, in order to make it back to campus in time to catch the bus to London - a five hour trip. Thankfully, we made it back in wonderful time, leaving us a whole two hours to unpack from the previous week, shower, get some food in our stomachs, re-pack, and still make it to the bus on schedule.
We headed for London at about half past two and from there, we had a six hour drive ahead of us. Normally, it should have only taken about 4 hours, but a bus-load of people and traffic didn't quite make for a quick drive there. But we finally made it around 8:15. Unfortunately, that's only when our troubles began.
We were dropped off at the Great Portland Street Underground Station (London's form of the metro/subway) and we went up to buy tickets. Mind you, the ticket stations are supposed to close at half past 8, and it was 8:20 by the time we all unloaded and got our stuff in order. So, with approximately 30 kids making a mad dash for the ticket office in order to get on their way to their hostels, it's no wonder the ticket lady closed her window as soon as she saw us coming. Even with an excuse on her behalf, we were all still like, "really?"
Yep, really. She refused to help us. So from there, we all split off in different directions trying to find the nearest open station before they all closed in 10 minutes. Luckily, my group found one and we got our tickets in the nick of time. After we got our tickets, we found out that we needed to be at a different station in order to get to where we needed to be. So we set off for Euston station, which would then take us directly to Borough station, which was only half a block from our hostel. By the way our night was going, it was no surprise that our train was being held at a red light. We climbed onboard anyhow, and waited for about 15 minutes or so before we started off. Borough station was only 5 stops away, but it took us about 45 minutes to make it because of the constant delays.
But we did finally make it to our hostel. At about 10:15 (or 22:15, I suppose), we got ourselves checked in and scoped out the room. It wasn't too bad. It was my first time staying in a hostel, so I didn't know much what to expect, but the building itself was pretty old, so it created a neat atmosphere at the very least. And there was a bar downstairs, so that's always a plus, I feel like.
Although, I didn't take advantage of the bar. Instead, Lacey (my friend that's studying at Kent Uni., only a hop, skip, and a jump away from London) came and found me! So we went on a little evening adventure to check out Picadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square. Needless to say, it was cool! Picadilly Circus is somewhat like a mini-Times Square. It's got a big jumbo-tron screen and all that jazz and then you know you're in Trafalgar Square when you see the giant lions surrounding Nelson's Column. It was all really cool to see at night, however, as I was super tired from the long day of traveling, that's all we saw that night before I headed back to the hostel to catch some zzzzz's.
The next morning though, I had plans to take the underground to meet up with Lacey near where she was staying so we could get an early start to our one, full day we had in London. So after a quick breakfast, I set out a little early in order to have the time to walk by the Tower Bridge, take some pictures, and still have time to meet Lacey. At this point in time, I chalked another one up for the London underground system. I had managed to take a train to the wrong station, resulting in Lacey having to come find me. Thankfully, I didn't have to wait long and soon we were walking the colorful street of the Portobello Market. What a WONDERFUL experience. The street was at least a mile long with vendors EVERYWHERE selling EVERYTHING you could imagine.. telescopes, trinkets, clothing, cowboy hats and boots, antiques, fine china, seriously EVERYTHING! Then there were more permanent shops on the side that also had sales going on. It's amazing that I made it through the entire market with only buying one thing: a Double-Decker bus for my charm bracelet!
From the market, we headed towards King's Cross Station. Why, do you ask? Well, for those Harry Potter enthusiasts out there, such as myself, a trip to London isn't complete without visiting the renowned Platform 9 and 3/4!!!! Lacey and I were almost in tears when we found that it was actually there! Unfortunately, the Hogwarts Express must have left just minutes before, because we couldn't make it through the barrier. Oh well, there's always next time. But in the mean time, we took lots of pictures and looked touristy as ever.
The rest of the day was kind of a blur. Since we hadn't eaten since breakfast, we decided to find somewhere to get a good meal. About the time we walked out of the restaurant, good ol' London decided to hit us with some rain, so we got a little damp, but it sure didn't dampen our spirits. We walked towards Big Ben and Parliament and got to see the London Eye a little bit more close-up. That's when it really started to pour. So, we took shelter in Harrod's, London's high-class shopping center. That was fun. Of course, instead of checking out the Gucci or Armani shops, we headed straight for the toy store. And from there, to the pet shop. Oh yes, you can see where our priorities lie.
Unfortunately, Harrod's closed at 9pm, so we set out once again, back into the rain. Only this time, since it had been a LOOOOONG day, we made our way back home, or rather, to our hostels. We were exhausted as ever and we wanted to be up early for our last day there, since I had to leave by 2pm to head back to Carmarthen.
And we were up early! Unfortunately, it was raining when I woke up, so I was trying to think of something to do that didn't involve walking all around London in the rain. That's when I remembered that Gemma, a girl I sat with on the bus who is a student at Trinity, but is originally from London, told me she could get tickets to a lot of the popular attractions in town. Because it was so rainy and cloudy, we decided not to ride the London Eye, but instead, went to Madam Tussaud's wax museum. Gemma set us up too! She has a friend who's a photographer there and we got VIP access and all kinds of neat, little benefits. Not to mention, pictures with more famous people than you can imagine... too bad they were made of wax. But it was a lot of fun! Lacey and I enjoyed taking the most strangest pictures ever and had a good laugh when we'd say "excuse me" to a wax figure, or vice versa, when we'd stare at someone for a long time, trying to figure out who they were, to find out that they were just an ordinary person, just standing still for the moment. Ha ha ha.
So after numerous photos and a short walk to the train station, my day came to an end. Or so I thought. I left myself with about an hour to get across town in the underground, fetch my bag from my hostel, and get back to the pick up station by 2pm. This is when the London underground went for the win. I ended up boarding the wrong train, and instead of taking it Eastbound, I went Westbound. Ahhh.. so now, after about losing 40 minutes of time, there was NO way I was about to make it across town to my hostel and back to the pick up station on time. Thankfully, I was able to get a hold of two of the girls from Trinity that stayed at the same hostel and asked them to just grab my bag, which I'm sure, was no easy feat. But they managed, and I made it back to the pick up station, only 5 minutes late. Thank goodness. By that time, I was ready to board the bus and looked forward to sleeping the entire way home. It was a great weekend, but I was exhausted and looking forward to sleeping in my own bed back at Trinity.
So sure enough, that's what I did. And then it took me two weeks to write this! Hahaha.. So sorry! Things have just been CRAZY around here. And when I say crazy, I mean that I've been busy occupying my time with trying to make travel plans and watching Disney movies. Until today, I just haven't been in the mood to write. But I do have a few more fun days to update you on. And when it does come time for Easter Holiday, I'm promising you right now, that I will update you along the way!

Until next time!

Snowdonia!

Whoa, remember the last time I wrote and I promised that I wouldn't ever go a week without writing again? Woops. It's now almost been two weeks, but there's just so much to write, that I haven't had the energy to sit down and write it all! But no worries, I'm going to get this blog up today!
Well, where to start? I believe I last filled you in on our overnight trip to the Pembrokeshire coast and mentioned that I'd be a travel queen by the time I wrote you again. Yep, proud to say that I went from the northwest of Wales to the southeast of the United Kingdom all in one day, and was that day FOREVER long!
So let's begin and end this blog with why I was in northwest Wales (and save London for the next one). For my outdoor pursuits class, we planned a trip to Snowdonia National Park, which is home to Wales' highest peak, called Snowdon. It stands at about 3,560 feet above sea level. However, the park itself, is over 838 square miles, so we had a LOT of options on what to do over the three days we got to explore. We set off from campus on Monday morning, and since it's about a 5 hour trip, we didn't get to our cabin until around 3 pm. Let me emphasize that "get to our cabin" is code for parking about a 15 minute walk away because the rest of the drive is so muddy and uneven that our van wouldn't have been able to make it. But we made it after that 15 minute walk and let me tell you, the cabin couldn't have been more perfect! It was very basic: we had running water, which was a plus, and all the energy was derived from the solar panels in the roof or the windmill in the front yard. However, the first day we got there, the water pipes were frozen, so we had to filter water from the nearby creek for drinking water as well as for the toilets. Good thing none of us were too stinky that first night! The showers definitely weren't working!
But the next day, it was loads warmer and the water started working again. Since it was so warm, we decided to attempt to hike to the top of Snowdon, since we weren't quite sure how nice the rest of the week was going to be. So we set off around 10 and took the easy route up (which followed the train tracks), because when we left, there was an ominous cloud just hanging around the peak, and we didn't want to risk getting caught in snow or fog and not know our path. The first third or so of the hike was pretty easy. We ran into some ice on the path, but that was about it. We made it to the halfway station for the train, and decided that it was time to get out the ice axes to have some practice with those. Ice axes, for those who don't know, because I sure didn't before I used one, are saviors, as you will find out later on in the post. These little guys are just long enough for you to use as a kind of walking stick (which is what we mainly used them for), but also have the sharp, pick part, so that if you were to happen to fall, you dig it into the snow/ice and it helps you stop yourself on the slippery surface. The learned technique is referred to as ice-axe-braking. And don't worry, we had plenty of practice in it.
From the halfway station, we trudged on through to a bridge where we went under the railroad, and stopped yet again, to put on our cramp-ons. I know, strange name, but these things do wonders! I don't know quite how to explain them, but they fit over your boot and you tighten them all up so they stay snug, and then on the bottom side, there are humongous spikes that help keep traction on snow and ice. They're wonderful, especially for those whose boots have crappy traction (more on that later).
At this point in time, the temperature was definitely starting to drop, because we were getting higher, and the fogs/clouds were starting to set in (I've always wondered what you call fog that comes in over a mountain.. is it really fog? I mean, technically, it's just clouds, but you happen to be at a very high altitude and so it seems like fog.. hmmm unsolved mystery).
Anyhow! So the visibility was starting to decline and the wind was picking up tremendously. Thank goodness, I was WAY more prepared for this trip than I was for Pen y Fan! Even though it was supposedly -8 Celsius, I was SUPER warm the entire trip. A special thanks goes out to Brittany for my amazing gloves that I received as a Christmas present this year! But we still went on, despite the conditions. We were one, determined group. Soon though, we started slowing way down. The visibility was close to nil and the wind was almost knocking us over, which was not good, because there was a pretty decent cliff on the right, and even though it was too foggy to see how high up we were, it was still a bit frightening. So unfortunately, this is when Simon and Graham, our instructors, decided that it was too much of a risk to continue. Darn. What was even worse, was that Simon "guesstimated" (wow, I guess that's a real word), that we were only about 200 meters from the top. Gah. Oh well, I guess I would have rather been safe than sorry.
So we turned back and headed home. We then proceeded to head to the grocery store, since we didn't have any food, other than what we packed for lunch. The five of us decided that someone would be in charge of a meal at one point or another, to help introduce one other to our favorite comfort food from home. In order to do this, it was vital that we all get supplies! We got back in the nick of time, as the roads were progressively getting worse and worse. In fact, Simon and Graham were nice enough to let us off out our usual drop off spot (the 15 minute walk from the cabin) and then went and parked the van closer to town (so that made it about a 45 minute walk for them).
Over dinner that Tuesday night then, we made plans for what we wanted to do the following day. As the weather went from snow to sleet to rain, our hopes lifted a little at the chance that Wednesday might actually be decent. Three of us (Franz, Rhea, and myself) decided that we wanted to attempt to reach the summit again. The others were okay with making it as far as we did that day and settled to go for a more scenic valley walk.
Unfortunately, we got a late start on Wednesday morning. Breakfast took longer than anticipated and we didn't start our climb until 11. However, the weather was absolutely
B-E-A-UTIFUL! We couldn't have asked for a better day. Of course, Snowdon was still hidden in a cloud, but the hike up was amazing. Except for the fact that there wasn't anymore fog. Ha ha ha, let me explain. Tuesday, from the halfway station to the bridge, seemed kind of difficult to walk, but I could discriminate if that was because of the snow or if it was because I was tired already or what. What I came to find out on Wednesday was that it was hard because it was a good 55 degree angle climb (this is just a guess, but it seemed like it more or less). Gosh, I had never wanted the fog back more in my life. When that fog was there, I couldn't see what was up ahead. However, when it was clear, I could see exactly how much longer I had to climb and it sucked!!! After a few breathers, claiming I was just taking in the scenery, naturally, I pushed my way towards the bridge.
From the bridge on up was a breeze. I didn't meet a challenge again until we actually reached the top of the ridge. From this point, I knew we had to walk along the ridge for awhile before we made it to the point, but I didn't know how long. I was already tired, but with each little hill, I got all excited and pushed myself, thinking it was the summit. Unfortunately, this happened WAY too many times. Like, I'm talking 7 or 8 times. And in 2.5 feet of snow. We finally spotted the summit train station and the marker. Of course, the monument/marker was up one last, little hill and I had to honestly almost pick up my legs and make them go. In fact, I was at the bottom of the 7 steps it was to the top, and had to stop for 10 seconds or so before I could go up. When I finally did reach the top though, it was the greatest feeling in the world! Ahhhh.. I don't think I'm going to forget that feeling in a long time! The second picture up there is me, standing on the marker.
After multiple pictures, a proper lunch, and getting our gear ready, we made our descent. Get excited, this is ice-axe-saving story #1. Well, we decided to go over this cliff side, covered with snow, or at least, that's what it looked like to me. Like I said, there was at least 2.5 feet of snow up there, so there was no hope of actually following a real trail. Good thing Simon had been there a few times and pretty much knew them by heart, or else, I'd probably still be at the top of the mountain trying to get down. But Simon knew the way and he also made sure to remind us of the ice-axe-braking technique, in the case that we'd have to use it. Grrrrreat.. this was already making me feel much more confident. NOT. So we started down. About 10 minutes or so in, I saw Rhea lose her footing and she even turned around and told me to watch for the loose snow. So I saw it visually and heard her warning verbally. You'd think I would have registered that there was loose snow. Nope. I kept on going and lost my footing in the same exact place, except, I didn't have as good as balance and ended up having to use my ice axe to keep me from falling to my death. Okay, I'm exaggerating a little bit, but I was kinda scared. And if I hadn't known how to use my axe properly, I may have slid off the "trail." Yah, that was an eye-opener. But, we eventually made it down to the bottom. All of us in one piece. We met up with Graham and the others in a car park and headed back to the cabin for the night.
The next day, Thursday, our last day to get some hiking in, we all decided to go to a place called the "Devil's Kitchen" as a group. It's called the Devil's Kitchen I guess, because pirates or explorers or somebody, when they were sailing up to the mainland, would always see this "steam" (better known as fog/clouds/condensation) coming from this one particular spot in the mountains. Little did they know, this area they called the Devil's Kitchen fostered the perfect environment to produce this condensation, because of the sun hitting a certain spot and the winds always cooling it off or something along those lines..
So! The Devil's Kitchen. What a day. That's the first picture up there. Behind us is what we climbed up! I'm afraid to say it was my least favorite day out of all of them. I think that had something to do with the amount of snow that was still left over and the fact that I was super uncomfortable climbing up a rocky path covered by snow with boots that have terrible tread. I think too, by this time, I was completely exhausted from the two previous days of intense hiking. But we did get to see some amazing views! It's no where near as high as Snowdon, but this is good because the clouds/fog cleared for awhile and we could see the island of Anglesey and the little town our cabin was nearest, Llanberis. But boy, was I ready for sleep that final night we were there.
Well, that's really it on the Snowdonia adventure. Sorry this post was EXTREMELY long! The London post will be coming shortly!! Until next time!