Playing Tour Guide: Swansea and Cardiff

It was the Thursday before Halloween. This day was particularly exciting for me as it meant my good friend Jason would be visiting me from Paris (where he is currently studying abroad). After being cut-off from my life back home and transplanting myself in another country, this would be a very welcome visit. Strangely, we don't even see much of each other in America (going to separate colleges), which makes it all the better!

Unfortunately, he did not arrive early enough (but still early) to catch the chunnel (nickname for the Eurotrain that goes in the Chanel tunnel). Because he missed that, he also missed his bus from London to Swansea. Subsequently, he arrive at around 2 a.m. and misssed the Hogwarts Society's Deathday Party (Halloween party, but named after Nearly Headless nick's party in the books where he celebrated the day he died) he was supposed to go to with me that night.

Still, I was thankful he arrived safe and sound. As I had neglected to give him my phone number, he had no way of getting in contact with me once here. And wi-fi is never a guarantee. What is especially concerning is that the wi-fi on campus requires you to register your device to the network through your student identification information. Although unlikely, his campus uses the same wi-fi and so he was already connected. Amazing luck.

I wanted to get an early start the next day so that I could show him the Gower and Cardiff, but we did sleep in a little. We wanted to go to the Gower still and planned on it, but it started to become more and more unfeasible. We could go, but it would mean having very little time in Cardiff. (As it was we didn't see much of Cardiff.)

Plus, he wanted a hair cut. Apparently he had heard horror stories about people in France getting very bad hair cuts due to a language barrier as well as being severely overcharged for what they did get. This meant he could see the city centre of Swansea, which I had come to love. Lots of neat little stores and always street performers. Some guy with a doughnut stand in the same place everyday making that area smell of sweet cinnamon.

I found a place called Mr. Dapper, which is a very British sounding name. Most hair places I have come across here have been barber shops, while in France there are mainly salons. We thought this was funny as due to our situations, our places should be swapped. Luckily, though, as a girl I can get away with going a year without a haircut if needed. It might get a little shaggy at the edges and perhaps not as styled as I would like it to be, but length is never an issue. As a guy, Jason needs much more frequent haircuts. My dad and brother always complain about it getting in their eyes when it gets too long and I think this was the situation Jason was facing as well. 

 After the haircut, I showed him Swansea Castle. There is just something amazing about a 12th century castle in the middle of a 21st century shopping center. Very close to a McDonald's to boot. What I found funny was Jason's reaction to the grass around it. In Paris, you are not allowed to walk on the grass. No such rule exists here, and so he took great glory in being able to step on the grass. It almost seemed to impress him more than the castle.

This was actually taken during a prior trip to the city centre.

Dylan Thomas is a big part of Swansea heritage as he was born in the city. Because Jason had recently gotten into Bob Dylan who references a lot of Dylan Thomas (a lot of Dylan, I know), Jason was quite interested in this. There are some 3D pictures on walls around the fountain, and one of those was a very strange on of Dylan Thomas that Jason adored. And myself as well, as I had noticed it for the first time then.

Above it says "Castle Square" as that is the location.
Below is  plaque identifying him as Dylan Thomas thinking about writing a book.

I also introduced him briefly to the Swansea Market. It is the largest indoor market in Wales and operates every day of the week. Although I did confess that I didn't go there often. Jason didn't understand this as he always goes to the farmer's market in France which is only open once a week. However, when I pointed out that it wasn't very inexpensive like the one in France, he understood. The pound hurts me as a currency.

When we first entered the market, the veterans were out handing poppies out for Armistice Day later in November. I felt we should donate to their cause since they were kind enough to badge us, to which they responded in kind by giving us bracelets. I would have been happy just with the poppy. I think it is great that they go out there and spend their time trying to help others.

Once all of this was through...we officially called off going to the Gower. Timing was just not with us. However, now we had a lot of time to kill before going to Cardiff as the bus didn't leave for about an hour (I think). So I took that as an opportunity to show him the marina and the beach. I personally hadn't even been to the marina yet. It had always been there and I generally knew where it was...but I just hadn't gotten around to it.

That's the problem with exploring your actual study abroad location. The things will always be there, and so you keep telling yourself that you will get to it later. But as I had a visitor later became now.

From the marina, we walked along the beach. I think this stretch of beach is a bit nicer than the stretch directly across from the school, but nonetheless I was still a little used to the beauty of it. Now take a guy used to fairly frequent trips into the Marin Headlands and was now landlocked in Paris.

It was even more spectacular to see through his eyes. France is nice, but it is very busy and full of city life. Swansea, by comparison, is a very relaxed coastal town. Although as a college student I have many scholastic worries as do my peers, the rest of life can move at a slightly slower pace. It is perfectly acceptable to just go for a stroll along the beach on a sunny weekend (in fact, sun is so rare that it would be a very good idea to enjoy it whilst it is there).

Eventually we made it back to the coach station in order to catch our bus into Cardiff. We reflected a lot about our lives on that bus station. I would often remind him to look out and take in the Welsh landscape and not regret about errors made in the past. We all have them. But right now we are living in France and Wales...so doing very well for ourselves.

I took him around Cardiff Bay first. It wasn't the sunniest of weather, but I suppose that the typical view for Cardiff. I also showed him the memorial on the bay for a character on the show Torchwood who died.

 Afterwards, I wanted him to taste some of the local cuisine A.K.A. Quavers. A.K.A. the best snack food to grace this earth. Because I also told him that skittle were weird here in that they had black currant flavor instead of grape, we also bought some of those and ate both our treasures on a bench by the water.

Jason too discovered the magic that is Quavers. Cheesy, light, and with a slight onion flavor. Absolutely addictive. The skittles were...interesting. We each had a few before coming across the black currant ones. They weren't as bad as I would have thought...yet still not very good. We took the rest of the skittles on the road, while I showed hm the area right behind us.

I told him that this is what I wanted to show him of the bay. The Roald Dahl Plass.

Again, these photos were taken previously. It wasn't that sunny when we were there.

I wasn't sure if he would find it really stupid or really cool as I did. Luckily, he thought the latter. After all, this author was our childhood. He took a moment for pictures before we moved on past to the Millennium Centre. This is a famous part of Cardiff. But what he found so funny about it was the fact that they would be playing Shrek the Musical at the end of this year and the beginning of next.

From there we wandered around the city centre. I told him that it was far more impressive after a rugby match. People out in the city goofing around, cheering for their team, and vendors trying to sell out the rest of their wares.  Although it was dark, I insisted on showing him one last thing before we bussed back. He wanted to head back to Swansea, but I promised him that the thing was really cool and about to be taken down. Never again would it be put back up and that this was a once in a lifetime thing to see.

He trusted me and was so glad that he did.

Yes, of course I showed him the giant rugby ball in the castle. Even in the dark, it is cool. The only other thing I showed him (as it was right across the street) was the "Historical Wales" shop. Simply because I thought it was hilarious that a store with that name sells mainly London souvenirs. Plus, we saw this odd sight in the window:

Well daffodils are the national flower. And sheep are everywhere...so I guess this makes sense as a Welsh display?

We then headed back to good old Swansea. I promised him a "cheeky Nandos" (not really cheeky as it was planned). This is a huge chain and a big deal in the UK, and so it was definitely a cultural experience for him.

Jason adores spicy food and went for the hot style food. Apparently it was the first spicy food he had had in a long time. And although I was too afraid to test it out, he confirmed what the Brits all said. The extra hot peri peri sauce is not as spicy as the regular hot.

After Nandos we grabbed him some UK goodies to bring back to France (including his own bottle of Nandos peri peri sauce) at Tesco. We also grabbed some lunch and breakfast supplies for tomorrow. Because tomorrow we would spend a good chunk of time on a bus on our way to...Stonehenge!!!!!

The One Where She Mainly Sits on a Bus (Part Two): Nottingham

The bus from Snowdonia got back to the university at around 10:30. By the time I got back and situated in my room, took a shower, got ready for bed, and then actually fell asleep? More like 12. I did stay up talking to friends and family on FaceBook. I probably could have managed to got to bed at 11 if I really tried. But I was quite slow to get ready after that long trip.

The next morning I had to wake up at 5:30 in order to get ready, pack, and catch the coach on time. When telling my dad about this journey and complaining about having two big trips in one weekend, he told me, "What are you, 20 or 200? You can go without some sleep." His words rang through my ears that morning as I wished I could just go back to sleep, not make peanut butter and jelly for breakfast and lunch (because eggs that morning took too much effort).

Daylight savings took place that night, which did give me an extra hour of sleep. It also meant that although it was dark when I woke up, walking to the bus allowed me to see a sunrise. Even through the sleepiness, the beauty of a sunrise is never lost on me.

I don't remember much of the ride over as I slept the entire time. Going in and out of sleep, reality and the dream world started to mingle together a little. For example, in my dream I was on the bus and various things were happening (like people getting up for the first stop), and I couldn't tell if it was a dream or real, even when I regained semi-consciousness before falling back into the dream. An extremely odd experience, but when I fully woke up we were almost to Sherwood Forest.

 

It was almost a little shocking as to how normally it was presented. Walking in, it looked no different than the entrance to a state park or perhaps a campground in California. But this was the land of Robin Hood, so surely it deserved a bit more glitz and glamour?  

There was more of that on the inside, but you wouldn't know that where you were going was anywhere special unless you walked into the main area.

Some Halloween pumpkins and cats on the top.

 

Robin Hood fighting Little John on a bridge

 We wouldn't be doing much exploring of the forest, which was disappointing. Just the 20 minute walk to see Robin Hood's tree. Still, a little bit of the forest was better than none. And that was the main thing I wanted to see.

As I walked through the forest, a boy from Africa introduced himself to me. He too was studying at Swansea University. I told him that I had met a surprising amount of people from Africa here, especially people from Nigeria. All the other African he had met here were from Nigeria as well. Since I also know someone at Sonoma State from Nigeria, we concluded that they are the adventurous ones who go all around the world.

Meanwhile, I was able to spot all of the scenery around me and snap lots of pictures.

Not the thickest of forests, which allowed lots of beautiful sunshine in.

At the end of the path was Robin Hood's tree. This is where he supposedly gathered with his merry men in the forest. Now, it is so old and heavy that they need to hold it up with large sticks. People were gathering bulbs to plant their own oak tree from Robin Hood's. Sadly, I was unable to do this as it was a separate event and I wouldn't be able to bring it back through customs. 

Me and the guy from Africa (I think Kenya specifically) took turns taking pictures of each other in front of the tree. I walked around the area surrounding the tree as well and just imagined Robin Hood and his men running through the forest, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. My flatmate Natalia and I have been watching BBC's Robin Hood (part of why I was so excited about this), and so I pictured those characters in my head.

I took more pictures of the forest on the way back, and nearly everyone in the group took a picture in the trunk of an old tree. Of course I needed one too.

It reminded me of the drive-through redwood tree in California on the way to Oregon.

I picked up a couples souvenirs from the shop before heading back to the bus for our next stop. Since Sherwood Forest is actually an hour away from Nottingham, it was another nap for me. Wollaton Deer Park and Hall was the next destination. The hall was built in the late 1500's and was used as Wayne Manor in the new Batman movies. The park is a deer park and is where people go in order to see deer (funny for me to think as I see them all the time at home, especially living so close to a mountain).

To give an idea of size. This is only the front half.

Very beautiful in fall.

The Hall peeking out from behind the trees.

 I wasn't sure what to expect. I thought that we had a lot of time here to just walk around the park and look at the Hall. What I didn't know, is that we could go inside the Hall for free. It has been transformed into a natural history museum as the Willoughby family that owned it produced a large number of explorers.

 

I am always a fan of artistic architecture, which luckily is never too hard to find in the UK.  Everything is very old and architectural design centuries ago was far more beautiful than most of the things produced today.

Little details on every inch.

These were all around the Hall.

It was equally amazing on the inside. This was definitely a mansion fit for royalty. Details and art were everywhere. Large paintings, murals on the ceilings and walls, rustic fireplaces....astounding.

The ceiling in the entry room. There are many other details all around.

The lighting made it impossible to get a good photo, but you get the general idea.

Aside from the more stately rooms, there were also the many parts that belonged to the natural history museum (the majority, in fact). Taxonomy made up the majority of the museum, as well as many skeletons. There was one room dedicated just to birds with painted backgrounds so that the viewer could imagine them in their natural environment.

There were many rows and columns of these along the wall, while the middle was dedicated to displaying some larger birds.

It was a amazingly large collection of species. I noticed many children their with their parents exploring. A good way to spend the weekend. Both a park to run around in and a museum to educate them.

Me and my cousin. Chimpanzees and humans share a common ancestor.
I remember that much from my biological anthropology class.

After looking around the Hall, I went back outside to meet with the group. Some guy had a sleek black car with the license plate "Batman" on it. The Batmobile outside Wayne Manor! How perfect! This really made my day.

Quite a crowd gathered around it.

After the owner of the vehicle drove away, I checked out the back of the park with the rest of the group. It was even more gorgeous than the front. And perhaps even larger. I could easily see why this was such a popular weekend destination.

The back of the Hall.

A separate building behind the Hall.

I very chill buck that didn't mind pictures at all. Some people got too close
to the point of putting themselves in danger. It noticed, but did not attack.

Nonetheless, I kept my distance.

After that, we headed back to the bus in order to get to the main part of the city. This was easier said than done, as the path the tour guide picked involved crossing a swampy pool of water. There were logs on top that one had to strategically balance on and cross. This was the preferable situation as all around the area was mud.

 

On the other side was a large fenced in area where more deer where. There were about thirty of them, but since they are so fair in color (compared to what I see in California), they were harder to see. They camouflaged in very well with their environment.

I made it larger so that you can kind of see the ones in the very back as well.

The next stop was Nottingham Castle. I personally would have loved to go in and explore, but unfortunately there just was not enough time in the day. I settled for looking at the outside, although I was able to hear that something interesting was happening inside. Another day, perhaps.

Around on the right side is where some demonstration was occurring.

 Mainly what people wanted to do was take a picture in front of the Robin Hood Statue. I, of course, was no exception to this. To be honest, this was one of the things I was most looking forward to. Not many people can say they posed with Robin Hood in front of Nottingham castle. Most definitely a touristy thing...but being a tourist is so much fun!

There were many interesting statues all around. In the background of the photo above, you can see some. There is a statue to the left of Robin Hood and little squares along the back wall. In those squares are actually some little 3D pictures.

A close up look at the statue.

Robin Hood! One of the 3D pictures.

Right next to the castle was the oldest pub (and inn) in England. We didn't get the chance to go inside as at this point we were mainly sightseeing in the last couple of hours we had remaining in Nottingham. The sun was starting to set and we still had a 4+ hour drive back to Swansea University. Still I enjoyed being able to see it.

Afterwards, we had free roam of the city. This was a lot of fun to explore, though after living in the UK and exploring some British cities, they begin to look more and more similar. Which is why you have to look for the things that make them unique. Sure a majority of the stores will be the same, but is there some cool local boutique you can only find here? There probably was, but things here close at around 4 on Sundays (compared to the later 5 or 6 the rest of the week), and so I didn't get to do much of that. Instead, I just wandered around, trusting that google maps would lead me safely back to the meeting spot in the end.

 

I went to Old Market Square and saw the Nottingham City Council House. It was build in the early 1900s, so a very recent building by UK standards. Especially compared to the oldest pub in England that I had just visited.

 

It was built in the Neo-Baroque style, which is characterized by having some features of the Baroque style art, but not being created during that time period. The baraque is characterized by a lot of movement, twists, and turns as far as the art goes. When translated to architecture, it seems this is the result:

 

I wish I could remember more about the architecture from my art history class. As it was, I already had to look up what Neo-Baroque style was since I only remember Baroque. But perhaps it's okay as long as I instead provide a picture of me with the lion statue at the front of the building.

I just walked around the city, taking in the sights and enjoying the general atmosphere. There was a full ensemble with a chorus, which was fun to watch. I think they were a church chorus as the songs they sung were religious ones. A large crowd was gathered around them and we were given papers with the lyrics in order to sing along.

Since I had not yet had dinner, I was a little hungry. There would be a stop on the bus, but not for a couple hours. In the meantime, I went for a "whipped" ice cream. Apparently this is traditional British street ice cream. Traditionally it is also bought with a chocolate "flake" on the side, but I was too cheap for that and just stuck with the ice cream.

It was almost as if someone took whipped cream (the fresh stuff, not canned) and froze it. Heck, I wouldn't even be surprised if that legitimately is the process. It was very thick, yet light tasting at the same time. It was good, but I do think I prefer the soft serve I am used to. A delicious experience nonetheless!

I walked around, ice cream in hand, pretty much loving life. The sad part about these day trips is that they ultimately must come to an end. And although that is true of everything in life, these come to a far quicker end than some.

I almost did not go on this trip. Same thing goes to Snowdonia. I booked Snowdonia on impulse deciding that it is a key feature of Wales and I may never have the chance to see it again. I wanted to go on the original Nottingham trip (before it was moved), but was unable to as it booked quicker than expected. When it reopened, I almost did not go on it due to the fact that it was right after Snowdonia. But I did it anyways despite knowing I would be tired and accepted the fact that I would sleep on the bus.

I am so thankful I went on both as they turned out to be one of my favorite weekends here. They reminded me how much fun it is to travel and explore. After all, I'm only here for a year. Might as well make the most of it. I likely will never be within (long) driving distance of Sherwood Forest again.