London Adventures: Wales, Spring Break #2: Culture

Pookie wanted us to see as many points of interest in Wales as possible. She and Tonia were taking us places every day, which we thoroughly enjoyed. We got to see remains of a Roman palace and barracks in Newport. It reminded me of the Roman ruins in Plovdiv, one Bulgarian city. It was interesting looking through the remains, but there was one main problem: why, oh, why did it have to be annoying-primary-school-kid-monsters' field trip day?? We were surrounded by them! Hoards of children! Aaaaa! (That's not over-reacting at all ;) Charlie, the poor pup, was going crazy, as he wanted to follow the kids' voices. In the mean time, we wanted Charlie to listen to us and smile for the camera: I was giving him a photo-shoot. In the end, the smarter ones (meaning, of course, us) left the battle and fled away from the kids. Charlie was enjoying it all, though.

The Roman remains (with a few kids in the background)

Charlie jumping through the barracks

Puppy encounters

We also went to downtown Newport for a few hours to look at some of the main attractions there. We visited the museum there and were planning of going in the art gallery, but that was closed for some reason. Instead, we went to a local bookstore and mentally bought some books.

Did you know that there are only 6 transporter bridges in the world, and the biggest, best, and only one still operating is the transporter bridge in Newport? We went to see that famous bridge, but it, too, was closed because of some construction works. Nonetheless, we got a special tour of the small bridge museum by this funny Welsh guy who was in love with the steel construction. Despite telling us the entire history of the bridge, he had fun teasing Rocio because she apparently has a mischevious twin in Newport, and he also made the most random jokes which, if I could understand, were clearly examples of Welsh humor :)

Transporter bridge

The bridge by night

Pookie, Jess, Rocio, Charlie, and I in front of the bridge (at night)

Tonia was out with us for two days. The first time she took us to the Brecon Beacons (a Welsh mountain range) where Rocio, Jess, and I went on a little hike that could have cost us our lives at several points :) Hehe, it wasn't scary, but we had to go through some slippery creeks and walk through unexplored terrains - that was fun! :) I also took up the role of a scout in the end and went ahead to check the route which we had to take to go back to civilization. In the mean time, Jess and Rocio had their wedding portrait taken on top of the hill we were climbing. The random thing was that there was a motor-bikers' convention or something right where we parked our car - and there was nothing there, only hills, bikes, our car, and a burger stand. Charlie had fun sniffing bikers... When we left the Beacons, we were just driving around which gradually made me sleepy. Yes, I discovered that unless I was driving, I was bound to fall asleep (especially in the back seat).

Charlie, the fearless leader, Tonia, Jess, and Rocio

Our second adventure with Tonia was a visit to Big Pit which is an abandoned coal mine that was turned into a mining museum recently. That was exciting and a bit awkward since we were 4 girls in the company of about 20 old, old men... but anyway... Walking around the mine was fun; imagining how people used to work there for long, exhausting hours and how there would be gas explosions and such was scary. The part that frustrated me the most, however, related to the fact that there used to be horses living in the mine; 72 horses with only 6 people caring for them. The animals would spend the entire YEAR underground with only a short two-week break :( What's more, once the horses got older and slightly slower, the miners would not let them be free somewhere on a field, but would simply shoot them! Grr! That made me so sad :'( I'm glad I wasn't a horse back then... At least later that day as we were driving around the mine area, we saw a herd of wild horses by the side of the road and I took some pictures which made my day :)

Big Pit (air view) - we were actually undeground; beyond what you see...

Pookie also took us to the Welsh Ethnic museum which consisted of reconstructions of Welsh houses through the ages. It was a good educational trip, once again hindered by the presence of obnoxious teenage students.. ugh :) Finally, we went to Cardiff, the capital of Wales. There, we visited the National Museum of Wales and Cardiff Castle. Both were impressive! The museum had a small dinosaur display (dinosaurs are the best!) and many interactive activities which caught our interest. Sadly, most of the times we would have to watch movies in Welsh which none of us knew how to speak... we still had fun, though. As for Cardiff Castle, I personally recommend that place. It's so vibrantly decorated (in the 19th century Gothic Revival style, with lots of ornaments, golden paint, and animal images) and includes a tour of both the newer parts of the castle (12th-15th century), as well as to the 11th century tower inside the castle's courtyard. Cardiff was a good addition to our Welsh cultural trip, and, as Pookie said, we can't go to a country and not visit the capital (especially when it's 30 mins away from where we were).