Dec 26, 2012 - Navy's travels at Christmas

Dear Max and classmates, Nadolig Llawen! (that's Happy Christmas in Welsh). I decided to take a bit of a rest and spend Christmas in Wales with Max's family there. Yesterday was Christmas Day and we had a lovely Christmas Dinner and lots of presents. Today we went to a soccer game (my first one!) and watched Cardiff City beat Crystal Palace 2-1. It is traditional in the U.K. that soccer is played on Boxing Day. I plan to start my travels again soon and will be off to London shortly. Attached are photos of me with Max's cousin, Elijah, me...

Nov 21, 2012 - Navy in Cardiff, UK

Hello MAX, I've travelled nearly 6,000 miles to visit your grandparents in Cardiff the capital city of Wales, one of the four countries that are part of the United Kingdom, also called Great Britain. I've been to a rugby match at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff and the large crowd sang the Welsh National Anthem in the Welsh language before the Wales team played against the Samoa team. Unfortunately Wales lost, but we still had lots of fun. Love from Navy

Oct 7, 2012 - Return to Cardiff

We arrive in the dining room for breakfast, and with no one is about to serve us we start helping ourselves. The waitress arrives and says she didn’t know we were there, and we should have rung the bell. What bell?, we ask, and are told there is one at the door. That there is, but no sign telling us to use it! Breakfast at the Royal Breakwater is another wonderful full English, and we leave for Cardiff around 10.30am. We fill up with petrol on the way £39, and stop for a quick snack at lunch time. We are pleased to see that the long...

Oct 2, 2012 - Paris to Cardiff

Monday 1st October Day 16 Paris – London – Cardiff The 6am wake up came far too soon for some, but we had to pack, have breakfast, and be ready to leave on the bus by 8am. Liam comes over to Tony to apologise, and when asked if he knows why has to admit he doesn’t. Tony gets the camera out and shows him, he is highly embarrassed especially when shown the ones of him groping his own Father. It doesn’t take long to get to Gare du Nord train station, we are there by 8.40 and then had to wait on the bus until a porter arrived to take our...

Sep 22, 2012 - Cardiff and the British Cheese Festival

On a whim (and cause one of my friends was going), I packed my bags and headed to Cardiff for the weekend. It also turned out to be the weekend of the British Cheese Festival at Cardiff Castle. Arriving on Friday, I had hesitations for the weather as it rained for most of the bus ride. Saturday however, dawned bright and beautiful. This lead to a day of food and frivolity as we feasted way too much cheese and drank not enough ale, cider and liquor. It meant lying on the lawn eating awesome roast pork rolls and listening to some pretty cool...

Jul 27, 2012 - Cardiff

This was one of my favorite parts of the trip. Lisa and I took a train to Cardiff and walked the market, ate at the mall, and then went to the Cardiff Castle. This site has been a Roman Garrison, a Norman stronghold and then was reconstructed during Victorian times. After a while, many castles look like just more of the same, but this one was designed like none other I've seen. There was a lot of unusual stained glass, very orate ceilings, and the inlaid wood and carvings were unique. The grounds were so big that many families picnicked...

Jun 27, 2012 - Museum of Welsh Life

Near the capital city of Wales, Cardiff, is one of Europe's foremost open air museums: St. Fagan's National History Museum, named the Museum of Welsh Life. We had 4 hours to see the late 16th century manor house and its many lovely gardens plus 40 original Welsh buildings moved in from various parts of Wales. All this was in a 100-acre parkland so it felt like an old village with trees and animals grazing. We really enjoyed our visit here and our lunch in the quaint tea room where I had traditional Welsh rarebit (very good!). The rain held...

Jun 26, 2012 - Ferry from Ireland to Wales

We had to get up at 5:45 to have eaten and gotten ready to roll by 7:15 to drive the 10 km. To the car ferry dock. Our 4 hour ride was boring because of the heavy fog all the way. Ivan worked on editing photos while I read a novel and did a bit of tatting. We docked in Pembroke, Wales at 12:45. After a stop to eat lunch in our rigs we drove on into some fog and then rain to our campground in Cardiff Wales, the capital city. We got in early enough that I could use the one washer and dryer and get a load of laundry done. Note: I miss...

Jun 16, 2012 - Torchwood and Tardis huntin'

Facebook album link - anyone can view the album of photos, copy and paste this link: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151832539360707.861998.746395706&type=3&l=ca5f2eab62 Day 5: Cardiff Sadly Tony cannot stay in the studio unit tonight – well he could, but it is pricey. He packs his bags and leaves them in Cynthea’s room after the girls leave. It is a free morning for the tour group before heading back to London around noon. The weather is rubbish, but a few head out to take the castle tour at 10am. Tony and Clare decide to head...

Jun 7, 2012 - Caernarfon to Cardiff

Facebook album link - anyone can view the album of photos, copy and paste this link: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151806885285707.858547.746395706&type=3&l=d5b859f334 Day 4: Caernarfon to Cardiff We have a cooked breakfast this morning, but we don’t have time for too much as we were a bit later than we hoped getting downstairs. We have to be at the bus stop across the road by 8.30. Today is the longest travel day as we go all the way to Cardiff in the south. We travel to Aberystwyth for lunch, we are told THE BEST fish and...

Apr 15, 2012 - Wales - Cardiff

8th April 2012 Easter Sunday- Wales (Bed No 12) This was our first ever Easter without the family. We tried to contact the relatives but had problems with the internet. A short drive into Cardiff and Nero,s cafe solved the problem (Love those internet cafes!) As usual, the family gathered at the same place for Easter dinner. It was at Sue & Walter’s house this year making it easy to talk to the whole family using Skype in the one location. It is difficult sitting in a public area trying to talk to so many people while keeping your voice as...

Mar 21, 2012 - My last hours in Wales and the travel home

Today I will spend my last hours in Wales. This travel has been a really fascinating experience. But unfortunately, you have to go home sometime. My flight departs from Cardiff international airport at 10:00 am, so now I have to eat up my brekfast (real british breakfast) and take a taxi to the airport. Goodbye! P.S: I will take some pictures of the hotel and the airport!