Wales

Of all of the places that I have been so far, Wales has, in my opinion, been the most beautiful. I may have missed some countryside on the way there, because as per usual I was napping, but when I woke up I saw a huge castle nestled into the rolling hills of Conwy. It was pretty cool. It was also pretty terrifying to drive through as out bus was literally the size of some of the streets we were on. Our bus driver, however, is a pro and only bottomed out like twice. If I had been driving, the bus would no longer have a floor.

We arrived on Friday and took a tour of the oldest standing, non-castle building in Conwy, called the Aberconwy House. It was pretty awesome to be in a building with so much history, but we were also in a very small building stuffed full of Americans. It was hard to breath without getting some American hair in your mouth. After that we were all free for the night, so we walked around some charity shops (I FINALLY got a jacket), and ate dinner at a really really tasty fish and chips shop. I have never before understood the appeal of fish and chips, but let me tell you, freshly caught fish with some chips is highly appealing.

The next day we drove to the biggest coastal town in Wales, Llandudno. I honestly thought I was in a retirement community in Florida or something. It was a very cool town, but you could tell it was the off season. So we walked around amongst the elderly, went shell picking, and some people even explored some little caves off the beach. Plus I found my elephant.    :)

Now for the most part Wales was awesome. There was one small problem with the trip, however. The teachers who go on these trips with us, and know for a fact how much time on the weekends we have to work on homework, assigned me so much stuff due for Monday that I had basically no free time at night to walk around and explore Conwy. So while some people sat on castle walls and watched fireworks, I sat on my butt and read Henry IV Part 1. Both nights. So fun.

The last day we were there we took a bus tour of Snowdonia, a mountain range in the north of Wales. Now, don't get me wrong, I saw a lot of it and it was all gorgeous, but our tour guide had such a lulling voice that I... fell asleep. Total shocker, I know. But I still saw most of it, and got to eat some of the most delicious ice cream I have ever tasted. Plus, we all watched a slate cutting presentation, and how cool is that? Now towards the end of this tour we started to here whispers from the front. Bad whispers. Apparently when we bottomed out, we broke something with the belt on the bus which was screwing with the ventilation or some crap. This meant that we either had to wait for another bus to come take us home, or get the part replaced. Now, I am a good student. I always get my work done, and I had assumed that I would have all of Sunday night to write two papers. Umm no. We were supposed to get home at 6, we did not even leave Llandudno until 10 p.m. I did not even start writing my papers until 12:30. So so fun.

Of course while we were stuck in Llandudno, we made the most of it (with a lot of grumbling, naturally). We started out by playing Hide and Seek in the Dark (hide and seek where you have to get to a certain spot to be safe) and then moved on to Sardines. Now in this game one person hides and everyone else looks for them. When you find them you hide with them, and the last person to find the group becomes it. It was the second round of the game and we were all just sort of walking around when all of a sudden someone took off towards the bus. We all knew what this meant, so naturally we all took off running too. Some of you may not know this, but I come from a long line of giant klutzes. I took like ten steps, tripped over my own feet, and took what I have been assured was an absolutely magnificent face plant. Now I had some momentum going from all the running, and I literally skidded on the asphalt. I looked SO cool. Rest assured family, I am carrying on our traditions in England.