Wales Watching

I referenced “the morning I had” in the last post, so I suppose I should tell my tale of woe. I am going to make it extremely short because I’ve already told this story in various forms to about five different people and I’m sick of the sound of my own voice. So, this morning …

I seriously needed to blow off steam after the morning I had (more on this later), so I went for a walk in the huge river park right around the corner from Aberdare Hall. I accidentally found the castle. I didn’t go in because if I’m going to pay ten pounds admission, I want a …

I just encountered a blog post written by a fellow UBC student titled “Hell: The Story of a Girl and Her Visa Application.” I feel vindicated. Both International House and Cardiff University advise that you apply for your student visa ahead of time. Being a goody-two-shoes, I started two months in advance. I filled out all …

It occurs to me that the advantage of a blog over a novel (my usual medium) is that I can post pictures instead of long-winded descriptions. Here is Morgan’s Arcade. And here is the exterior of Plan Cafe. I didn’t get a good photo of the inside, but I will try again next time I’m …

Here’s another youth hostel hack: Do not, I repeat do not, fall victim to the sausage. I had the prepaid breakfast. It was a pretty classic British breakfast buffet, with baked beans (probably canned, but tasty), hash browns (how can you screw hash browns up?), butter croissants (delicious), bacon (looked vile; didn’t risk it), and …

The YHA Hostel in Cardiff is nice. The steel bunk beds with the plastic mattresses are a whole lot more comfortable than they look. I have a four-bed room to myself because it’s the off-season. I’ll be here for two days, till my dorm at Cardiff opens. The YHA lobby is clean and welcoming. It …

I was so excited about the idea of taking some aerial photos through the window of the plane to send to my roommate who wants to visit Iceland. With an hour-long layover in Keflavik, I figured I might even get some photos for her from the top floor of the airport. What I hadn’t factored …

This blog was going to be titled “An Introvert’s Guide to Wales,” but in the fine tradition of such Study Abroad classics as “Seoul Searching” and “A Good Sensei Humor,” I have redubbed it “Wales Watching.” I don’t know where this page is going to go when I hit the pink button that says POST. I’ve …