Vacation Summary
Ok i’m sick of the rain, the sheep, and the sound of the waves crashing into the break wall behind our caravan! I love Wales but it is like going up north in Michigan… only a couple days and you’re done. I actually love the sheep because the baby lambs are out and about and it’s spring time. I could do without the constant rain though. I don’t have a solid internet connection here, so it’s patchy at best. I get a couple minutes here and there. I’m connected now and i’m trying to write this blog in the few minutes I have with it. I’ve managed to pay my bills and email a couple folks in the few minutes i’ve had.
Let see, we’ve done a lot in the last few days. We get a lot done. We went to Beaumaris Castle and the old prison in Beaumaris a couple days ago. That is your more traditional castle with a moat. Again, you’ll find pics of it on my photo album at Google. I haven’t labeled any of them yet so you’ll have to work out which ones are which. The castle with the moat is Beaumaris and the castle with the Welsh flag on top is Harlech castle.
Today we went on a slate mine tour somewhere in a town that starts with Ll (which is a lot here). We took a train deep down and it was really interesting. Chris loved it, but it was dark so Andrew didn’t like it much. He spent the whole time screaming.
We drove around Wales for a couple hours today in the rain… so we didn’t get in much scenery. We drove on each side of the Cadir Idiris moutain chain, went to Dogellelau (dog-el-lee), drove down a 6ft wide road towards who-knows-where. I have figured that you are more likely to die in a head-on collision here than anywhere else in the world. People fly around these really skinny roads at a hundred miles per hours without regard to the fact that someone could be just around a bend. Matt slams on his breaks here more than anywhere else.
We are sick unfortunately… starting with Andrew. He gave it to everyone, including his grandparents, mom and dad. My grandma was found on the bathroom floor the other morning, and she has pneumonia so now she is in the hospital again, just one month later. My bastard cousin Rusty had the nerve to call her and tell her that he’d take my aunt Jan there to see her, and he was knocked down rather quickly. My grandma told him she didn’t feel well and hung up. She doesn’t want anything to do with him… let alone her good for nothing daughter who practically abandoned her.
Anyhow, i’m just sitting here watching BBC News. The big story here is some British 4 year old girl whose gone missing in Portugal. That is the main story. The other big story is about Shambo the bull who is about to be euthanized because he has bovine TB. The hindu’s are forming a human chain to prevent it. Aside from the missing girl case, news is slow here. I think the movie Hot Fuzz coming out will completely describe crime in the UK!
Andrew and Chris are being horribly bad! Their manners quickly died about two days after arriving. Now they are driving everybody nuts with screaming and uncontrollable play. Today we had lamb chops, peas and potatoes for dinner. That was good but i’m freakin sick of peas and potatoes. Yesterday we had baked potatoes with cheese and peas for dinner. Peas Peas Peas every single day, ha ha… these British things. The only food i’m starting to favor over here are the breakfasts. They have always been my favorite anyhow. I like fried toast, eggs, beans, mushrooms and back bacon. All have to be cooked in sunflower oil to taste British. I hate their breakfast sausages, they are horrible and bland.
When we get back into the Birmingham area i’ll be glad for the food choices. Wales closes at like 5p.m. everyday so there is no choice of doing anything including shopping. Brits have this morbid thought that every single day life ends at 5p.m. No restaurants, shopping, etc. I take that back, Chucks American Diner in downtown Barmouth is open past 5p.m. but their American food tastes like crap. The pizza cheese is good, but the burgers taste like cardboard and the pizza crust is more like chef boyardee boxed pizzas! At least when we get back to the Birmingham area we can do stuff ‘after hours’! A good indian meal sounds great! A meal at the Little Chef restaurant or even at one of the Welcome Breaks. For someone like me who can’t eat squat, i’m sure dying for something edible here!
I had a look at the bank account this morning after I had an internet connection and everything we buy in pounds is costing twice as much in dollars. We went to the grocery store and spent 12 pounds and it cost $25. It didn’t used to be that bad. The US dollar is worth 50 cents to one british pound. It sucks!
I love this place and it’s so beautiful but the kids are being bad and the weather sucks. Ah well, hopefully when we get back in town the weather will clear up and we can do more. It rains all the time in Wales and it’s windy and chilly!! I love being on the ocean though!
Ok the first two days of our trip overseas!
Wow today and yesterday were such long days. The Welsh days are very long. It gets light around 4:30a.m. and right now it’s almost 10:00p.m. and the sky still isn’t completely dark! I do not understand why because I’m fairly certain that the UK is almost just as far north as Michigan is.
I don’t even know what day it is today… Ok, it’s Sunday because I had to look up today’s date. I’m journaling in word since my connection isn’t up! I miss having my email, and unless I can get the password to Sunnysands’ hotspot, I won’t have email for another 5 days! Tomorrow is Julie’s birthday and I won’t be able to call her and wish her a happy birthday – I don’t think. I will have to see if Matt’s moms’ cell phone has enough money on it to make a couple international calls. Is today mother’s day?? I have no idea if it is or not. This is bothering me. I’d hate to call my mom tomorrow and find out that it was. I will have to take both Julie and my mom out for dinner sometime when I get back. Boy I am wishing I was home already. My vacation is great, I just miss home. The boys are having a great time, but they are starting to break into their normal behavior routine, which isn’t fun when you’re on vacation!
What did we do yesterday….. well nothing really. We walked the beach a couple times. We are located on Cardigan Bay which is in the Irish Sea, which in turn opens into the Atlantic. Of course it is salt water, and it is very cold because it connects to the North Atlantic. Chris was determined to go swimming in it though, so first thing this morning before the rain decided to pour we got them both in their swimsuits. We went out onto the beach when the tide was out and Chris took one splash in and came right back out. After they decided it was too cold, we walked the beach for an hour looking for crabs and shrimp. We found a few and Matt taunted them with a big stick. Stupid me…. I was looking for nice shells along the beach and I seen this pretty clearish looking one with four purple circles… I went to pick it up and ohhhhhhh my god it was a jelly fish. I was so disgusted and thankful I didn’t get stung. I had never seen one before and it kinda looked like a breast implant, except thinner and most likely had the texture of one as well (I have never felt an implant, mind you). Gross. A few minutes later Matt found a live jelly fish in one of the puddles left behind from the tide going out. That is also where we found most of the crabs.
After walking the b
each for a while we decided there wouldn’t be a better time to take them to the swimming pool. It was located indoors and was nicely heated. I have an issue with it though because it is chlorinated salt water. It tasted really yucky! Matt’s parents were surprised when I told them it was salty.
When we were done swimming we left for the trailer and got the boys dressed. We went up to Harlech, Wales to take them to Harlech castle, which is a ruin of a 12th century castle. The inside of the castle was gone, but the complete exterior and castle towers were still there to walk up in. I have a lot of nice pictures on my Google photo album. Chris was convinced that this was the castle from Army of Darkness. It even had a covered (grated) well, one similar to that in the beginning of the movie where a dead nasty woman pops out of.
After doing some sightseeing in the castle we proceeded on to Porthmadog, Wales. I keep calling it “Port My Dog” because I can’t pronounce it right. I can’t pronounce any Welsh cities right. Ll is pronounced with a “chla” I think. Like the city of Llanberis, Llangollen or other ones. Most start with Ll. We are located in Gwynedd which I can’t pronounce either. Matt went to the Univ. of Wales so he knows how to say everything. On the way up here we passed through Betswy Coed, which I think is pronounced “Bet Swee Coy’d”. In Porthmadog we ate at a café and I had some mushroom stroganoff which was good, but not great. The kids had some “chips”, which Chris refused to refer to them as chips. They had to be fries. When we were done there we walked through the town and looked at a couple shops. We went into a Woolworth, which we haven’t seen around the US in many years!
When we got back we just sat around the trailer because it is horrible out. When it rains here it pours. I took a nap and was awakened to what I thought was thunder, but it turns out that the seas were rough and were breaking off of the rocks a few feet away.
When I woke up we had dinner, and I have to say, it is not my dinner style. Matt’s mom made us instant mashed potatoes, canned peas, cold corned beef (from a can) and instant gravy. It was different, and it was ok, but a typical British meal! I wish I had something American or Italian. A good hearty plate of chicken parmesan or spaghetti. I could go for fried chicken too (breast only). The problem is, is that even if I buy the ingredients over here, it still won’t taste right for some reason. And those darn new potatoes… why can’t I find them in our grocery stores? We have them in Michigan, but they are canned. I love fresh new potatoes. They are not the same as the little red ones or small white potatoes at Meijer.
Tomorrow we are off to the Isle of Anglesey, which is in North Wales just on the other side of the Menai bridge (in Bangor). We are going to a prison and a supposed haunted bookstore. I tried to go to the bookstore back when I first came here about 8 years ago, but because it took Matt such a long time to make it there we only made it after it closed. I have no idea what else we are going to do tomorrow.
I brought up the idea today to go to Manchester in the North Country, as well as another place called the Burton Priory but that idea was tossed out fairly quickly. The Manchester museum has an awesome Egyptian collection, but it is a bit of a drive. The Burton Priory is a ruined “church” I guess you would call it. It looks great from the pics, but again, too far to drive right now.
We are driving this crazy rental car right now, which is a manual transmission and it literally gets 50 miles to a gallon on this eco-turbo-diesel fuel it takes. It’s some sort of a Vauxhall. I’m quite shocked at its efficiency. Matt’s dad says most new cars are that efficient. Why can’t the US manage cars like this? Gas right now over here is 95p per litre. Considering there are 4 liters in a gallon, that means it is 3.80pds per gallon. When you convert pounds into dollars that totals out to be $7.60 per gallon of gas. This explains why cars are more efficient, but still. Today it cost us $91 to fill up the gas tank (yes, $91!) It is a 12 gallon tank. This is why driving long distances isn’t such a wise decision at the moment. If we drove everywhere it would cost us thousands in gas. I don’t see how people survive on their wages here…. Maybe that’s why everyone takes the bus, rail or underground. People drive like nuts over here anyway so better to not take a car! In the back country all the roads are lined with hundreds year old stone walls, and I swear Matt has almost taken the side of the car off several times. He comes so close because the roads can barely handle two cars. He flies through the mountain roads like everyone else does, at about 80mph and only slows down where there are speed cameras (which we need in Michigan).
As of today I don’t even remember my flight over here! My tranquilizers must have done a number to my memory. I remember sitting on the tarmac inside the plane telling Chris we were getting ready to take off. He thought we were flying when we were just sitting on the ground, and I remember I kept telling him that we hadn’t left yet. Then I remember Matt telling me they passed me up for my meal, and he grabbed the attendants’ attention and told him Chris and I wanted chicken. I remember picking at my food and cutting a piece for Chris. Then I remember looking at my seat back screen realizing we only had like an hour of the flight left and I was so happy. I don’t remember landing, and I don’t remember exiting the plane really. I barely remember passport control and trying to tell the woman where we were going. I remember her telling Matt to bring his British passport next time so she can stamp his citizenship in his American passport. I don’t remember driving out of the airport to Matt’s parent’s house.
