Cardiff

May 11

The days leading up to the Cardiff trip we’re clearly guided by Murphy. Nothing seemed to go my way. The situation started on Wednesday when the entire building had to be empty from 9:00-1:00. Apparently they had to disconnect the fire alarm to sync it up with the new dorms. While several others decided to spend the time in the library, I took my computer out to a sunny grass area to eliminate distractions.
After an hour or so of writing journals, I had to go to the lab to plug in. I attempted to turn in my Fundamentalism paper, but Blackboard wouldn’t accept it because it was past to original due date, but still before the final submission date. I tried to print in the lab so I could turn it in to the religion office, even though I didn’t know where that was. Unfortunately, the printer was down due to moisture. After charging for a while, I went and sat outside of the lab, still close enough to use the wireless connection. I continued working on other things for a while.
Running out of options to turn in my paper, I made the 15-minute walk down to the Main Arts Library. I tried to print it down there, since I would have to hand it in there anyways. I was unable to log on to a computer because the domain server was down. I headed back up to Ffriddoedd, as it was past 1:00. When I got to my room, I was unable to connect to the network because the system thought my wireless connection was still connected. I had no choice but to return to the lab where I could connect to the wireless to log out. Then it was back to my room. As a last resort, I emailed my paper into the religion department, explaining my situation.
With one problem resolved, I switched my focus to the 3000-word English Cathedral Music essay I had to finish for Thursday. I would have no trouble writing a 3000-word essay on a topic that I knew, or even cared about, but cathedral music is not one of those topics.
The process for turning in the music paper was long and drawn out, but at least it was smooth. Wednesday night, after calling it quits, I submitted my essay to Blackboard without a problem. On Thursday morning we went down to the library to print out two copies, as per the instructions. Then we walked over to the music building. We had to fill out, attach and stamp submission forms to each copy, in addition signing numerous other sheets to ensure the submission was well documented I suppose. After developing carpal tunnel syndrome from all the ‘red tape’, we attended a meeting regarding out Images final. A trip to Cardiff sounded like a good break from the stress of the past two days.
We were scheduled to leave Ffriddoedd at 8:00 on Friday morning, but as more often then not, someone was late. After stopping to fill the coach with diesel, We headed east towards Chester, before turning south and traveling through Shrewsbury, Leominster, Ludlow and stopping in Hereford, the home of one of Britain’s oldest cathedrals. After a short meeting regarding the rescheduling of the white water rafting excursion and a much needed toilet stop, we wandered into town to find lunch. I enjoyed strawberries and a sandwich before turning our focus to finding the cathedral. With a vague set of directions, we began walking until we saw a small cathedral. We thought we had found what we were looking for until we noticed that it had been converted into a café.
A few blocks later we arrived at the correct cathedral. At first, it didn’t appear much different than the other cathedrals we have visited. It had a café and a gift shop, but it is also home to Mappa Mundi, the 13th century interpretation of the medieval world. Britain is starting to learn from Ireland by charging to see everything. We didn’t pay the £3.50 to see the original map, instead we settled for the duplicates in the gift shop.
Our next stop after Hereford was Tintern Abbey. Located in the Wye Valley on the England/Wales boarder, the abbey ruins were under construction when we visited. After being rebuild in 13th century, Tintern housed some 400 monks. Following dissolution under Henry VIII, the lead roof was stripped and the abbey began to deteriorate. Before continuing our journey we spotted a bird eating a dead sheep floating down the river, and grabbed some ice cream.
Upon arrival in Cardiff, we checked into our hostel and several of us, exhausted from the long day, took a nap. The weather was the nicest we’ve seen so far, and not many building in Wales have air conditioning, so the room was rather warm. We found a pub for dinner, and returned to the hostel to play some cards.
On Saturday morning, we walked to Cardiff Castle for a guided tour. Photography is not permitted inside the castle, so I had to be sneaky. This is the first furnished castle we have toured, so the experience was quite different. Had we not been limited on time, we could have stayed to watch a weapons demonstration, but we had to continue on to Millennium Stadium.
We met inside the gift shop and then watched a short intro video about the stadium. Then we toured the locker room, walked through the tunnel towards the pitch, and climbed to the top row of seats. They even played the Welsh National Anthem for us. We posed for a group picture before being shown the queen’s private box and the championship cup.
Our lunch stop was out at the bay. After our peri chicken lunch at Nando’s, a few of us visited the Welsh National Assembly. It was a very modern looking building, but there was no information about what goes on there and how the Welsh government operates, though Tecwyn did provide the basics. Before boarding the coach, we walked by the slate and copper covered Millennium Building, which houses musical and theatrical performances.
The coach took us out to St Fagans National History Museum. One exhibit I found particularly interesting was the green house. It was a house, not green in color, or for growing plants, but to show green technology as a conservation effort. Many of the building materials were fabricated from recycled materials that would otherwise be sitting in a landfill. After returning to the hostel for dinner, we spent the night experiencing southern Welsh culture.
As we left our hostel, right across the river from Millennium Stadium, we could see and hear a crowd gathered for some promotional event. Some of the students were awaken early in the morning by the crowd, but I didn’t hear anything.
Before leaving town on Sunday, we made a stop at the National Museum in Cardiff. Upon arrival, it looked like just another museum with not much to see, but after looking around for a while, I realized that I could easily spend a few more hours there. I only had time to look at the exhibits about plant and animal life, space travel and evolution. I think more time would have been better spent at the museum rather than in Hay-on-wye.
Hay-on-wye is a small town, not surprisingly, on the bank of the River Wye. It is famous for its collections of books. There are several bookstores throughout the town, even in the Hay Castle. Hay is host to a literature festival every summer. We ate lunch in Hay, before returning to the coach. As we were about to leave, we were notified that the bus would not start.
We first tried, since it was a manual, to push the bus up to speed and pop the clutch. This proved unsuccessful. It seemed as if the engine was not getting fuel. After a while, the drive called for help. Another bus showed up, and the drive attempted to help us out. They tried opening the injectors to make sure they were getting fuel. No luck.
Finally after a few hours, they gave up and called for another bus to pick us up. Apparently, the second bus was needed for school in the morning. After another half hour, the other bus arrived. Just as it did, our driver gave the bus one final try. It started right up, with the assistance of starting fluid in the air intake. The replacement coach followed us for a while to ensure we wouldn’t have any more trouble. After the driver was certain we wouldn’t have any further problems, we continued back to Bangor, only two and a half hours behind schedule.