Swansea, Mumbles, and Cardiff.

Cardiff has been absolutely amazing. The sun has been out for the last two days, and I'm actually beaming I'm so happy. It's the weather; you can't be sad in the sun with good company.

Yesterday Chris, the local guy from the bar, and I met up at Central Station in Cardiff and went out to Swansea and Mumbles for the day. We got into Swansea and just walked around, and tried to figure out how to get to Mumbles, which felt impossible but we finally got it. There were cute dogs all over the place, so petting a couple of them made me happy happy, but also made me miss my rone. It's all good, dog time goes fast, right?

We finally found the right bus and hopped on for a quick ride to Mumbles. Walked around, looked in some book stores and such, and found the beach. Despite the clouds, it was refreshing to be near the ocean again. And Chris was great company. I never do anything with people I meet during the day, so it was a nice change. We found a pub to eat at, and had lunch after one of the hardest times I've had during my vegan life to order. It's all good, I just hate being fussy!

Headed back towards Swansea, looked at some pricey Love Spoons - a traditional Welsh gift you give to people as wedding gifts, birthday presents, etc. They were nice, but too much, and I wouldn't know what to do with a big one! The clouds literally parted and it got super hot and sunny out, so we found a center area with all these steps in the middle of Swansea and sat for over an hour, chatting and tanning and people watching. Was very relaxing, and hot for a change!! A change that better stick!

Then we headed back to Cardiff. There were 4 boys on a "bachelor party" in my room, so I had planned to get a few drinks with them last night, but ended up falling asleep in my jeans after putting my head on the pillow, no kidding. Woke up at midnight with a very hot laptop on my chest! The "bachelors party" is in quotations because I'm pretty sure they were bullshitting, but I still can't fully tell. They were an odd bunch for sure, but good entertainment at the least, and perma-drunk. James woke up literally sleeping on chips that he doesn't remember getting last night. Had quite a laugh at that this morning! All seemed very nice though, would have like to get to know them more. Anyways, today Chris and I had lunch at the Vegetarian Food Studio in Cardiff. We found it on a whim, in a more dodgy area, and had vegan Indian food. I just about killed Chris because it was soooo spicy, but after a jug of water and an "ice lolly" we survived. It's hilarious the words people use over here. Like I could listen to him talk all day it's so funny. Normal for him, but cool for me. A bit the other way around too, but I got more of a kick out of him for sure. We walked down to a park and watched some beer league cricket. It was awesome! Chris found the skill level highly embarassing, but I loved it. The very lazy outfielders made it even better.

We then walked back towards my hostel, passing through a fair, which was loud but cool. Chris carried my bag to the train station, which was an awesome break, and after we parted ways I made my way to Bath. I had started reading a new book I picked up in Swansea, and blasted my music because I knew my train ride was over an hour and a half, but in-between songs when the conductor called out that we were in Salisbury, 45 minutes on the other side of Bath, I freaked out a little to say the least, as it was late on a Sunday night and I prayed I could get a train back! The conductor was really nice and told me to sprint to the other side of the tracks to catch the train in 2 minutes to Bath, which I promptly did. And the conductor on the other side even filled up my water bottle at the first stop we came to! So cute, such nice old conductor men helping out the frazzled, lost Canadian girl! I swear the patch on my bag gets me perks Anyways, I'm in Bath now, in the bar of my sweet hostel, waiting for tomorrow to head out and explore! My 12-bed hostel room is empty except for an aussie girl and a guy from London, Ontario, so I should have an amazing sleep, depending only on if the springs don't jab into my shoulders like they did last night. Hostel beds are not of good quality. Anyways Trevor, from Canada, and I had a good chat. His older brother works for TD as well! "In a call center not in India" lol. Anyways, off to bed, I've had a long but wonderful day