Saturday, November 1st
Woke up early this morning to pack and head out for my weekend trip to Wales. We got breakfast and met up with the tour bus by 8:30. It is the same tour company, International Friends, that we used for the trip to Stratford Upon Avon, and the same guide as well. I am very impressed with this company, and the guide in particular is very informative and pleasant. The itinerary is always action packed and very interesting. The group was 15 people, so that also helped for a smaller, less crowded experience.
We drove for about two hours before making our first stop in Chester, England, with a slight delay having to stop to let a man unload his sheep from the middle of the road. Last year, I played Chester, by (It’s killing me that I can’t remember or find it online… someone help?), so it was interesting to spend some time here and get the English countryside atmosphere. Chester is a big site for the English Civil War, and there is much debate that the Romans actually intended for this city to be groomed as the main city of England. Obviously, London (Londinium) became the larger power. I learned that ‘Cester’ is the Roman word for settlement, and that is why so many other English towns have that variation in their names: ex- Gloucester, Manchester, etc. The Saxons set up the town as a defensive settlement against Viking raids, and many of the churches have high towers for look-outs, and the rest of the inside would have been used as a shelter.
In our time here, we began looking through Chester Castle, which was the ruins of an old Norman Castle. We also got to see a church which showed the rivalry between the English and the Welsh. The clock tower on the church only had three sides, missing a clock on the side facing Wales as to ‘not give the Welsh the time of day.’ The stores in the city had two main levels, the workshop and the store, because of the layout of the bedrock in the Medieval and Tudor times.
There is a certain coziness that these English towns hold, with the cobblestone paths, hills, trees, and small townhouses. The buildings are all brick, or white mortar bound together with dark wooden posts. W continued to walk through the small side streets of the city, and eventually wound up at a huge, old graveyard at the edge of the river. It was beautiful with all of the colors of fall in the trees, and the grave stones were hundreds, if not over a thousand years old, and were each so intricate and delicate with detail. Some of them had collapsed because they were so old. It reminded us of reading the scenes in Harry Potter in the graveyards, with such expanse, hills, and the overall feel of the area. We walked around in here for a while, exploring the antiquity and delicacy of the area. It amazes me how deep of a history these countries have that we have seen, and how truly young America really is.
We made our way down to the river, and jumped over the edge of the hill to the path to continue our ‘off the beaten path’ journey of Chester. We walked by the river in the woods for a bit, and then made our way to a huge, beautiful stone bridge. It was getting close to the time we needed to meet back by the bus to head out to our next destination, so we decided to head back to the bus over the beautiful view of the river on the bridge and past the racecourses, to the parking lot next to the castle ruins where we started.
We finally made it to Wales, and stopped in the town of Conwy. The Welsh are definitely proud NOT to be English, and you can see that in their spelling. It is impossible to pronounce anything because vowels are missing everywhere. Signs are all in English and in Welsh and the further north you go, the less English is spoken.
Conwy was a beautiful city along the coast of the Irish Sea, with a great view of the mountains as well. We got to walk around Conwy Castle, which was constructed in 1283 and took four years to build by the work of 15,000 men under the rule of King Edward I. He was a very militaristic ruler, and was part of the time of William Wallace (Braveheart anyone?), as we learned much of their connection on the trip.
We walked further along the coast, past tons and tons of old, worn boats washed up on the shore. It definitely felt like your English fishing town atmosphere. The gray sky and seagulls all over definitely contributed to this scene. We walked up to the ‘smallest house in Britain’ and got touristy pictures taken, and then were allowed some time to explore on our own. The main part of the city was enclosed with a giant wall connecting to the fortress, the castle, so we decided to take a walk on this wall. The view of the city, the coast, the hills, and the mountains was incredible from up here.
After walking around on these stone walls for a while, it was time to head back for a short drive to the other side of the Isle of Angelsey (the last stronghold of the druids), to Llandudno, where we would be staying for the night. We learned that Lord Mosten owned much of the land around Wales, comparable to the Grovesnor family that we have learned a little about in England, owning much around England, including the Marble Arch area. We checked into our hotel (notice I didn’t say HOSTEL) which was SUPER nice! Our rooms had a tv, a water heater and a basket of tea, coffee, hot chocolate, incredibly comfortable beds (ya know the ads on tv where you push your hand onto the mattress and the handprint stays there? Yea, that’s what it was like… mmmm), and an incredible view out of the window to the coast and the mountains. The tide was low, and the view of the coast was beautiful lit up at night.
After we were done being incredibly satisfied with this luxurious space, we decided to explore the town a bit, and grab a bite to eat. We walked all around the town, but it was rather quiet, and not too much was going on at all, which was rather surprising since it was only 6:30 or so on a Saturday night.
We ended up going to this Indian restaurant to get some take-out to bring back to the hotel, and the waiter/owner noticed our American accents and instantly became very interested in us. He immediately asked us who we were voting for, and then laughed, telling him how it was interesting to us how Europeans are so open about asking such questions since in America, it is a rather private matter. We did tell him, and that spurred a rather interesting conversation for the next hour or so on all kinds of political and economic matters.
The way that he approached it was what made me so interested. He was so friendly and personable, and sincerely just wanted to see our perspectives on matters, comparing them to his own. He had several opposing views, and several the same as us, but he didn’t attack us on any of the issues, or say that one was wrong or right, but explored both sides of the matter, examining all aspects to the degree he could on the issues… which far surpassed ours to be honest.
Anyway, what made him so unique was that he sincerely wanted to hear our side of the story, even though we were only college students. He studies much on American and Russian politics and the way that it will affect Great Britain, and the global community. It was great talking with him; you could tell that he really was a very smart man. It reminded me of the man we met from Iraq, who just wanted to share with us effects and perspectives of global events.
By the end of the evening he kept telling us about how he loves making friends and talking to those in other countries and how he loved talking with us. We exchanged e-mails and he sent us one right away. I received it when I got back home:
Hi Jenny !
Woke up early this morning to pack and head out for my weekend trip to Wales. We got breakfast and met up with the tour bus by 8:30. It is the same tour company, International Friends, that we used for the trip to Stratford Upon Avon, and the same guide as well. I am very impressed with this company, and the guide in particular is very informative and pleasant. The itinerary is always action packed and very interesting. The group was 15 people, so that also helped for a smaller, less crowded experience.
We drove for about two hours before making our first stop in Chester, England, with a slight delay having to stop to let a man unload his sheep from the middle of the road. Last year, I played Chester, by (It’s killing me that I can’t remember or find it online… someone help?), so it was interesting to spend some time here and get the English countryside atmosphere. Chester is a big site for the English Civil War, and there is much debate that the Romans actually intended for this city to be groomed as the main city of England. Obviously, London (Londinium) became the larger power. I learned that ‘Cester’ is the Roman word for settlement, and that is why so many other English towns have that variation in their names: ex- Gloucester, Manchester, etc. The Saxons set up the town as a defensive settlement against Viking raids, and many of the churches have high towers for look-outs, and the rest of the inside would have been used as a shelter.
In our time here, we began looking through Chester Castle, which was the ruins of an old Norman Castle. We also got to see a church which showed the rivalry between the English and the Welsh. The clock tower on the church only had three sides, missing a clock on the side facing Wales as to ‘not give the Welsh the time of day.’ The stores in the city had two main levels, the workshop and the store, because of the layout of the bedrock in the Medieval and Tudor times.
There is a certain coziness that these English towns hold, with the cobblestone paths, hills, trees, and small townhouses. The buildings are all brick, or white mortar bound together with dark wooden posts. W continued to walk through the small side streets of the city, and eventually wound up at a huge, old graveyard at the edge of the river. It was beautiful with all of the colors of fall in the trees, and the grave stones were hundreds, if not over a thousand years old, and were each so intricate and delicate with detail. Some of them had collapsed because they were so old. It reminded us of reading the scenes in Harry Potter in the graveyards, with such expanse, hills, and the overall feel of the area. We walked around in here for a while, exploring the antiquity and delicacy of the area. It amazes me how deep of a history these countries have that we have seen, and how truly young America really is.
We made our way down to the river, and jumped over the edge of the hill to the path to continue our ‘off the beaten path’ journey of Chester. We walked by the river in the woods for a bit, and then made our way to a huge, beautiful stone bridge. It was getting close to the time we needed to meet back by the bus to head out to our next destination, so we decided to head back to the bus over the beautiful view of the river on the bridge and past the racecourses, to the parking lot next to the castle ruins where we started.
We finally made it to Wales, and stopped in the town of Conwy. The Welsh are definitely proud NOT to be English, and you can see that in their spelling. It is impossible to pronounce anything because vowels are missing everywhere. Signs are all in English and in Welsh and the further north you go, the less English is spoken.
Conwy was a beautiful city along the coast of the Irish Sea, with a great view of the mountains as well. We got to walk around Conwy Castle, which was constructed in 1283 and took four years to build by the work of 15,000 men under the rule of King Edward I. He was a very militaristic ruler, and was part of the time of William Wallace (Braveheart anyone?), as we learned much of their connection on the trip.
We walked further along the coast, past tons and tons of old, worn boats washed up on the shore. It definitely felt like your English fishing town atmosphere. The gray sky and seagulls all over definitely contributed to this scene. We walked up to the ‘smallest house in Britain’ and got touristy pictures taken, and then were allowed some time to explore on our own. The main part of the city was enclosed with a giant wall connecting to the fortress, the castle, so we decided to take a walk on this wall. The view of the city, the coast, the hills, and the mountains was incredible from up here.
After walking around on these stone walls for a while, it was time to head back for a short drive to the other side of the Isle of Angelsey (the last stronghold of the druids), to Llandudno, where we would be staying for the night. We learned that Lord Mosten owned much of the land around Wales, comparable to the Grovesnor family that we have learned a little about in England, owning much around England, including the Marble Arch area. We checked into our hotel (notice I didn’t say HOSTEL) which was SUPER nice! Our rooms had a tv, a water heater and a basket of tea, coffee, hot chocolate, incredibly comfortable beds (ya know the ads on tv where you push your hand onto the mattress and the handprint stays there? Yea, that’s what it was like… mmmm), and an incredible view out of the window to the coast and the mountains. The tide was low, and the view of the coast was beautiful lit up at night.
After we were done being incredibly satisfied with this luxurious space, we decided to explore the town a bit, and grab a bite to eat. We walked all around the town, but it was rather quiet, and not too much was going on at all, which was rather surprising since it was only 6:30 or so on a Saturday night.
We ended up going to this Indian restaurant to get some take-out to bring back to the hotel, and the waiter/owner noticed our American accents and instantly became very interested in us. He immediately asked us who we were voting for, and then laughed, telling him how it was interesting to us how Europeans are so open about asking such questions since in America, it is a rather private matter. We did tell him, and that spurred a rather interesting conversation for the next hour or so on all kinds of political and economic matters.
The way that he approached it was what made me so interested. He was so friendly and personable, and sincerely just wanted to see our perspectives on matters, comparing them to his own. He had several opposing views, and several the same as us, but he didn’t attack us on any of the issues, or say that one was wrong or right, but explored both sides of the matter, examining all aspects to the degree he could on the issues… which far surpassed ours to be honest.
Anyway, what made him so unique was that he sincerely wanted to hear our side of the story, even though we were only college students. He studies much on American and Russian politics and the way that it will affect Great Britain, and the global community. It was great talking with him; you could tell that he really was a very smart man. It reminded me of the man we met from Iraq, who just wanted to share with us effects and perspectives of global events.
By the end of the evening he kept telling us about how he loves making friends and talking to those in other countries and how he loved talking with us. We exchanged e-mails and he sent us one right away. I received it when I got back home:
Hi Jenny !
It was lovely to meet you & your friends in my restaurant. I love making friends around the world. I have good set of friends I keep in touch by email. I hope you will find time to stay in touch also.I enjoyed having your perspective on the current affairs that face us all, in one way or another.Anyway I wish you and your friends a pleasant stay in our country. I wish you all a very successful life in your prospective carreers after your university years.If you are in my part of the country, please look me up & it would be a pleasure if you stay with me & my small family. My family consist of my wife Tanya & my 11 year old daughter Zaina. Tanya teaches Psycology to A' level & degree students at the college and I run my various businesses. I also undertake private clients in representing commercial cases in court time to time.Well that's my life in short ! I hope I dodnt bore you to much!I haven't visited the USA yet although I have travelled extensively in Europe and Russia. Well ! I may well explore your country also when time allows!!!Anyway I wish you all the best & hope to hear from you soon!
Your friend Tahir Saleem Ahmed Rana (TSAR) Steve for short !
We left his restaurant, and went back to the hotel for the evening to relax in our ‘luxurious’ rooms. We ate some dinner, watched a bit of the British American Idol and an Irish version of Family Fued, and then I returned a call home that I had missed, and ended up talking to my family for a while. They told me that Kimberly won the playoff game that nite, and Nick got a sack on the quarterback which created a fumble… woo hoo! Way to be awesome!
We left his restaurant, and went back to the hotel for the evening to relax in our ‘luxurious’ rooms. We ate some dinner, watched a bit of the British American Idol and an Irish version of Family Fued, and then I returned a call home that I had missed, and ended up talking to my family for a while. They told me that Kimberly won the playoff game that nite, and Nick got a sack on the quarterback which created a fumble… woo hoo! Way to be awesome!
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