Cardiff and the Next Adventure

Hello,

I'll start this off by saying that I'm in a pretty top notch mood right now. I just finished the project I've been working on for my internship, as well as the evaluative essay and weekly journal that I have to turn into UCD which means...I am finished with all the work (besides the physical handing-in of those things) for my master's degree!!! I immediately crawled back into bed for a few hours upon emailing the project to my supervisor. It was good. Very good.

Now, this post is about my trip to Cardiff, Wales. As many of you may know, Cardiff City FC is my favorite soccer team...rivaling even Sporting Kansas City (I actually have followed CCFC longer). I was feeling the travel bug and decided that it was time that I finally made the short trip over to see where some of my heritage is and my favorite team so I booked the trip in about an hour from decision to finish (much like my trip to Istanbul).

I took probably the smallest plane that's allowed for international travel for about a 45 minute flight there. The first things I saw were "Edwards Buses" and my family name on several other businesses. Home! The airport is tiny, and was completely dead (more so than Wichita normally) but I grabbed the bus into city centre. My hostel was probably the coolest hostel I've ever stayed in. I don't really know how to describe it. The bar area had old beds they used as couches, and they had a good beer selection (and so much cheaper than Ireland!).

The first day I saw Cardiff Castle, Welsh Parliament, the museum of Wales, walked in their park, and several other main sights. I also stopped off in a Welsh language pub called Y Mochyn Du (e mockin dee) that means The Black Pig and tried a few Welsh beers and talked to some locals before walking down the riverfront by Millennium Stadium.

The next day I went to the Cardiff City match, which was incredible. I got chills walking up to the stadium. Not really because the stadium was anything special. It's slightly bigger than Sporting KC's, but not near as nice, but it was just the fact I'd been waiting for so long and to finally be there was amazing. I stopped in to get a beer before finding my seat and they didn't like my Kansas driver's license or my Irish residence card or passport card for id so it took forever to get a beer (so long that they gave me 2 for the price of 1). I sat right next to the away bench (I saw an Italian team, Chievo, play Cardiff in a friendly). The stadium was pretty empty but I still had a great time and the match flew by.

That night I got to talking to a guy in the hostel's bar area and was recognized by an Australian girl I'd talked to earlier in the day so her friends, him, and I all went out to a place he said was really good. Everyone was incredibly friendly so the night was a lot of fun, but I lost the girls at some point before the guy left as well. Luckily I had met two girls from Cardiff that I spent the rest of the night with. I really didn't meet anyone that was unfriendly the whole time I was there.

The last day was pouring rain so I didn't do a lot, but I was able to visit a chain brewery and go down by the Cardiff Bay before getting my bus back out the airport to fly back to Dublin and reality. Now I have finished my work I am focusing solely on getting everything moved so that I can start my next adventure: a month long trip around Europe.

I'm starting in Copenhagen, Denmark on the 19th, then to Berlin, Germany; Prague, Czech Republic; Munich, Germany (home of Oktoberfest, but sadly not when I'm there...although much cheaper for me); Salzburg, Austria; Vienna, Austria; Bratislava, Slovakia; Budapest, Hungary; Zagreb, Croatia and Plitvice Lakes National Park; Ljubljana, Slovenia; Piran, Slovenia; Venice, Italy; then meeting my mom in Rome before flying to London to hang out while she works, and then to Geneva, Switerzland and finally on September 28th...back to Wichita! I'm looking forward to it all so much...but I can guarantee I'll be happy to set down in Wichita and sleep in my own bed.