The Rents: London & Wales

DAY UNO:

            MOM & DAD ARE IN LONDON!  I went to my 9am class on Tuesday morning and then headed to the Sherlock Holmes hotel at 10:30 to meet them there in the lobby.  Mom was so excited she started crying and I was happy to be sitting there relaxing and seeing family!  Around 11:15 we got up and went to find lunch.  We ended up eating at an Italian place called l’ulivo; it was really good! We quickly finished though because they weren’t too hungry seeing as it was 6am in the morning their time.  So I took them to Regents and I showed them around the school and my room.  We hung out in my room until about 1:45 because I had another class at 2.  While I was in class they went back to the hotel and took a short nap before meeting me again at 6:30 for dinner!  Elizabeth, Lindsey & Goff all came to meet and eat with us and they were so excited to be with some parents.  I think it was a nice meal for everyone. 

            When we finished dinner I headed back to the hotel with mom & dad while everyone else went back to their room.  We ordered dessert in the lobby of their hotel and just hung out for a few hours.   Around 11 they walked me back home to my dorm and then we called it a night!

DAY DOS:

            Wednesday we got up and I had class until noon.  After I got out  Liz and I met them at a nearby Crepes place that is delicious!  They both had one for breakfast (because they didn’t get up until late) and then we headed towards the tube!  Lindsey & Goff offered to give us a tour of the Parliament so we met them at 1230 outside their office.  They took us to Westminster Hall, showed us around the parliament and their offices, etc.  Afterwards we went out on the bridge and took some pictures before my parents said farewell to them!  Liz also headed back and my parents & I jumped on the tube again to head to the Harrods area.  We ate lunch at a café outside before we went to Harrods and some other nearby boutiques.  It was nice to just walk around and enjoy the beautiful day.  The weather here isn’t nearly as nice as Lexington but a warm day is mid-60s with the sun out! 

            After we shopped around we headed towards the Prince Edward Theatre because we had tickets to see Jersey Boys.  We stopped by a pub to order some appetizers and drinks before the show because we weren’t quite ready for dinner.  The musical was awesome!  The actors were phenomenal and the music was upbeat and fun.  All three of us really enjoyed it and we had great seats.  After the show we grabbed dinner at one of the only places still open and then made it back home around 1230 at night.  It was a great day!

DAY TRESS:

            Thursday I had class until 130.  We took a field trip to Lord’s Cricket Grounds which was nothing like I had imagined.  The place was HUGE and very clean.  There was a huge media room that was like a sky box that was very high tech.  We also saw a game of “real tennis” being played which I had never heard of until I came here.  If you don’t know what I’m talking about then go youtube it because it’s really weird.  You serve it up onto a slanted wall and the ball plays off the wall and there are other ways of scoring too.  Its very interesting and entertaining!  So that was really neat to see.  But after I got out of class I ran and grabbed lunch in the refectory and then got my luggage in my room to wait for my parents to pick me up.  They rented a car for the weekend, which was quite the experience and entertaining from the back of the car haha.  I think we circled an area in London about 5 times until we could find the car parking lot for their hotel…needless to say we did not make it everywhere mom had planned for that day because we didn’t get out of London until about an hour & a half later once I was out of class.  But anyways, we headed towards Wales around 3 to Bodysgallen Hall.  We got there late & it was dark but luckily they were still serving dinner and we were able to get settled in our room.

            The hotel was secluded back on top of a hill and we had a small cottage that was very nice and clean.  For dinner I had a chicken dish but mom and dad ordered quail and rabbit so I also tried that.  It was interesting… We also ordered dessert before heading back to the room for the night.  We skyped the harris girls and then checked in on the boys at home so that was fun!

           

DAY CUATRO:

            Friday was full of castles… I don’t think I want to see another castle for a long time.  The first castle was Conwy Castle.  The castle was nice and big, but claustrophobic because there were so many rooms.  

The second castle was Beaumaris Castle and this one wasn’t finished.  So the entire exterior was there but the inside was an open field of grass.  Dad found a really neat chapel in the church with a detailed ceiling that was really cool.  But other than that the castle wasn’t complete.  

After these first two castles we grabbed lunch and then headed to two other stops.  The first one was a mansion that a family still occupies called Plas Newydd.  Unfortunately we couldn’t go inside or explore the area because they were there (so it was closed) but we were able to see the home from a distance.   Then we went to Betws-y-Coed which was supposedly an art district but there wasn’t much there.  It was a cute little town with a few galleries of pottery but I think it was more of a touristy trap. 

            So after we walked around there for a bit we headed back to our hotel to get ready for dinner.  We played cards for an hour or so and then went to sleep.  Of course I had my alarm set to wake back up at 2am though because UK was playing!  I ended up waking dad up after halftime because the game was so close, but of course we pulled through and it ended up being a great game.  So I basically didn’t get to bed until 4am that night but it was definitely worth it!

DAY CINCO:

            Saturday morning was a struggle to get up because I was so exhausted from being up all night.  But we got breakfast and then checked out of our cottage.  We got back in the car and drove to see a third castle called Caernavon Castle which is where the Prince of Wales was inducted.  This castle was super cool just because we could see exactly how everything is set up.  There was also a museum with pictures of past princes being inducted and they had the furniture that is used during the ceremony.  This was probably the most beautiful and well-maintained castle of the four.  We spend an hour or so here and then found lunch at a small café before getting back in the car.  

             Next stop was a place called Port Meirion…aka “whoville” in my opinion because that’s what it looked like.  It was supposed to be the factory for the Port Meirion pottery but we couldn’t see it made and there were only two small shops that sold the pottery.  We got some ice cream and walked around the small town for a little while.  Mom bought a nice Thanksgiving plate and then we headed out.  It wasn’t what we expected at all but it was an interesting stop.

            So we hadn’t seen enough castles yet…so we went to a forth!  This one was at the top of a steep hill and we only found one curvy road to get up it.  Dad stalled the car a few times but apparently did “an amazing job” according to mom.  I’ve only driven a stick shift once so I don’t know how all of that works but we had a close call of rolling backwards and flipping before we reached the top.  This castle was called Harlech.  It was very big and open.  It’s hard to me to describe these to you because the castles are all ruins and very similar because they were built by the same guy.  So just know this was our last one on top of a steeeeeeeeep hill! 

            We drove through a couple of other towns as we headed to our hotel for the night in a city called Tywyn.  The hotel was very quaint and in the middle of a beautiful field full of flowers!  We had a nice dinner and then relaxed in the room watching some interesting British shows.  They aren’t into TV as much as we are back at home.  It was a short night meaning I was asleep by 1130 because I was so exhausted!  But we had a nice day of walking around and seeing Wales. 

DAY SEIS:

            Today was the last day in Wales!  We woke up this morning and had French toast for breakfast before checking out.  We mainly explored the town Shewsbury but all of the stores were closed so we just walked around and had lunch there.  The drive was about 4 hours back home and we had to turn the car back in by 5pm so we just enjoyed the scenic route home…It was so nice to actually be in a car again, it’s the small things you don’t think about that you miss.  I thought I would love not driving around (which I do love the tube & bus system here) but it’s also nice to jump in the car on a nice day and drive the country roads.  I can’t wait to do that when I get home!  But anyway, they dropped me off at school and then turned in the car.  I met mom & dad for dinner at ‘The Volunteer’ which is a restaurant down the street from my school- the food was delicious and the atmosphere was great so it was a nice ending to a great weekend!  We came back to the room to catch the last half of the UK game, which we won by the way, and then they went back to their hotel. 

            Now I am laying in bed resting up to meet them for breakfast in the morning before seeing them off to their flight in the morning!  It was a great week and nice weekend in Wales.  I have 6 weeks left until I return to the states and lots of final papers and exams before coming home!  Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the beautiful weather back at home for me! I wish it was in the 80s here…that’s just ridiculous!