Thought I'd break up our trip into different posts so it is more manageable.
We had a great time - Wales is a beautiful place - just gorgeous. It reminded us a lot of Oregon and it's green rolling hills. A lot of the land is still farmed - and I tell you the cows have the best views, as you'll see with future posts from our visit to the Pembrokeshire coast.
Our flight took us from Madison to Minneapolis with a lovely 5 hour layover, with much walking up and down the moving walkways, trips in the tram, and running around like maniacs. That brought us to a couple hours past bedtime for the kids and then we got on our 8 hour flight. Poor little F didn't take to being over-tired AND on an unfamiliar plane where he needed to sleep. He was 'that' kid that everyone wishes would stop screaming and fall asleep. He's got a good set of lungs on him, that's for sure. He finally wiped himself out and did fall asleep. Glenn and I got a bit of time to doze before arriving in London around noon the next day. The kids were excited to ride the bus to the rental car which then took another 1 1/2 hours to sort out car seats and the car. But we did it, and then headed to our hotel which was a mere 2 miles away according to the directions. With G driving on the left side of the road, in a car with a stick shift on the left, and many roundabouts to maneuver thru, we got to our hotel safely after another 1 1/2 hours. Yes, it was supposed to take 5 minutes. We collapsed, had dinner and slept.
The next day we drove to Cardiff, Wales, and with only one near-accident, we arrived safely at our flat which has a gorgeous view of Cardiff Bay. Here is F on our balcony - behind him is Cardiff Bay:
And on a sunnier day:
The kids had time to settle in, discover the new place, have some laughs and run around.
Our friend Joy brought over dinner, library books for the kids, loads of info on the places we were staying in Wales, and her Welsh bloke/fiance Rich. What a welcome to Wales! We felt like we had a royal welcoming committee.
The next day, we headed to downtown Cardiff on a bus (yay no driving). It's really refreshing traveling with kids because everything they see and do is a new adventure. Here's J waiting at the bus station with her groovy boots that fit in so well with the UK:
We visited Castell Caerdydd (Cardiff Castle). It's a gorgeous castle that the city was really developed around. Check out this location:
Here's some pics of G and F in front of a couple parts of the castle- F must have been dreaming about the princes and princesses who once lived in the castle.
Once F woke up there was much running and climbing to do in the grounds of the castle, including picking some 'wild flowers' in the grass with big sis J:
We had lunch at the castle and with J's picky taste we thought bingo - a cheese sandwich! Perfect! Well, when it arrived it was literally a cheese sandwich: grated cheese on butter on bread. She picked at it, drank her nummy rich milk and then ran off to chase the birds in the grass. We later discovered bangers (sausages) and the kids ate that for most of the rest of the trip.
That evening our friends came over again and stuck around for bedtime reading:
If you can get someone to read you Daisy Head Mayzie with a Welsh accent, I highly suggest you try it. It's lovely to hear.
More to come!
