Nadolig llawen a blwyddyn newydd dda (haha yeah, look that up and see if it makes sense!)

Hey look, it's Millenium Stadium.
 which I couldn't visit because of the Olympics.
Way to go Olympics.

The last part of our mini-break found us in Cardiff, Wales. And the sun shined there for two days, which helped in making it the best part of the trip. Our hostel was quite nice, despite the snoring we endured, coupled with the seagulls that wake you at 6 a.m. The showers were unreal and any place that has excellent showers and a free buffet breakfast is awesome on my list.

We started our day around 11, once Jenny arrived at the hostel after seeing her boyfriend off on the train back to Edinburgh. We walked down to the bay, which was beautiful and teeming with people. We took in the bay and all of the sites, as Jenny and Melissa nerded out over all of the Dr. Who references (Side Note: I haven't watched the show but have been informed that this is the first thing I need to do once I return to America. I shall get back to you in a few weeks with my opinion on the show.)

Pretty ladies in Cardiff!

After lunch, Melissa and Jenny went off to the Dr. Who Experience while I sat in the sun, tanned and wrote in my journal. It was quite relaxing. Once they were done, we walked back into town to catch a few more sites before they closed. (Side Note: Everything in Wales closes early. And it was a Sunday so stores were closing even earlier.) We just made it into the store that sold Welsh Dragons and were each able to purchase our dragons. They became acquainted on the lawn outside of Cardiff Castle while we rested in the shade. Mine is named Mor Leidr. He is a pirate!

It was so wonderful. 

They all have Welsh names.
I can't remember them all.

Then it was to a pub for a quick dinner and some authentic Welsh beer. Food was alright but the beer was awesome. I must say, I've had some good beers this month. I was defini
tely worried early on which the selection but England has come around and has really proved to be a country of good beer. Sometimes warm, but mostly good. As two of our trio had colds, we headed back to the hostel to get some sleep.

We had Monday morning in Cardiff but were too tired and lazy to get anything done. Thus, we just slept in, ate breakfast, and took our time getting to the rail station. The trip back to London was uneventful and much shorter than the previous one. We arrived back to our dorms (thankfully) by 3 p.m., thus ending our very enjoyable but all too short mini-break. I shall return once more to catch you up on our last week in London.

- Kate