Warm Again

As the nine of us have now safely made it to Rome, so begins my two-weeks sans internet. I shall provide my photo commentary upon my return. My dreaded return back to real life. What a drag. Boy I'm gonna be so crabby!!
Anyways, enjoy these last Welshy scenes and at the first sign of Wifi I shall find you again. (Ugh! I've turned into one of those Wifi people)

Pembroke Part II

We couldn't help it. We flocked back to the coast.

Upon our arrival we promtly rented wetsuits and a big orange kayak. We intended to glide around the coast, in and out of the little bays and sea-caves. 

What the rental guy didn't warn us about were the huge waves we would encounter and how to navigate in what I considered to be white water rafting material. It was so rough that I got sea sick and Lukas fell out of the kayak. That's me sacked out and thinking happy thoughts.

My little arms were so exhausted trying drag us through the water and though Lukas surely exerted more strength than I did, a number of times I would look back while paddling for my life and see Lukas staring up at the cliffs like a turkey. We made it about a mile and a half before we threw in the towel. We agreed to try this again on a calm day before we were harshly informed that this WAS a calm day. I'd still try it again, after months of intensive arm training. 

We came in and suffered through a particularly unappetizing dinner before watching the sunset.

The next day we set out to hike to Porthgain, a nearby fishing town. We enjoyed the cliff-y scene and I partook in my usual acrobatics.

Here we have Lukas self-consciously leaving the girls room. The mens room was full and he waited a good 15 minutes before he gave in.

We did finally make it to Porthgain. It's an adorable little town with 30 full time residents. We had a quick snack before bus-ing it back to Cardiff.

Pan and Pip

During a day off, Pan and Pippa came from Oxford to visit. Lukas met these two in St. Andrews and considers them dear goofy friends. I met them briefly two years ago and was very happy to see them again.

We wandered all around the city. Enjoying Ice cream, mexican food, and the amusing exchange between Pan and Pippa who have been together for almost six years.

As a side note, (I'm sorry Pippa) I was immensely entertained by the color difference between Pippa and me.

Pembrokeshire

As for my Pembroke adventures, we took a train to a little town called Saint David. T'was a cute little town, covered in flowers and sweet old people and multi-colored cottages. We walked around and had ice cream and visited a big Cathedral.

We set out for the coastal path a little after lunchtime. With the help of Lukas' gargantuan map, we made our way out of town and to the coast. We stumbled upon three white horses en route to the trail and also an angry mob of fuzzy cows that all ran towards us suddenly and then lined up and stared at us. They would creep forward when we weren't looking and then freeze when we turned their way.

The beginnings of our hike looked like this. Green grass, blue water, rocks, flowers, and overzealous German hikers.

The first landmark, if you will, is Whitesands Beach. It is in fact a white sanded beach leading into clear turquoise water. Why have you not heard about this Welsh riviera? Because the water is FREEZING!! Thats why. Admittedly the water is very appealing and given the nice days weather I could understand the mobs of pasty white skin that were basking under the hot sun. Then I stuck my foot in. 

Nope. Not doing it. The water was so cold that the swimmers would occasionally emerge from the waves, run one or two laps around the beach (to warm up) and THEN get back in. I saw one family casually wrap up in space blankets afterwards. As if thats normal beach activity. There were naked babies in the water. NAKED BABIES!!! Come on. Lukas enjoyed the "refreshing" water and desperately wanted to swim however I refused to join him, so we sat in the sand instead.

After our beach break the trail became a bit more...treacherous. I became irritable about the heavy pack on my back and my joints started creakin'. The path was running right along the edge of these Jurassic Park cliffs and occasionally I wondered if we would all end up on an episode of "I Shouldn't Be Alive". After mile 8 or so we noticed quite the storm brewing out at sea. We enjoyed watching the clouds move, the changing colors, and the falling rain. Suddenly we realized the blob was headed right for us! We began run-hiking. A combination of flurried climbing and squatting while you run. Somehow it makes you move faster when you've got 25lbs on your back.

Our squirrel-like hustle worked in our favor and we were never drenched by rain or struck by lightening. A few miles later my Greece influenced Booty workout failed me entirely. I got a bad case of Fanny Fatigue and I could barely make up the hills and cliffs. I became tickled by my excruciatingly tender hindquarters and began laughing uncontrollably. At that point Lukas realized he could drag me no further. We stayed for a weird sunburst-sunset deal before hiking a few more miles (through mud) back towards civilization.

Wales n' Things

Things have been slow but nice around here lately. Lukas has been tying up his work stuffs so that he might take this next week off. I've been lounging and wandering (two of my favorite things) and eating destructively. I didn't realize my intense passion for Twix bars until I came here. I need to get a grip though. A Big jiggling grip. We've had some pretty nice weather the last few days and I even found myself uncomfortably warm for about 30 seconds this afternoon. It was quite the achievement and I celebrated...with a Twix. Speaking of fine dining, Lukas and I had a dinner/housewarming party last night. I failed to take pictures as I was distracted doing kitchen tasks but it went well and we had no leftovers. Lukas of course prepared meat whilst I concocted a summer salad with strawberries and feta cheese. It was 2am when I finished doing dishes and shooing everyone off for the night. As of tomorrow, we are all off for a 3 day adventure to the Pembrokeshire Coast. You should google it. Very nice. We are hoping for good weather as Lukas is insisting on his usual Tarzan-esque hazards. We have researched sea kayaking and even surfing for those non-southern, non-bath water swimmers. Yish! Also, something is wrong now and I can't delight you with my Welshy pictures. Perhaps when I return.

Greece-y Video

I've thrown together a little video of my time spent in Greece. I noticed a trend whilst making this, that everything I filmed over there had Mattie in it. I asked Mattie to send me what she had filmed and the same problem occurred. The two of us mostly filmed each other, rather than the beautiful settings. Whoops. Just means we had a great time right?

Food Fest

On Sunday Lukas and I went to an "International" Foods Fair in Cardiff Bay. Except for a Greek tent, a kebab house, and someone with Samosas, it was all Welsh and Celtic foods. And meat. Lots of meat. Lukas was in heaven.
The two of us partook in a couple burgers (venison and black beef), the best pulled pork sandwich I've ever tasted (sorry Melvins), and a couple of Oggies, which are basically life changing hot pockets. An Oggie was a coal miners food. Its a rich beef or steak stew with veggies and potatoes all wrapped in a moist but flaky dough pocket. A calzone if you will. In coal mining days the Oggies had bread handels on either side so that the workers could eat the thing and then throw away the handles, all with out trying to wash the coal off of their grubby paws. Lukas and I have been upset since on account of not having Oggies on hand at all times.
Anyways, we waddled around all afternoon with bellies full of meat and a longing for more. Salah and some new friends showed up later and sat out and enjoyed the sunny day.

In other food news, Lukas and I were drugged!! I know!! The other day we met up with some friends around dinner time though Lukas and I hadn't eaten yet. By the time we left it was about 11 and we were starving but most places were closed. We ducked out of the rain into the only open restaurant we could find, a Chinese place called The Crispy Duck. We both ordered our grub to go, chicken for me, beef for him, and we talked to the nice Chinese man while someone in the back prepared our meal. The little guy was super nice and happy and a good talker. We said our goodbyes and promptly scurried through the rain and unpacked our meal in front of the T.V. 

We were raving about the food. It was so good! And the guy was so nice. And we loved the decor of the restaurant. And it was a great menu. And on and on. Long story short, we both woke up 3 hours later, just as we were, with Lukas' foot only moments away from plunging into a tray of soy sauce. We both just looked at each other and then became very frightened. Lukas didn't recognize me at first and I convinced myself someone else was in the house. I decided the chinese guy drugged us so that he could come in and steal things. I insisted Lukas check every room, which he did after a number of attempts to propel his suddenly heavy body off of the sofa. He never found anyone and all of my belongings were still in my room. I was most unamused by the situation and never went back to sleep. Lukas tells me he slept very well that night and only recently has it become funny to us.