Two Countries in One Day!

I always tell myself that I am going to write a blog post whenever I can, but then I either just run out of time or can't find the motivation to write.  I feel like I get so far behind that so many things happen in between posts!  I'll try my best to recall some of the best parts of this past week...Starting with my trip to Cardiff.

Check out Welsh...Such a crazy language!

Last week, Kayley and I made a trip out to Cardiff, Wales.  It was so crazy to me how quickly we got there and back.  It was only an hour and a half train ride to get to a whole different country.  I think my favorite part about the trip was that we really had no plan or even knew all that much about Cardiff.  We just showed up in this city ready to explore.

Outside Millennium Stadium

This first thing we came across when we got to Cardiff (well, after the shock of how crazy and different Welsh was from English!) was Millennium Stadium.  Millennium Stadium is right in the middle of the city where the Wales national rugby team plays.  They also have the Six Nations games there, which is a pretty big deal! It was really cool to see such an important place for one of the most popular sports here. We walked around town more and saw Cardiff Castle as well as some great shopping.  All of the shopping "arcades" were filled with the cutest little shops!

Everything about this picture is SO Cardiff :)

Not only did Cardiff have good shopping though...they had some yummy food! Kayley and I had lunch at a cute little cafe were we had some good homestyle cooking.  I finally had some eggs that I actually really liked!  It was absolutely wonderful talking to Kayley about how to stay true to ourselves and continue to be devoted Christians even in a different country with a totally different culture...which was something that I definitely needed to be reminded of.

Great food, great conversation

We thought that we would take a nice little walk to Cardiff Bay after lunch, but turns out it was not as short as we thought and we had to walk through a not so nice part of town.  But we made it and it was definitely worth it!   The water was so clear and the sky was so blue, it was absolutely beautiful. We seriously couldn't have asked for a better day.

Cardiff Bay

On our way back into town, we decided to try to get into Millennium Centre where many of the touring shows are performed when they come to Cardiff. I still don't really know how we did it, but we managed to sneak all the way to the balcony of the theater and sit in on people practicing for an opera.  It was SO cool, especially because I had never seen a real opera before!

Inside Millennium Centre

After a bit more shopping and a couple stops at the many Starbucks in Cardiff, we made our journey back to good ol' Reading.  It was such a great day with a great friend and I am so happy we went.  We made it to another country and back in one day...Not many people can say they have ever done that in their life!

We had to try some Welshcakes...They were SO good!