The Welsh Coast

View pictures in Picasa Web Albums.

We woke up early Saturday morning to catch a train west to see some of the coast in the Vale of Glamorgan. After arriving in Bridgend, we caught a bus to the small sea-side town of Southerndown to do some hiking - at least that was the plan. The driver ended up missing our stop, so we got off at the next one and walked a mile or two to get back. However, we did get our first view of some Welsh farms and the plethora of sheep and livestock that populate the country. According to some statisticians we met a pub on Friday night, there are more than 8 million sheep in Wales, while there are only a little more than 6 million people (we also learned that only about 20% of the population actually speaks the Welsh language).

We finally made it to the coast and were mesmerized by the beautiful rocky beaches and abrupt cliffs. The weather was even kind enough to clear up for us a bit after it had been cold and rainy all week long. It still felt like fall in New England, even with the sun out, but at least we weren't getting rained on anymore. We spent some time exploring Dunraven Bay and what they called the "Witch's Peak," before hiking up the coast to Ogmore and then up the river to the remains of Ogmore Castle. We even got to have a little fun climbing over fences where the fenced in sheep pastures and the river came a little too close.We had lunch at a quaint little restaurant called "the Pelican and Her Piety" where we were able to eat outside in the sun and I had a delicious baguette with melted brie and bacon with "chip" (fries) that was probably the best meal I've had on this trip so far. We then hopped back on the bus to Bridgend and caught a train to Swansea.

Both Lindsey and I were exhausted, since we estimate we walked over 7 miles that morning, and both took a little cat nap on the train. We arrived in Swansea expecting to have a lot to see only to find the exact opposite and that mostly everywhere we would have liked to check out had closed by 6 pm. So back to Cardiff we went. We ended up at a tasty restaurant in the so-called café quarter of Cardiff that served delicious drinks and Latin food. Both Lindsey and I were very happy with our meals, but felt a little out of place in our attire. Since we had packed mostly for the Kenyan part of our trip, we weren't exactly equipped to handle the high heels and fancy dress that most of the women in Cardiff seem to put on for a night on the town.

Today we slept in late and caught up on some post-cards before heading out to stroll around Cardiff and do some shopping for some necessities (like socks and under ware) that we wanted to stock up on before heading to Kenya next weekend. I'm not sure if Lindsey's "hippie" ways have been rubbing off on me, but I even ended up getting a pair of Birkenstocks (the more flip-floppy kind) which have quickly become my favorite sandals and were luckily slightly cheaper than they are in the US.

After a few hours in the lab this afternoon we're hoping to head out for another fun night in Cardiff and Monday we'll have the day off for some local sightseeing around Cardiff Bay and a visit to Cardiff Castle. Then Tuesday we're back in lab for the rest of the week and Lindsey gets to present the work she did for her recent publication to the lab. Also on Tuesday, our friend Miranda, another V'10 Tufts student, is coming to spend a few days with us in Cardiff.

It should be a great week, but we're both looking forward to arriving in Kenya next weekend!

~Corynne