Road trippin'

The last week or so has been a busy one to say the least. I've got reading week for three of my classes this week (ie we don't have to go to them), so hopefully I'll be able to get a lot of other work done. I've got a lot coming up in March before break.

We've had a lot of birthdays in the group (with more to come). We did Indian food for Caroline's and went to a tapas place for Casey's. The last meal wasn't all that great and took 3 (!!) hours, but did involve the whole staff performing and making us all dance and sing, while Casey had to wear a coconut bra and grass skirt, with a maraca. Good times. The night before was the Lash PJ party with the flat. Those pics are up on facebook, but there were about a dozen of us (boys incl.) in pink and brown onesies with fuzzy giraffes on. Good times.

This weekend was one of copious group trips. Friday, Tristan (a friend from AC '06) was supposed to come by, but didn't make it. Hopefully he will in a few weeks. I spent most of the day being bummed, but got a lot of work done, and a lot of postcards sent out. Ended up staying up with TC and watching the UK win their first gold medal in 30 years. It was the skeleton race, and crazy to watch. I always get way to into the Olympics, which has been proving challenging to watch over here. I can only watch BBC coverage, which naturally shows mostly competitions that the UK has a chance in. This would be fine, but their biggest chance is in curling. Don't get me wrong, I love curling, and was super excited to watch a few rounds, but there are other sports in these games, it'd be nice to see them too. It also doesn't help that there's 1 TV for 7 of us (plus whoever else is over), so it's hard to find open time on it when the games are on. Online coverage is spotty, but usually works.

Saturday morning saw me up bright and early to catch the bus to Neath. Neath is a small town, which really doesn't have much going on for it these days. However it used to be one of the main centers for iron works, copper smelting, and a major colliery. Geier made us read an entire book about Neath Abbey and the surrounding industries that arose there (not too interesting). The trip proved to be way more fun than any of us expected. We breezed through the Abbey (after Tintern, nothing compares), and walked the 20min to the iron works buildings, which are in ruins. This involved walking a beautiful path in the forest by the river. Everything was green and covered in moss, just gorgeous. The main building was pretty boring, but I have to say standing in an old blast furnace was pretty neat. We then walked back up the river to see the waterfall. Ended up doing a lot of wading in the river, and exploring some other abandoned (younger) buildings. It was a little sketchy. The rooms were full of random machinery, torn bedding, bottles etc. We very much thought we'd run into either a body or a homeless person. Thankfully, the ceilings stayed up, and there were no unfortunate discoveries. We then headed to Aberdulais to see the waterfall there and the old tin works. Huge waterwheel that is used to generate green energy now. It was very cool, and the waterfall was really neat.

Neath Abbey Aberdulais Falls

The Waterwheel

Sunday was an even earlier bus, since we had a two hour drive to Stonehenge! We didn't get to do the cool before hours go in the circle tour, but it was still pretty magical. Not quite as big as I thought it would be though. After rounding it and taking a lot of pictures, we were off to Bath for the rest of the day. Caroline, Jackie, Caitie, Kristie, Casey and I all went to see the Roman baths that were just incredible. I really wanted to jump in (except for the sketchy looking red algae). We had bought combination tickets for the fashion museum, which we did a quick tour of, it was actually pretty interesting. And there are many pictures of the bunch of us trying on corsets and hoop skirts. We then walked to the Circus (not a circus) and the Royal Crescent. Caught high tea (hot choc and mind blowing carrot cake in my case) in a tea room before catching the bus home.

Stonehenge The Roman Baths

The Fashion Museum The Circus The Royal Crescent