Our first stop in Wales was Caernarfon Castle. It dates back to Edward I, and sits right on the edge of the water. I love castles and pretty much anything to do with royalty, so seeing a castle was awesome. It gives more of a concrete image to the things that I read, and I'm better able to imagine what life would have been like for royalty back then when I see the small rooms, little passageways, and narrow staircases.
One of my favorite things that we did was ride horses on the beach our first afternoon in Wales. My horse's name was Tommy, and he was black with a little nub of a tail. This is only the second time that I've been riding, but I wasn't nervous at all. Tommy was a good horse who listened to me really well, and that allowed me to enjoy the ride and look around at the scenery. He kind of had a mind of his own though, because we started off sixth in line of the group, and ended the trip in second. He wasn't about riding behind all the slow people, which was fine with me.
I realize that I post pictures, but never any with me in them. So just to prove that I'm actually in England and doing these things myself, there's a picture with Tommy and me on the beach below.
On Saturday, we took a hike. It was really more of a walk, because it was flat pretty much the entire way. The path started just down the hill from our hostel, and ended when we crossed a REALLY long bridge into the town of Barmouth. It was cloudy and rained a little bit that day, but for the most part, it was a nice, cool day for a walk. The mountains (all of my Colorado friends and family would scoff at my use of the word mountain; they were little baby hills) were veiled in a low layer of clouds and fog, and it made everything seem very mystical and eerie. The opening song from Brigadoon kept running through my head.
I think the best part of this hike was that we didn't all have to stick together. We all went on the same trail together, but at different paces, so that people who wanted to stop and take pictures could, and people who wanted to walk on ahead could do that too. That meant that I got to walk all by myself! When I'm out in nature, I tend to like to separate myself from everyone else so that I can take it all in by myself. I can't hear anyone else speaking, and everything is quiet and peaceful, exactly the way it should be.
The last day of the trip was spent in Liverpool. We visited the childhood homes of John Lennon and Sir Paul McCartney. In John Lennon's house, we all piled into the entryway and sang a Beatles song. Paul McCartney used to love practicing in there because he said that his voice sounded better in there. And it was true that it made everyone's voices sound so much richer in there. We can now all say that we've sung where the Beatles sang!
Tomorrow marks the start of Anglia Ruskin classes for three of us, and honestly, I'd have to say that it's a bit of a relief that we're starting class. I've had a lot of free time having only three classes at the Study Center this semester, so it'll be nice to have a little bit more to do.
As always, if anyone has any questions for me, please let me know and I will be happy to clarify something or answer anything.
Until next time,
Stephanie
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