We left on Friday afternoon. We were on our plane and everything seemed to be going smoothly.... not quite. We were on the plane and then right before take off the pilot said that we have been stopped because of bad weather in Chicago. An hour later, we got off our plane... in DSM... and waited and waited. Finally, after lots of calling and trying to reschedule, our original flight took off for Chicago with us on the plane. Then, we
The flight. Was AWESOME! I watched 4 movies that I hadn't seen. Didn't sleep one wink in 8 hours on the plane. The food wasn't so bad. I made friends with the guy, Mark, sitting next to me. He was flying over for the weekend to go sailing!! Crazy....
Our bags didn't make it. We waited two hours at the airport for them. Got em. Headed to the train station. I cried from exhaustion and spilled mt dew all over. We got free train tickets (because we missed our train and we had already booked and paid for an earlier train) but only because we let them film us for a documentary that they were making. :/
So, we slept a little on the train from London to Newport South Wales.
Lena and Dan were there with hugs waiting for us!!!!
We rested a little bit once we got to Caerleon where Lena and Dan live. Such a great little town! I LOVE IT!
That evening, we headed over to Becky's house (Lena's friend from work). She was having a Christmas in June party (half way to Christmas and she loves the Christmas holiday)! It was great! Would have been even more fun if we weren't SO VERY tired! I held some cute babies and it made me miss our kiddos.
Sunday- We walked out the front door of the house to their take on a Farmer's Market. It wasn't bad. I bought some raspberry jam and bread and some sweets. I cried over curry.... and missed the kids like crazy. We headed out to Cwmbryn to pick up Lena's ring and stop at the grocery store. Then we walked around the beautiful town of Usk and had a lovely light mid-afternoon lunch and of course, a pint. That evening, we headed to Dan's Nan's birthday! Great music, amazing food, beautiful venue, and awesome company! Dan has a lovely family!!
Monday- Jon, Lena, and I headed out to explore the history of Caerleon. It was beautiful and quaint. I loved everything about it! It was hard getting used to the narrow streets and twisty/winding roads, but lovely, lovely, lovely! That night, Lena and Dan had to go to their wedding venue to do some last minute wedding planning, so Jon and I walked down the The Ship to have a lovely dinner together. It was cheap and stunning. The dessert was amazing. We then went on a love stroll ;) to work it off! This was one of my favorite nights. We ended up at Minstrel's, a bar right by Lena and Dan's house. We used their wifi all week. We met some fun folks there and did a trivia game. *sigh* Unfortunately, we got 2nd or 3rd from last. We are not up on our Welsh and British history/geography.
Tuesday- Jon and I got up early and Dan dropped us off at the train station. We headed to Bath, England to spend the day together and walking around to see the Roman Baths and all the history the town holds. It was amazing and beautiful. We headed back to Dan and Lena's via train, then bus. It was a fun experience. Their public transportation is great! Even WE figured it out! Simple! Jon went to dinner with Dan and Cole for some proper Indian dinner. I went to dinner at The Ship with the girls. These girls are spouses that Lena met through Dan and his friends. We had a great time!
Wednesday- aka Cardiff day. We went to Cardiff around midday. Jon and I spent a bit of time at Cardiff Castle and then walked around doing a little bit of shopping before meeting up with Lena and Cole for a pint and dinner with some more friends. There we met Owen, Liz, Clare, and met up with Emma and Lucas again! It was a great night! I was introduced to Bow and Black that night!!! No looking back now!!! It was amazing!
Thursday-4th of July- Jon and I headed out bright and early for Merthyr Tydfil to meet up with Emma. She took us out to Pan y Fan to climb the mountain. It takes two hours... and it was cold, misting, and slippery. We were not prepared even though EVERYONE told us to bring rain gear to Wales. SO... we gave it our best shot. We climbed half way, took a couple pictures, and headed back to the road soaking wet and all. We had some hot chocolate/coffee and Welsh Cakes (DELICIOUS!) and headed back into town with Emma. We stopped at the Merthyr Tydfil school/castle museum and then at Emma's parents house to visit with her dad and son. It was nice and we had a blast! Then we headed back to the train station to head to Cardiff to head out to St. Fagan (similar to Living History Farms--which we really need to visit with the kids) and then to Cardiff Bay. It was a beautiful day, despite the rain in the valley where we tried to climb a mountain.... When we got back to Lena's, we got proper fish and chips from the restaurant right by Lena's house. Yum! I guess I do like fish... when it's fresh... and deep fried with fries.
Friday- Wedding Festivities commenced. We headed to Bristol, England with Dan's folks. Before we left we grabbed some bread for Dan at the store just down by Minstrel's and also bought them out of Welsh Cakes. We walked around the mall for a bit in Bristol. We were running on fumes. We met up with Dan and headed to the hotel/castle/wedding venue. Jon and I checked in, had a nap, walked around, swam, had dinner, and met up with Lena and the girls.... Kerry, Sarah, and Becky. It was hysterical!
Saturday- The WEDDING! Wow. I will have to write a separate post about this! It was nothing short of amazing. Completely romantic. They really outdid themselves. Lena was stunning! Dan was handsome! I cried like a baby!!!!!!!!!!!!! I didn't even cry at MY wedding!!!!!
Sunday- We had a lovely brunch in the morning. Hugged everyone a thousand times. Lena... a thousand and one. We got a ride back to Bristol to the train station with Lena's friend, Cate--she's one of the sweetest women ever! We took a train to London Paddington and then a Cab to our hotel in Trafalgar square... Yup. We were downtown in all the action. We walked around right away and saw the London Eye, Big Ben, Abbey, Buckingham Palace.... Then we headed back to our hotel to freshen up and back to Westminster Abbey for church that night. We ate on the way home... fish and chips and dessert... and then walked around for a little bit to get a night view.
Monday- traffic was crazy, we had to leave our hotel early for the airport. Got on our flight, no problem.... got stuck in Chicago... Finally made it home to our kiddos and Jack dog.... :)
This left out a TON of details and sites that we saw, but you get the picture. It was AMAZING. I am STILL (a month later) trying to adjust to being back home. I miss my new friends, old friends, and new places. I miss the culture. I miss everything. "Are you ok?" "Yes, are you ok?" I miss Minstrel's and Lena's. I miss the cool weather (hot for them) so that I could leave my hair down without sweating to death. I just miss it all. I hope to go back VERY soon!
Jon agrees... best trip ever. Will never be able to top it. SO glad we went. SO glad I didn't go earlier in my life... I never would have come home and met Jon and had my wonderful children.....
AND.... I WANT SOME WELSH CAKES ASAP! YUM!
