Monday 25 August 2014

Summer 2014



Summer holidays in Wales are a lot shorter than in Canada and the summer weather ends at the end of July.  I have been told that the Welsh word for July means “end of the summer”.

Canal Boating

Our children with spouses joined us for two weeks.  The first week I was in school so they visited a lot of places near Cardiff. The night the first group of kids arrived was a Saturday at about 10:15 se we went to the Cottage to wait for them.  St Mary’s street was barricaded to traffic and there were screaming young people running all over the place.  Apparently it was a quiet night because the university students are out of town.  The next day they joined us in church and later that week the pastor organised a pub night in Cardiff bay where some of the younger people socialised with our children.

The day after school ended (the year end assembly followed by the staff lunch and the staff meeting at the Buffalo for drinks was great) we left for Ellesmere, north of Shrewsbury.  The train took us to Gobown and we were to take a bus from there.  While we were at the bus stop a person across the street asked where we were going and pointed out that what we would pay for bus was more than a taxi so taxi it was.

The B&B in Ellesmere was also a pub-restaurant and the publican was a chatty sort and, upon finding out we were Canadian asked Matt if he played hockey.  When Matt said “no but I wrestled” the publican said “so did I”.  It seems that he knew Matt’s coach and they knew a lot of the same people.  They reserved an excellent table for us for dinner and the first round of drinks were paid for by the owner.  The next night was “quiz night” and they talked us into being part of that.  It was so much fun – when we did get an answer right it was because another table (or the quiz master) told us the right answer!

The canal boat trip was a wonderful time and we will do it again.  Our destination was Llangollen (very difficult to pronounce).  Although a little nerve wracking at first boating is leisurely.  We went through a few locks and over some high aqueducts on the trip.  Most of us were renters but one couple we met sold their house ten years ago to live on their canal boat and don’t regret it.  We spent two nights in Llangollen and saw the sights.  Some went on a steam train and a couple of us walked a few miles to an old monastery.  The monastery was well laid out and a lot of it intact.  Early in the morning I climbed the hill to view the castle (Castell Bran – raven castle?).  It was very peaceful and gave a fantastic view of a number of valleys.  I wonder why it lasted only a few years.  We also visited a castle on the way back.  

Carolene spent a lot of her time over the last year planning this trip and we all appreciate her for this.

Short Trips


The rest of the summer was short trips around here.  We almost went to the Eisteddfod in Llanelli but it was rainy and we have  no boots.

We did a day trip to what the English call Llantwit Major (Llanilltud Fawr) and toured around the town.  We popped into the church again.  Since we were there last time they opened up the west end with some ancient crosses that had been discovered.  The volunteer was just about to leave to make cawl for her husband but gave us a brief tour.  Two hours later we insisted she feed her poor man.  She was a fantastic source of church history and welsh history.  Since we are not High Church she had to explain a lot.  We then went to the Old Swan Inn for lunch.  A pub has been here since the 11th century and the current building is very old.  The food was terrific.

I have a book from the library on Cardiff suburbs and we have been making day trips in the city.  One trip was to an iron-age hill fort in the west part of town.  I actually didn’t find the fort but I found the old church that has been re-built and re-vandalised many times.

During the summer Cardiff bus runs a special on Sundays to Brecon that we took a couple of weeks ago.  We didn’t plan for hiking but a girl on the bus told us about several good hikes that we hope to make next year.  We enjoyed Brecon and had lunch at a ‘good old boys’ pub.  Sunday lunch there was terrific.  Sunday lunches are always great.  In the afternoon we ventured up to the church as it is a major attraction.  We had just enough time to view it before the afternoon sung service.  A large choir from Much Wenlock was there (I didn’t know there were that many people in Much Wenlock).

I stumbled on a news article about a week long Celtic Congress that was meeting in Cardiff.  I contacted the organiser and got permission to attend and pay by the day.  It was interesting and fun.  I even got to make use of my Welsh lessons – sort of.  There was an all Celtic church service at the Welsh Tabernacle that Carolene joined me for.  We even tried to sing the hymns.

In the City


There is always something going on here in Cardiff.  The whole summer is the Cardiff Festival.  Sand is trucked into the plaza in Cardiff Bay with all sorts of rides for the kids.  We often like to walk down the Taff river to the Bay to enjoy the place.  Last week we heard the three counties youth orchestra.  I have never heard such a good youth orchestra.  Eli Jenkins pub is there (google Rev Eli Jenkins prayer) although most people go to the larger gastro pubs.  In the Tiger Bay days most pubs had sawdust on the floor and boxing rings.  Only one of the original pubs is left.  It has a nice interior now with a friendly, rowdy group at the bar.

We are finding the district of Pontcanna a nice place.  It is quite Welsh.  In Coffee #1 I heard cymraeg being spoken.  On Mondays there is a welsh string group that practices in the Cayo pub.  They often sing in Welsh.  Y Mochen Du (black pig) is a pub where welsh speakers congregate.  You don’t get beer you get cwrw. 

The other night we and a couple of younger friends (Carolene helped them move the other week) went on a Ghost Tour of Cardiff Castle.  It started at 10:00 pm and ended at 1:00 am.  It was excellent.  We got into places that are normally closed to the public and heard all the stories.  It was well worth it.  I didn’t hear or see anything but a few people on the tour felt stuff.  When we entered a room the guide told us to turn our torches off and he told us all about the things reputed to have happened in that room.

Cardiff hosted a “super cup” football match between Madrid and Saville.  The city centre was full of Spanish football fans partying all day.

Carolene’s New Thing


I was actually happy to leave our garden in Canada behind.  Here in an apartment there is not a garden.  What people do is rent an allotment (there is a waiting list) and drive down to the allotment and do their gardening.  Our vicar has an allotment and it is all weeds.  Carolene volunteered to clean it up which means I do too!  May God reward my actions and not punish my thoughts.

Rugby Sevens


Sunday I went to a “Rugby 7s” tournament at Cardiff Arms Park.  The preliminary games were 7 minutes per half and the game was very fast.  I remember playing this in  junior high school in North Vancouver.  The first round of eight games were very uneven probably because of seeding.  The subsequent rounds of the single knockout tournament were a little more even.

Summer is Over


Today we will travel to Malvern to visit a number of friends from seventeen years ago then it is back to school.  I am looking forward to school and finding out what this year will produce.  I have already had a teacher dream but this one was optimistic!