Welsh Dragon

Welsh Dragon
The dragon in the castle.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Public transport and Cardiff Bay

  We had previously decided that since driving took so muck concentration and was so nerve-wracking that we would try to use public transportation as much as possible.  So we took our first adventure on the pubic buses this weekend.  Our destination: Cardiff Bay.  After getting our acts and children together we headed for the nearest train/subway station, which was luckily right down the street from our apt. I had seen the sign on one of my walks, as did Aaron.
     Unfortunately, "subway" means a walkway that goes underneath a major road.  So after feeling foolish and asking a native how to get to the Bay we got aboard the next bus.
After a few switches and a trip on the "bendy bus" we arrived at Cardiff Bay.  We wandered around for a while looking at the sculptures and taking random goofy photos.

Feeding the ducks.  There are different ducks here.  Oh and the Swans.


We had a brilliant breakfast a a cute cafe.  I had the traditional english breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, tomatoes, and mushrooms.  Ava had Pain au Chocolat and Quinn and Aaron both had Eggs Benedict.

After we were full we decided to check out Techniquest.  Which is the local science center/museum for kids.  We all had a really good time.  there were lots of fun experiments for the kids to ry and some old favorites as well.  Ava worked VERY hard on a contraption that use a series of strings and pulleys to lift and carry a bunch of barrels. 

After Techniquest we hopped on the bus yet again and travelled to Gol football club where Quinn had been invited to a birthday party.  The parents were ver kind a didn't mind at all if we stayed and just hung out in the pub area instead of trying to travel home and them back.  In some ways I am glad that we had this little experiment because if we HAD driven tot he soccer club we would have been stuck in traffic all the way home due to a professional game across the street.  alls well that ends well.

Friday, January 21, 2011

much awaited photos

Welcome to our flat:







Here is the entryway and hall in the apt.  One thing we noticed is that every room has doors to it, even the hallway between the bedroom and the living room areas.  We suppose that's because the heaters don't work that well.  They have 2 knobs labeled 1 through 6.  That's it.  No instructions.  Just fiddle and hope for heat.





And to your right, you can view our spacious dining area.  You will notice only 3 chairs.  Our options are to wait for another chair or get rid of one of the kids.  We'll be doing rock/paper/scissors/lizard/Spock to see which options we take.  Check back soon to see the result.



Below, and to your left, you can see our tele room.  One couch, one loveseat.  We did get a tv and 165 channels of cable tv.  Most even more useless than in America.  But we do get iCarly and Victorious.  Ava and i are in heaven.  To your right you can see our kitchen/laundry room.  That is not an optical illusion:  the fridge is indeed on 4 feet tall.  Hard to fit an adult body into.


And lastly, where all the magic happens:  the bathroom.  In this room, we take showers and do other sundry things.

Now you have had the mini tour of our mini abode.  We will post more pics of outside in the coming posts.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Things Different

Some things different here are: driving on the left, automatic car windows, thin sidewalks and accents.


                         
                          _____
                         | BYE |
:) :) :) :) :) :) (\(\ |/""""""
                   ( -.-)
                  o(")(")        

Some random musings

So far things are going well.
    I have seemed to finally figure out the washer/clothes dryer.  After asking the neighbor if laundry should indeed take that long, she replied that yes, its true it will take forever; which is promising since I can fit all of 3 towels in at a time.  So, moral of this is - do a bit of laundry every day before you are trapped in a huge pile that you cannot possibly dig out from.  I had always hoped to start doing this at home and now I hope that the habit will be well set before we get back.
     I have been walking into "the village" each day.  Whitchurch just recently became a Cardiff suburb (last 50 years or so, according to another neighbor) so many people here still refer to the main drag of shops and such as "the village".  I run my errands like going tot he Post office grocery shopping and such then. I realized just yesterday while Aaron and I were walking around that some things are exactly the opposite of home, besides the driving, of course.
    For example I discovered that buying bread at the bakery, produce at the green grocery, and meat at he butcher is cheaper than going to the big superstore.  The added benefit is that I can walk and get some exercise as well.  Another added perk is that I won't kill myself or anyone else while driving.  Thank god I bought the Keens before we left they are great for walking.  Oh, by the way, we seem to be having some technical difficulties uploading photos at the moment this should be corrected soon and I will add them in later.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

2nd Day of School

Quinn: Today we did sculpting with plaster-seam. I made a treasure chest that everyone said was good.My teacher's name is Mr. Ridout. I think he is very nice.

Till next time,
Quinn

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

the parents adventures

     Well, we have been settling in the past few days after a particularly long journey to get here.  Our apt is small but big enough and we seem to have all we need food, clothing, permits etc.  The challenges of the past few days have been navigating the roads by foot (very narrow sidewalks that are very close to the street) by car (Aaron has rocked the roundabout a few times already).  I have yet to try driving, maybe later today.  The jet lag has been pretty bad for all of us but getting the kids in school and on a schedule seems to be helping.
  The next task to tackle will be REALLY figuring out the grocery store and getting some friends for the kids to play with.  They have been spending WAY too much time indoors.

Monday, January 17, 2011

1st Day of school.

Quinn: I thought that the first day was pretty cool because to them I have a crazy accent, and they have an accent to me. I have a friend called Matty who looks like TJ. I also have friends called Sam, Ibby and Adam.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Hello

This is Quinn and Ava's blog, chronicling their adventures in Wales.