Adventure Weekend- Embracing my inner "gog".

"Ventures and Adventures" hit the road again! This time, I travelled all the way up to Llanberis in North Wales! This was through my study-abroad program IFSA-Butler. People from Butler's programs in Cardiff, Oxford, Bristol, Leeds, and more all arrived in Llanberis for a weekend of fun. Transport, lodging, food, and activity fees were all included in our program fee. So I didn't have to worry about buying or booking anything!

A picture of the station, back when there was actual snow!

Last Friday, I walked down to Cardiff Central and met with the IFSA rep (subsequently joined by all the IFSA Cardiff girls minus one, as well as two girls from Bristol) We got on the train to Bangor. It took four hours!
Con: the train only had two carriages, so when it stopped at one station, it was swamped with people. The already narrow aisles were jam-packed with people. Our conductor expressed his dismay at the situation in the most British way possible (something about letting his superiors know his thoughts on the matter, or something of that nature).
Pro: I got some quality time with my HP Lovecraft anthology. I also met a third-year Bangor University Student! He was sitting across from me on the last leg of the trainride, wearing a Bangor Uni Hockey team jacket. I asked him about it and we got to talking. He was studying to be an elementary school teacher (they call it that in the UK, right?). He was from someplace in Wales that was close to Liverpool (apologies for blanking on the name). I even got the elderly lady sitting next to us in on the conversation! It was quite lovely. When the train passed Conwy Castle (which is right next to the traintracks!), I pressed my face up against the glass and gawked at it. This student said that he passes the castle two times a day, five days a week while on the way to his school placement, so it doesn't really have an effect on him anymore. The lady asked him about his previous phone conversation, and he casually dropped the "my girlfriend" bomb. Dreams. Crushed. We still had a nice talk about Wales and other things though. We both got off the train at Bangor station and he said goodbye to me! My fellow IFSA Cardiff girls took the mick out of me for that, especially once they found out he had a girlfriend!

Fun Fact #17: I seem to have this talent for having extensive conversations with guys I sit next to. First it was the Californian studying at Oxford who I met on the Stonehenge trip. Now, it's this Uni student...

We got in a bus and travelled to the Royal Victoria Hotel Snowdonia. I roomed with the same girl I roomed with in London (Kirsten W.). Our room had a bathtub and a heated towel rack! Luxurious! Later that evening, we had a pub quiz! The Cardiff girls were determined not to come in last place, unlike the last pub quiz we were in. We might not have placed highly, but we didn't earn the booby prize!

Next day was busy! I went to Caernarfon Castle in the morning. Here are some photos from that!

The castle was part of Edward I's campaign to conquer Wales. His son, Edward II was born here. The castle was captured by the Welsh at one point too. In more recent history, Prince Charles was recognised as Prince of Wales there.

Looking up to where there would've been a floor...

 Unique to Caernarfon (as far as I know), arrowslits that allow for multiple archers to fire out of one exit.

Entry #1

Entry #2

This means that you'd get greater coverage. Also, the invading force would be expecting fire from one angle, this allows you some crossfire too!

The dais where Prince Charles was crowned

After a brief tour, we were turned loose. I walked from the North-East Tower to the Eagle Tower (where the Welsh flag flies).

The Well. It's super deep and I hate heights. If you want a closer shot, get it yourself!

Artsy shot!

It was really cool to try and compare my experiences with castles in France with the ones here. I think I got more out of the castle than the average IFSA student (Thanks Profs. Kinder and Mahoney!). 

After traversing the castle, I went rockclimbing at an indoor wall. I figured I'd stretch my boundaries a little (not only did I stretch them, I pulled them, still recovering!). Probably should start by saying that I have no experience with rockclimbing, I hate heights and I have no upper body strength. I couldn't have picked something more "non-Erin" if I tried (pistol-shooting nonwithstanding). I tested my boundaries today. This was possibly the first time that physical limitations trumped mental limitations. My poor trapezius, latissimus dorsi, deltoids, and pectoralis major! We did free climbing and a live-bellay. I fell off the wall during the live-bellay, luckily the rope stretched and I was brought down to safety (it was really fun though!). If I worked on my arm strength, I could see myself attempting this again. 

That evening was the IFSA dance party. We had a downstairs room in the hotel to ourselves and the bar in operation. I overpaid for a mediocre excuse for a G&T (who puts aspartame in tonic water?!) and danced the night away. I got to stepdance during "Good Feeling", which was quite the crowd-pleaser. I also got to be a photographer for a bunch of drunken Americans. Plus, I reconnected with that Californian I mentioned previously. He's headed to Taizé for Holy Week (Major Catholic Nerd Moment!). 

As a side-note, I realised that the stereotypical American tourist (loud, boorish, drunken, ignorant, nasally accent, McD's-craving, "OMG, like, really" etc.) unfortunately does exist. It's moments like this when a person is confronted with how another culture sees them... really makes me think. Experiencing Americans through foreign eyes. I've changed. I use British spellings in my notes and this blog (for the most part), British slang and other British-isms. I don't mind getting a good-natured teasing from my flatmates regarding my nationality (I need to work on dishing it back out though). I'm sure there are other things I do differently, but I don't really notice them yet.

For our last day, I went to Llandudno Junction. It's an adorable little town on the sea.

My little group went to a fish-and-chip sort of restaurant. We also shopped around at some of the little touristy shops there.

White Rabbit statue in the Park

There were other Alice in Wonderland statues spread around the city

We caught the train from Bangor again. It was a much colder trainride this time. I spent most of it talking to Laura L. about various things (courses, our choices on adventure weekend etc).

I loved being able to see north Wales. It was just gorgeous. At one point when I was being driven back from an activity, I mused that I could see myself living in the UK. Well, Mom did say that she could always picture me marrying someone who wasn't American. But let's not get ahead of ourselves here...

Cheers!