Filling in the Gaps and a Weekend of Sports

Just to cover the last few days...
On Thursday, Ruben, Betsy and I went to Bath on the train (about a 45 minute train ride from Newport. We had the day to ourselves before a big presentation in the evening. We relaxed and had a good look around one of the biggest resort cities in the UK.
On Friday we made our way to Caerleon and to Tredegar House in Newport, both were a lot of fun as you have seen from the photos posted by the group. Before meeting the group at Caerleon on Friday morning my host Bob arranged a meeting for me in Newport with Martin Williams of the Valuation Agency Office, which surveys buildings and assesses property costs for buildings throughout the UK. In the evening we had a last get together with our hosts before getting handed off to new hosts on Saturday for our last week in Cardiff.
On Saturday Rick and I met up with our hosts Brian and Jo Bird. They live in a great Victorian row house on Cathedral Street in downtown Cardiff. The house was Brian's dental clinic until they faithfully converted back into a residence a few years ago. I was fortunate to get a ticket to the Cardiff City soccer game on Saturday thanks to Mike Parry and Lawrence Kahn of the Cardiff Bay RC. Cardiff is at the top of the standing in the first division and the game against Derby County was sold out. It was a great game (2-2 draw) and an incredible place to see a game.
On Sunday the entire team had out first real taste of South Wales' real sport of choice, rugby. In the morning Rick, Ruben , and I attended a youth rugby game. Brian and Jo's grandson 'Diggy' was playing and we thought it would be good to see a game before the big one in the afternoon. We got familiar with the game there and headed downtown to meet the rest of the team at the Cayo Arms before heading to Millenium Stadium to see the Cardiff Blues take on Leicester Tigers in a European Cup match.The game was close throughout and a fun experience even though the home side lost by five points in the end. Another long day today with plenty of Rotary meetings, vocational visits, and special appearances this week to end things with a bang.
-Richard



Ruben and Betsy at the Roman Baths in Bath, England


The new pedestrian bridge in Newport


My hosts in Cwmbran, Bob and Edwina Higgins


Football - Cardiff City vs. Derby County


Ruben watching the U16 rugby match with Brian and Jo's grandson


Ruben, Adrel, Betsy's host Clive, and Betsy at the Cayo Arms before the Rugby match


Millenium Stadium


Rugby - Cardiff Blues vs. Leicester Tigers European Cup Match

South Carolina Meets Rome in Wales

The Roman Amphitheater Ruins at Caerleon
and a few of the Roman Legion's newest recruits trying on their armor.
Continuing to learn with every adventure,
Mariah

random pictures....

Adrel, Richard, Betsy and Rick at the quiz night on Saturday. Trivia quizes are popular over here and last night several of the questions were American themed. We each sat at different tables and supposedly helped our teams with the answers. Someone in our group.... I won't name names or anything....but it's possible our dedicated police officer missed the following question: What state was the first to seceed? Needless to say, we gave him a hard time for getting that wrong.

Rick accepting a Rotary flag at a luncheon on Friday.

(It's not all play here, we do actually go to meetings :-)

Richard pretending to be a tough warrior. Nice helmet.

Ruben at the transporter bridge museum in Newport. Can you tell how excited he was that I took his picture?

Mariah and the Roman ruins.

Adrel and the Roman ruins.

Spencer Harris, Betsy and David Curtis at a Rotary meeting last week. They were GREAT hosts for our team!

LAST WEEK :-(

We are at the last stretch of our wonderful trip to Wales, I know the rest of the team has been busy writing every detail down in our journals to look back on when we get back. Its been a great adventure and I know all of us on the team will struggle to try and explain to our families all of the wonderful things we have seen and experienced. Everything that I've experienced cannot all be put into words, so for me I'm already planning a trip back with my beautiful wife Faith and the kids. I think everywhere I've been in Wales with my host families and other Rotarians, I must have said a thousand times, " I wish my wife and kids could see this"... well I still have another week left and I will make sure to savor every minute of it.

Ruben aka The Safe One!

St Fagan's Photo in Period Costume

After spending the morning at St Fagan's on Monday this week, we came upon a photography shop that does photos with period costumes. We had to get our picture as a team. We went into inquire and the photographer said she could do a group shot. She then helped us into costume and she did a great job in selecting the right one for each of us. Ruben wanted to be a policeman so he is in the British Army Police Uniform. Adrel was a little unhappy with her dress but we convinced her that she looked great!!. Here is the photo and it was a lot of fun and really added to our morning at St Fagan's..Rick

Police in Wales

I realize we have just a little over a week left and this is my first time posting. My team has given me a lot of slack for not posting sooner, sorry for the delay!

As everyone else has mentioned, we're having a great time in Wales. I've enjoyed getting to know my team, learn about the Welsh culture, go around with several police departments and getting to know my different host families. I've also enjoyed experimenting with different types of foods, I've definitely had my share of fish and chips over here!

As Adrel mentioned in her post, the hardest part about being away is missing your family. I look forward to being home with my family next week.

The Gwent Police Department

The department gave me a special gift to take with me. The team is a little jealous of all of the things I've gotten from the various police departments.

On Thursday I'm scheduled to fly in a police helicopter over Cardiff. I'm really looking forward to that. Today is another busy day for us. Tomorrow we move to Cardiff to meet our last host family. Sunday we're going to a big rugby game in the Cardiff Millenium Stadium, it's supposed to break the attendance records. We can't wait!

-Ruben

Castle Caerphilly in the clouds
Wet and Windy - St. Tudor's Chuch Tower

The 3 year old class with Miss Mariah at Ysgol y Castell

The first meeting of the Tommy Cooper Comedian Club of South Carolina

Castles and Churches in the Clouds

Yesterday we spent the day enjoying typical Welsh weather, clouds and rain but that did not stop us from having a wonderful day filled with new adventures. We learned all about Tommy Cooper the Comedian and were inducted as the first branch of the South Carolina Fan Club- no we did not get all of the jokes we were required to perform. After a coffee/hot chocolate warm up at a great little tea house it was on to Caerphilly Castle complete with rain jackets and umbrellas for our walk through and tour. I found myself singing that song from when I was a child, "It's a rainy day and I thank God for the weather, it's a rainy day and things are gonna get better living each day by the promises of His Word." Lots of smiles and laughs before lunch and a trip up to the top of the valley fro a visist to St. Tudor's Church where we braved the winding tower stairs and the blowing wind and rain to get a quick photo and duck back into the tower, yes we did get wet some of us more than others- sorry Betsy. But there was delicious tea and tidbits awaiting us by a roaring fire at David and Marion Curtis's 15th Century farmhouse. The only thing we had to mind was our heads as the ceilings were all under 6 foot with large beams to bring them even lower. This morning I had the priviledge of joining my host on a visist to one of her Welsh speaking primary schools for a harvest celebration of songs. The children were ages 3-11 and they were precious. I had a wonderful time especially with the youngest ones.
Thinking of you all back home and hoping to share many more memories soon- lots of hugs to each of you,
Mariah

Nursing in the District

I have spent a wonderful day with Cindy Haskell, a District Nurse from Aberbargoed Hospital. I had a delightful time as I joined her on her daily home and resident care home visits. Cindy was excited about her job as she shared various information and ideas with me. I was also able to meet and spend time with the other five community nurses in the office. We even ate lunch all seven of us in the small office together, it made me long for my small ER break room at BMH and all my special friends there. When I am around nurses like this it makes me very thankful that I am part of such a diverse group of professionals that love what they do and are willing to bear the responsibilities of their profession with enthusiasm and smiles.
Mariah

An Observation and More from Tuesday

You might notice that we all seem to post on the days that we have vocational visits. You might not realize but we don't see our fellow team members on these days, so I think we are eager to show each other what we have been doing for the day. That and make each other jealous of course. I can't outdo Rick and Betsy's trip to the bakery but I did have a great day visiting church restoration projects with Tony Stephens, Adrel's host for the week.
We started in Coychurch outside of Cardiff talking with Sara Prepons who reviews rehab projects for all of the church property in the Diocese from western Cardiff to near Swansea (Diocese of Glamorgan, I think). She and Tony gave me a great background on their board and exchanged project stories for quite a while. From there we made our way to Tony's church called Eglwysilan, a Norman church that sits perched above the Rhymney and Taff valleys. From the top of the bell tower I had some of the best views on the entire trip, the great weather helped. We lunched at the Rose and Crown pub next to the church and headed to St. Mary's church in Ystrad Mynach, a Victorian church that is just finishing a major rehabilitation to the roof and church tower. Thanks to Tony for making the appointments, showing me around, and providing his civil engineering expertise.
See you tomorrow team. I expect Welsh baked goods from the visit!

-Richard

Eglwysilan


Interior

Rose and Crown Pub, ca. 1600


View looking over Caerphilly


St. Mary's in Ystrad Mynach

the gang

these are photos of all of us the other day... adrel

st fagans was haunted

I wasn't feeling so good the past few days, but these guys always manage to pep me up... thanks guys. adrel

News from Adrel

Sorry i haven't blogged lately but i haven't had time, but i've been doing most of the things the other team members have been talking about. today was a vocation day and i visited bbc studios in cardiff and was live on air for a local radio show. they can't get enough of my accent. anyway, here are a few photos... tony and sue are great hosts and i'm having a great time. i miss talking to paula and kim so when i get home we're going back to having lunch at least once a week. i miss everybody! i love you allie. be sure to drink. i love you taylor and i'm sorry i'm not going to be home for your birthday. i love you greg and can't wait to see you! i have to dial 36 numbers every time i call home!

Braces Bakery

What a great day! Rick and I were lucky because our vocational day included a tour of the Braces Bakery (a local bread bakery.) Our tour was led by Colin Brace, an 84 year old Rotarian that still works everyday – he was incredible! His grandfather and father started it as a small bakery in 1902 and he has continued the company to grow as a family business and they now sell throughout the south of Wales and in the UK – they have 325 employees. The tour was fascinating – I fear the rest of the team might be a little jealous when I tell them about it tomorrow. Don’t worry, Rick and I got free samples for the rest of the group to enjoy! We toured two parts of the factory, one which specialized in the famous Welsh cakes (picture below.) The other factory was almost entirely automatic requiring only 4 people to run it. It produces 6,000 loaves of bread per hour - 24/7! About 580,000 loaves of bread a week – simply amazing! Colin offered several of the Welsh cakes and loaves to Rick and I to hold right as they were coming off the conveyer belt. Then we handed them back and watched as they were whisked away to be wrapped and then ultimately off to the store shelves. Hopefully Rick didn’t pass any of his germs on to the customers.

Welsh cakes headed to the oven.....by the hundreds! (reminded me of Krispy Kreme but on a far larger scale.)

Rick, Colin Brace and Betsy in the lovely Bakery fashion holding our 'goodie bags.'

Following the tour, we were invited to a Rotary Club lunch. We accepted the invitation, although I felt a little out of place – not only because I was the only female but because I was the only one in jeans and tennis shoes. Everyone else was in ties and jackets (bloody Americans!) The highlight of the lunch was the raffle drawing at the end of the meal. They offered me to draw the winner and as I drew the ticket I mentioned how funny it would be if I drew my winning ticket….and as luck would have it - I did. Not only was I the only girl and the only one in jeans but I also was the only one to walk off with a free bottle of wine. That’s my kind of Rotary meeting!……

Another day with great weather! Here I am standing on the hotel grounds where we had the lunch today and where we'll give a presentation on Thursday night. Behind me is a suspension bridge, very similar to the bridge in Charleston - only smaller.

I spent the rest of the afternoon having a great time with my host Spencer. First, we had a stopover in his favorite local pub. Great atmosphere. We then took a little walk through his neighborhood and he showed me the lot that he rents across the street to grow a vegetable garden. I was amazed when he told me that he only has to pay £2.50 a year – that’s about 5 US Dollars a year – incredible! I guess that’s why he has three plots instead of just one.

Spencer and his vegetable garden.

Tomorrow our team is off to visit a castle (the 2nd largest in Europe,) followed by a lunch in a pub with a beer tasting, then we’ll tour a well known cathedral in the area and we’ll finish off the day with a special dinner at an old farmhouse owned by David Curtis, one of the Rotarians that’s been showing us around. We were told to bring bathing suits tomorrow night, not quite sure what to expect.

Thanks to everyone following the blog and your comments. Keep em’ coming.

-Betsy

More on the day and photos

Here are some photos to go along with Rick's commentary for the day. I had a great time seeing the building collection at St. Fagan's. I made an effort not take many photos there since I have the guidebook. Sorry architectural historians, no sexy photos in this post. We'll have to look at the guidebook when I get back. The museum that we saw in Pontypridd is housed in mid 19c Baptist Chapel.
This week I am staying in Cwmbran (near Newport) with Bob and Edwina Higgins. They have been great over the past two days and I look forward to the rest of the week. Bob is a retired engineer and Edwina teaches philosophy at the university as part of a Phd program. Tomorrow we have another round of vocational visits. I'll be looking at church restoration projects in the Caerphilly area with Tony Stephens.

It's just turned the 24th here. Happy Birthday Mom!

-Richard

Adrel in the gardens at St. Fagan's Castle


More of the gardens


Ruben overrun by French school children at the Blacksmith's Shop

Mariah at the organ in the former Baptist chapel in Pontypridd

Some Welsh schoolgirl that finds her way into all of our photos

St Fagan's and yes I Feel Better

Ruben and I are staying with Andre and David Cooper at Abadere this week. We met them at conference so it was nice to see familar faces when we met our new hosts on Sunday. Andre took me under her care on Sunday evening with a shot of good Welsh Whiskey and then a local home brew which helped me sleep better than the 2 previous nights in Cardiff. I woked this morning feeling a lot better and ready to go. Thanks, Andre!!!! She has cooked Ruben and I two fantastic, delicious meals and we had the best tasting lamb tonight prepared just for us. I don't believe I have to worry about sleep tonight. Unfortunately Adrel caught what I had and she had a tough Monday today. Adrel, I hope you feel better. Being under the weather on this trip is for the birds and there is no time for it!!!!!

Our first stop was St Fagan's. It would compare to our Colonial Williamsburg but it doesn't just concentrate on one time period like Williamsburg. We spent the morning there but you really need a couple of days to take it all in. We did get to see see some wonderful sites and got to experience what everybody had been telling us St Fagan's would be like. They moved many of the historical buildings in Wales to this site by dismantling them brick by brick, numbering them & then resetting up at St Fagan's. One of my favorite exhibits since my wife is a teacher was a one room schoolhouse that was for 7-14 year old boys. Over the backboard, 2 canes were hanging which would not be seen in our classrooms backhome. I don't believe I would like to spendy my school day sitting at one of thise desks!!!! One of the fun parts of our day was dressing up in period dress and having our group photo taken!!! Picture to follow soon!!!!! We went on to lunch at a neat pub called the Plymouth Arms and then on to Pontypridd for some more Welsh History. Talk about that later. I believe I hear Andre calling me for another Home Remedy!!!! I can't have a relapse can I???? Rick

Llandovery and Cardiff

Betsy in front of her host's bed and breakfast in Llandovery.

The group out on the town in Cardiff.

Betsy and Ruben enjoying the incredible weather in Cardiff on Saturday. No jackets needed!