Monday 29 February 2016

What I Did In Wales, Part 1: Arriving & Shopping

My journey to Wales began on Thursday the 18th of February. I'd been up and at work early that day but I finished early to give me time for tea and to catch the second to last boat.

I had a bit of a wait when I got to the coach station, roughly two hours, so I used my time wisely, finishing one book and then reading a complete poetry collection while I waited for my coach to arrive. What happened when it did show up was possibly the most British thing I've ever witnessed.

The board said that the coach was to go from Stance 50, so we all dutifully queued up there, but there was another coach already at that stance so when our coach came in it had to pull up to Stance 51. Everybody shuffled over to the next stance over, then patiently rearranged themselves back into the queue we had been in before! It was magical to behold.

I managed to doze for part of the way down. Though I do have to admit, I kind of love watching the people out and about in the towns and cities we pass through in the small hours of the morning. Manchester is fascinating! There always seem to be hundreds of people roaming the streets, or sitting on them, and not wearing much in the way of clothing.

When I arrived I discovered something kind of cool about wearing my Fitbit. It showed how my heartrate spiked when I met my Mum off the coach in Cardiff:


Kind of cute, no?

Friday night was a family get together for my cousin who recently got engaged, so I chilled while my Mum baked and then I helped decorate the cake. Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo but you can take it from me, it looked good and tasted even better!

Saturday was for shopping in Cardiff with my Mum, Aunt and Nan. I treated myself to a squishy neck pillow for the return journey (for the princely sum of £1 in Poundland), and a shiny new Leuchtturm notebook (plus some black pens) for when my current Bullet Journal is full:


I visited the Pen and Paper Shop when I was in Wales around a year ago and before I went this time I looked it up to be sure I could get the journal I wanted. Obviously, I didn't go all the way to Wales just to get a notebook, but I did kind of plan on picking this up here... I certainly scheduled it into my Bullet Journal.

Sunday also saw me get in a little bit more shopping, in between generally relaxing and not doing very much. We headed off to What! and spent a good hour strolling round. I picked up a collection of stickers, plus a slightly phallic dog toy for Tara:

 

Since getting home the duck has had both of his eyes surgically removed (by our resident expert, Tara). He's also been christened Dick the Duck, because Mr Click and I are really immature.

Check back on Thursday when I'll share my trip to Gigrin Farm where we saw the Red Kites.

6 comments:

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    1. It was excellent. I can't wait until the next time I'm there.

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  2. Loved the heartbeat spike on seeing your mum - made me feel all soft inside :) What are you and Mr. Click like??? That poor duck!! Then again the squirrel toy I recently bought is also eyeless after an attack from my largest cat! Looking forward to part 2 :)

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    1. Hehe, I'm a big softy really.

      Dick the Duck's full name is actually Sir Richard of Duckas. Like your cat's squirrel toy, Dick Duck is now eyeless and has a hole in his bum (awaiting surgery). The worst thing of all is that if you ask Tara where Dick Duck is, she goes and gets him. I've corrupted my labrador!

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  3. Looks like a fun trip. I love that you rearranged yourselves back into the same queue, LOL. And the toy nickname seems completely appropriate :)

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    1. It was fantastic. I've got a couple more posts about my trip to come later this week. :-)

      The nickname does fit perfectly. I kind of wish that I'd got more than one now, Dick Duck's looking a little bit the worse for wear.

      P.S. Thank you for the copy of Ender's Game, it was waiting for me when I returned and I really enjoyed reading it. :-)

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Let me know what you think. :-)