Wales: Day 27 Like A Stone(henge)

Friday (July 30) I woke up early to go over my notes one more time, catch up on some stuff and get ready. We walked over to Harriet at 10 for Judgement Day. Everyone was kind of giggly and nervous, because we didn't really know how Tom was going to test us, and figured it wasn't going to be easy at all. The sheer number of terms we needed to know was daunting. A bunch of stuff was really Welsh, which was a problem for the non-Welsh students, and all of us felt like we didn't know as much as Tom expected us to when he'd ask us questions at sites we visited. Still, we had studied so much and were kind of just resigned to the fact that we might not pass.

Thankfully, Tom pulled right from the flashcards - which was the main tool I'd been using to study. I passed the quiz, missing 2.5/60, so that was a definite relief. The quiz was much easier than we all worried and anticipated. Most people passed or nearly passed. Those who didn't just had to work with Tom on giving a verbal history, so it wasn't too bad. I fist pumped outta there.

We were all pretty excited afterwards. We went home and got ready for an excellent afternoon. Due to some real estate issues, we hit the road for our sites almost an hour late, but it worked out ok. Our first stop was Stourhead. This is a huge 17th C. estate with the most fantastic garden/grounds I've ever seen in my entire life. The Palladian villa was gorgeous. I'd absolutely love to live here.

The grounds are designed to always keep something from the viewer's eye. No matter where you stand, you can't see everything, and there's always something to keep drawing you further into the grounds. It's pretty amazing.

For anyone who has seen the latest (Keira Knightley) Pride and Prejudice, this place is pretty unbeatable. The scene when she runs across the bridge and is proposed to in the rain by Mr. Darcy was filmed here. Yeah, we re-enacted it several times.




After getting our fill of Stourhead, we rushed to head for the main event of the day - Stonehenge. Yeah, THE Stonehenge. We have all been pretty excited about this for a while. It's not super fun or anything, just one of those awesome buckt list things that you HAVE to do. We were all starving and it was starting to get cold, but we had a timed reservation so we had to drive like mad straight there. WORTH IT.


It was awesome. We had a blast! We had the entire place to ourselves. So what did we do? Donned our brand new matching hoodies (courtesy of the judicious financial wizardry of our director, Tom) and took a bajillion photos.

Of course we did a pyramid. Thanks for asking.

This was another one of those days that I just can't describe adequately. We were all just on. We just have so much fun together. Everything is funny, we're all friends, and nothing can get us down. The friendships I have formed here are quality AND quantity, and they aren't just a result of being stuck together for 6 weeks. We've done and been a lot for one another. I'm so lucky to have the opportunity to make these great friends. Not to mention enough inside jokes to last a lifetime.


Starving and chilled, we drove a short ways to the Sainsbury in Salisbury. I know, right? Sainsbury is a grocery store. Salisbury is the city. We grabbed some "Meal Deals," and headed out to the park outside to finally eat. Grocery stores here generally have some great "Meal Deals," which include a bunch of deli sandwiches, wraps and salads, chips or fruit, and a beverage. For like 2 pounds! We love those. Afterwards we walked down to the Salisbury Cathedral, which was absolutely beautiful at night, but due to the darkness I couldn't get a good picture.

As mentioned above, most people passed the quiz, we were all just on, and we purchased an FM transmitter for iPods, so dancing and singing were pretty prevalent all day. While people were going to the bathroom before we left Salisbury, we pumped up our favorite tune here - The Club is Alive by JLS - and GOT DOWN. It was really awesome. Parking lot dance parties sound so gay when you talk about them later. I know that. But in the moment it was literally the best decision we could have made. This photo is from Stonehenge, but you get the idea of what we did most of the day. Loved it. We didn't get home till about 1 am, but it was so worth it.

Wales: Day 25 & 26 Row, Row, Row, Row a Pirate's Life for Me

I am so far behind. I realize that. Sorry for anyone who reads this regularly. My dream was to catch up like my second week here and then post daily. That way the detail would be fresh and all that jazz. Well. I never caught all the way up, and then last week we were in hostels every night and exhausted, so I'm just a mess. My apologies.

So. Back on track. On Wednesday, July 28, we also had nothing scheduled. The unscheduled days just flew by. We'd sleep in, but then once we were awake we were in this strange mode of panic-meets-exhaustion. I'm not really sure why sleeping too much just makes you tired, and not doing anything all day leaves you just completely fatigued. Whatever. We spent the majority of our free time studying like crazy for the quiz scheduled for Friday morning. If we passed the quiz, we would automatically get an A on the final and not have to take it. Which, needless to say, would be THE BUSINESS. I felt really behind because I hadn't taken the prep class, and most of these people had. Not to mention, I was somewhat convinced that everyone thought I was stupid and I wanted to prove otherwise.

I grabbed another hummus and salad baguette (seriously can't get enough of these things) for lunch. I'm gonna miss that so bad at home. Tom then took anyone who wanted to go to the park for rowing. Roath Park is really pretty. I was really impressed. Who knew that Cardiff had such a beautiful area just a few minutes from the gnarly streets we pounded each day?

We rowed around, despite the cloudy skies and a light drizzle, and had an excellent time. It was the best break from my alternating current of studying and dozing off.

At one point, we had a run in with a rogue rowboat. They called themselves "Pirates." Psh. Losers. They had a tennis ball and would throw it to splash us. Little did they know I've still got SOME deadly aim in my arm from years of softball. Yeah. I drilled a few people. But despite my best efforts, my flip flops were stolen right out of our boat! Don't worry. My crewmen defended my honor and a fight ensued which was talked about all day long. Laura, one of my roommates and good friends here, practically jumped into their boat to retrieve my shoes. Love her!

After rowing, we couldn't resist the open grounds of the park. You know us. We have to do pyramids at any available moment.

The park episode was lovely. We studied for a couple hours and then went over to 57 to be treated to one of the most delicious homemade meals I've ever had. One of our girls is going to culinary school up at Weber, so she is amazing. She made the most delicious pizzas ever. We were LOVIN it. And it was just so great for all of us to hang out and have a good time. Our house was in charge of dessert, so we brought one of the generic Tesco brand chocolate cakes that we can't get enough of. Secretly, two of my roommates hollowed out the middle portion of the cake, so when it was cut into, it just collapsed. Hilarious. We were dying. It was just so fantastic to have a great time with the group before the big test the following morning. We have a great time together. :)

Oh and Day 26. Thursday, July 29. Didn't leave the house the entire day. Seriously.