Day 9: Cardiff Museum, Welsh Lecture, St. Fagans

Today we went to our first museum--Cardiff Museum. It was a pretty cool being able to see Monet's and Picasso's paintings in person. We weren't there for very long though before we had to go to the University of Cardiff where we had a lecture on the Welsh language from some professors there. They taught us basic welsh sentences and then had us mingle with other Welsh students and converse in Welsh with them. It was tricky but kind of a cool experience. I have to say though that part of it made me glad that I'm not planning to go on a mission because I really struggle to learn new languages.

We also went to St. Fagans which is a farm just outside of Cardiff. They've added many different old houses, barns, churches, and schools to this farm. There's an existing castle there from the 1500's that's now been turned into a manor house. Today was a really cool day, but I'm excited to leave this nasty hostel and head to LONDON tomorrow! I've been waiting for this day my entire life! Adieu, Wales!

I loved this bench. 

Cardiff City Hall

Our group at the Welsh Lecture outside of University of Cardiff

I just liked this sign. 

I'm on a log

Cardiff Castle...turned manor house.

Gold plated gates at the castle!

Founder of the National Heath Service...Ironic? 

Just kidding...that's not the end. There's three last things I want to record about Wales. It's funny to see local's reactions to hearing that I'm from Idaho. The old Welsh passport officer saw my passport and he said, "Oideaho, I've never seen that one!" and his friend next to him chips in-- "Oideaho, that's not even a country!" and then they both let out their big old man chuckles. The second experience was today, when I was talking to another local old man at St. Fagans. He told me that he'd had people from all of the states except Delaware, Hawaii, Alaska, and Idaho come through...and then he asked me where I was from. I told him Idaho and he got so excited and heartily shook my hand. It was so funny! 

Lastly, today I was on a quest to find a straightener while my friends went off to the pub for dinner. So, for the first time on this trip, I was alone. I ran into two missionaries from the states and exclaimed, "Elders!!" They were so excited to hear that I was from BYU and so we chatted for a bit and then went off to meet up with my friends. The missionaries told me that I had made their day by being so excited to see elders. What can I say, I love young LDS guys! :)