When in Wales...

The picture is of what happens on a rugby throw in those three guys are throwing their teammate up in the air to grab the ball and toss it down to another teammate before the defenders and get their hands on it. It’s pretty much insane.

Well, this weekend/week was our equivalent of Spring Break and it was a good one. Friday afternoon I got on a train and headed off to Wales for the weekend to meet G’dad’s cousin Betty and her children and grandchildren. G’dad was born in Wales and immigrated to the States when he was 3, so it was nice to get the chance to connect with his roots. I got to see the house that was his home for the first 3 years of his life as well as the “infant’s school” that he would have attended had he stayed in Wales. My newly acquired family was incredibly hospitable and it was great to meet all of them. I stayed with Betty’s youngest son, Ian (who is in his 50’s), his wife Julia, and their children Amy (22) and Christian (7, he’s adopted).

On Saturday, Ian took me into the capital city, Cardiff, where we attended the Wales vs. Italy rugby match. His boss had given him tickets, and we were on the 19th row, right down by the action. It was an absolute blast. I knew 100% nothing about rugby, so I spent the whole time trying to figure out what the heck was going on, but it’s a really fluid game to watch and by the end I think I had a pretty good idea of what was happening. Wales takes their rugby pretty seriously, so watching the stands was almost like getting a second sporting event for free. Every time the mob made its way down to our end, everyone would stand up to see better (that’s how close we were to the pitch ;0) and then the old people in the back would yell “sit down!” so people in the middle would kind of squat, still trying to see, but not get in the way of the people behind them. It was pretty funny.

The country side was absolutely gorgeous. I took 180 pictures in 3 days, but of course they don’t do the place justice. On Sunday, we woke up to 4 inches of snow: an extra special treat. Ian, Christian and I spent the morning on a walk along the canal system that once upon a time was used to transport the coal mined in the hills to the coast. The canal system has a serious of 14 locks that they are in the process of restoring, so the canals will be used again, this time for pleasure craft.

As far as the geography of Southern Wales goes, the country is made up of a series of valleys and peaks that make for stunning views. I can’t stress this aspect of the trip enough. This is God’s country. The different small villages run linearly through the valleys, walled on either side by high ridges. Seeing the landscape made me wonder if this was where C. S. Lewis got the inspiration for his Martian landscape in Out of the Silent Planet. I guess that’s what happens to you when you spend a term reading and writing on Lewis. At any rate, the geography is how I picture Malacandra now and I can definitely see how it could have influenced good ol’ Jack.

My train left at 12:30 Monday afternoon, so that morning Ian’s older son Scott (who has just been accepted into the Welsh Police force) took me to see the ruins of a Roman amphitheatre, bath, and barracks in a neighboring valley/village. The age of this stuff still blows my mind. I was walking around on the foundation of building that stood 1900 years ago. Incredible.

I made it back Monday evening to a quiet house (with a lot of people still away for the break), and started to leisurely research for the paper I have coming up on William Wallace. Lord willing and the creek don’t rise I should dust off the paper this weekend, just in time for my parents and Caleb to get here Sunday afternoon. It will be so nice to see them again!

So that was my 3 day Spring Break spent in Wales in a nut shell. Now it’s back to the books for a mere 29 days, and I’ll be on my way. I’m sure I’ll miss it all when the time comes, but man it will be nice to be home once again.