Christmas in Swansea, Wales

And now for something completely different...

I finally realized that my pretty, tidy system of picture-ing was wholly reliant upon having my browser exactly square, and that enlarging to full screen put them all out of order.

So this time, I'm trying on full screen. I'd apologize for the formatting, except -- well, I don't intend to.

Right, so. For those I abjectly failed to inform, I didn't come/go home for Christmas, because it was either spend Christmas in the U.K. or be homeless until the end of school.

Originally, Sarah invited me down to Derbyshire for Christmas, but had to change last minute. But before notifying me, she worked it out with Kate for me to go there, instead. Kate lives in Swansea, Wales -- hence the title.

So, Wales is indeed quite pretty. It is also very, very wet.

Jenny (Kate's sister) and I went for a walk on the beach one day. It was drizzly and grey and we were sopping wet at the end of it, but it was fun. We jabbered away about Doctor Who for most of it.

The weather was not especially conducive to good pictures, but I tried. The funky building was an observatory. Innit just neat?




And this is proof that there are, in fact, sunny days in Wales.

Why, there were as many as three in the two weeks I was down there.

Most of the time, we watched films and knitted (we managed six films in one day, once), but we went shopping a few times, too. I actually bought three things, but one is geeky, one's a present, and one's a surprise. So nyeh.

Another day, Jenny and I went walking up on the moors. That was fun, too, albeit windy and cold.

So we talked about monarchy, anarchy, and the destruction of civilization. It was great.

More pretty pictures, although much of the time I was looking into the sun and couldn't tell what I was taking a picture of, anyway.

Hurray for hills.

Rather high up, but so flat up top. Lots of space to roam.

So, Christmas was actually pretty great. Kate predicted that Jenny and I would get on like a house on fire, and she was right. It was fantastic.

Her family was really fun, on the whole. And her mom was very warm and welcoming; they made me very much at home. For a first Christmas away from family, it was actually very easy and pleasant. Quite quiet, too.

Right, I mentioned I knitted, yes? Well, I made a scarf over the holidays.

No, not a scarf. A Scarf. It deserves a capital letter.

It's twice as long as I am tall, and trails on the floor when it's looped around my neck. The stripes -- dark and light brown, burnt orange, moss green, dark red, and off-white -- are of varying lengths and more or less at random. And it has tassels.

For those few who will have any idea what I'm talking about, think Tom Baker from Doctor Who, only slightly more tasteful.




<-- because no picture of Wales would be complete without a picture of sheep.

So, yes. Spent two weeks in Wales, and enjoyed it very, very much.

And Jenny is still awesome. Our conversations went from Doctor Who to serious politics (for serious!) to... well, everywhere.

Incidentally, I'm doing this instead of finishing that last post from the Scotland tour because if I don't put this in now, it'll never get in.

And I'm lazy.

Instead of being a sensible and responsible college student and writing my essay (due next week) or studying for exams (three, also next week), I'm blogging.

Wait, that's an oxymoron, isn't it?