the Land of Books and Chocolate

this weekend was really rather fun.
on Wednesday I caught a bus up to Brecon, then over to Hay-On-Wye. it took a couple hours, which isn't bad. I walked over to the B&B, which is about a ten minute walk out of town, over the Welsh border and into England. Hay is on the very edge of Wales, and I had fun sleeping in England and playing in Wales. the B&B was very nice--I had a single room overlooking the garden, the fields, and the sheep. I headed back into town and started looking around all the bookstores.

the view from my window

Thursday I spent wandering around Hay again, looking in all the bookstores. I got to all of the ones in town--there were a couple outside town (about a mile away) that I didn't get to, because they were far away. I did buy a few books--my backpack was about half full when I got to Hay, and it was stuffed to the gills when I left.

the town

Friday I spent the morning in Hay again, then caught a bus to Hereford around 2 and a train to Birmingham, where I spent the night. I was really tired so I didn't do much when I got to Birmingham--I just fell asleep. Saturday I got up early and met the tour group from Arcadia (it was an Arcadia-sponsored tour that I signed up for in September during orientation in London). We toured Birmingham and in the late afternoon headed over to the Cadbury factory to see how the chocolate is made. the air literally smelled like chocolate--it was really fun. I bought lots of chocolate, most to send to friends (unless I eat it first) and around 6:30 I headed back to Swansea. the trip from Birmingham to Swansea took about four hours and we had to take a different route than the one originally planned, because there was a landslide between Gloucester and Newport but it all worked out okay.

apparently I really like tea. and taking pictures of it.

wishing well in Hay

the Cadbury Factory

this week I've been catching up on work (almost unsuccessfully), hanging out in Swansea, and getting ready for Prague this weekend. my friend Gabrielle and I leave tomorrow at 4am to take a train to London and a plane to Prague. I'll come back on Monday afternoon, and then I think for Thanksgiving weekend I'll head to Pembrokeshire to hang out and explore a little.

the merry-go-round at the Swansea Christmas Carnival