Last Day, Rainy Day

 And so today concluded our Rabbie's tour of Wales, with a stop or two near Cardiff and the Cotswolds, it rained off and on all day.

Our first stop was the St Fagans National Museum of History. This was a real fun historical village that rebuilds historical buildings that are going to be torn down. Instead they deconstruct the building and then rebuild it right there on their land for historical preservation and educational purposes. And it's a pretty good size too! I immediately wanted to visit the bird blind in the forest where we saw zero birds, but then saw a robin immediately on a trash can at the path exit.

Of course, this being Wales, there was plenty of sheep and old farm buildings. Even a cow with a magpie friend!

There was also an old 12th century Celtic church, St Teilo's, that had this little figure underneath the crucifix:

Such a conniving look

We got caught in a downpour coming out of the church, and it continued to turn on and off for the rest of the day. Which is a shame because the fall foliage is just starting to change here in the more midwest to southern parts of the UK. And our second stop, a short one, had some really lovely ivy and was a cute village called Castle Combe (no castle but a really huge manor you can stay at):

Also, the UK has conkers that look a lot like our buckeyes!

That smoking chimney looked so inviting in this rain!

Now we're back here in London for the night, before we head back to Manchester tomorrow on (another) bus. 

I give the tour a 8/10. Not as fun as Hairy Coo, but I think we meshed better with our tour guide there. But still, Rabbies picked out great places to see and to stay and it's a much easier way to see Wales than having to drive yourself. Ugh, you won't catch me dead driving here! Especially not in London! Yeesh.

Ok, quick rant session: Americans understand that we have a weight and a food problem. We know we have food deserts and poor access to fresh produce within cities and serve large portions and our foods are over-processed with lots of preservatives. If you go up to a person and talk to them about all the things wrong with their country this is not a conversation, this is you being a snob. Screw you.

ANWYAY, I'm gonna hop in the shower because apparently the one here at the Hub is the best we've had so far. The one at Southcliff was very weak.

So I leave the rest of this blog to you Jeff! Take it away!

The prospect of another day of bus rides makes me very glad that I'm able to download hours of podcasts to listen to. The time passes quickly, but I also have decades of experience on very long car rides. 

While I will miss our tour guide, and some of our fellow travelers, there was definitely more than a bit of a culture and generational difference. Being the youngest and least well-off travelers definitely gave us a different perspective than some of the other folks. More than a little holier-than-thou commentary from many of our fellows. And while I can overlook a lot of that as cultural difference or generational difference, being stuck next to someone who thinks everything I bring up is "garbage" (but not in the endearing way that I gently mock the things I like) and someone else who disparages every food option as inauthentic and/or "too British" did wear on me after a while. 

On to the next, back to Manchester to resume our tour of the North. I've heard that lots of places have a North.