Aberystwyth Bound — Part 6.

Ok, double entry (heh heh) this time because I’ve been such a slacker.

Have been distracted by a number of things.  First and foremost, DmentD.com moved to a new server and needed a little ironing out before the full switch-over happened.

Second, and I think more importantly, the addition of a proper GALLERY to my arsenal of tools to bore the hell out of you all.  I’m going to be migrating the Cake Gallery over to there, and include more pictures of the various cakes as well.  I’ll also be migrating the Ghosts of Halloween Past as well.  Since it is so damned easy to add things to the gallery now, rather than having to write a new page for each event, I can actually catch up on all the missing years of Halloween.  Also I can add pictures for things I think you peeps would like to see.  If you register an account for the gallery (and I reserve the right to refuse anyone an account, I am restricting it to folks I actually know and keeping the random strangers off my lawn), you’ll be able to add comments to pictures, and that is the icing on the cake, so to speak… hearing the reactions from you chuckleheads.

So, having rationalized my recent silence, on with the post.

Journal Entry — September 17th: Finally and at Last!

The rest of the trip into Aberystwyth was uneventful — made all my connections, all trains were on time (a miracle if ever there was one, according to my hosts), and the scenery was wonderful.  I’m quite sure I was pegged as a non-European instantly, just from the features of my face, and I’m able to start to see some trends in the faces of the English and Welsh (can’t really describe it, just sorta’ can).

Was met at the station by Sweets, and never have I seen a more wonderful sight!

Had a brisk walk from the train station back to the house, made to feel even longer due to the fact that I was towing a large suitcase — with an even larger box strapped to it — behind me.  As prepared as I thought I was for cars to be traveling on the other side of the road, it still caught me off guard, and even now I still look the wrong way when crossing the street.

Made it back to the house, and let me just say that it is a universal thing for a house to look like a war zone when owned by two young men, specifically the two guys that Sweets rents a room from.  I knew this style of “house decoration” from years and years of knowing GonzO, Phreeq, and their brood — a sort of post-modern junkyard.  That’s perfectly fine.  Dropped off the luggage, spent some time reuniting, and relaxed until everyone came home.

I met Bob, who had been staying at the house for a bit.  Andrew, Phil & Meg came home one by one, we had a round of introductions, and then opened the box of fun that I brought with me.  Had a good time watching everyone open their gifts and playing with them.  We had dinner, and watched a little TV (that I was trying very hard not to fall asleep during — and failing miserably), then Sweets and I made our way to bed.

Journal Entry — September 18th: The Burgeoning Tourist

Had a nice lie-in, then Sweets and I took off.  After a pleasant walk into town — about 20 minutes to get pretty much anywhere by foot — we sat down to have some breakfast for lunch (a full English breakfast to be specific… two eggs, two sausages, bacon rasher, baked beans, mushrooms and toast — a meal to do a Southern boy proud).  After breakfast we walked to the Aberystwyth Castle ruins and I went into full tourist mode, taking pictures and gawking at everything.

We moved on from the castle and walked along the seafront for a bit and stopped in some shops where I bought some real coffee from a surprisingly ‘coffee-snobbish’ shop, for later in the week.  Instant coffee seems to be the standard ’round these parts as (ta-da! a stereotype comes true!) tea is the hot drink of choice.  I also picked up a metric ass-ton of postcards to send back home.

Went to a little coffee shop, and I had my own little cafetière (aka French press) of coffee, and we relaxed for a bit, chatting.  Had my first opportunity to spend my newly exchanged English money.  The bills are easy enough to sort out, but the coins still give me fits, except for the pound.

Walked home an visited with everyone for a bit then hitched a ride with Phil & Meg to a nice Indian restaurant in town.  Apparently “doggie bags” are not as universally common as I had previously assumed, as I got funny looks when I asked for a container to take my leftovers home — this was confirmed by Sweets, as she was a little surprised when she was here that we were pretty much asked at every restaurant if we wanted a box or container for our leftovers.

We had a nice walk home (lots of walking in this trip), and relaxed with a little TV before heading to bed.