Catch a Wave and Your Sitting on Top of the World

Yep, that's right. We went surfing for outdoor pursuits!!!! It was the coolest thing ever! We grabbed our gear and headed out to the beach to catch some waves. We first learned how to body surf on our boards and then move up to standing from there. I was bound and determined to stand up. It was my ultimate goal of the day. We headed out to the water and started surfing. The waves were HUGE!!! And the water was pretty cold but thank goodness we had our wetsuits on. I got the hang of body surfing right away. As soon as you see a wave coming, you have to get on your board (laying down) and start paddling. You keep paddling until you feel the wave lifting you up and that's when you push yourself up. After body surfing for a while, I eventually made it up to my knees when riding the waves. We surfed for quite a while until it was time to break for lunch. I was exhausted but I had not made it to standing on the board yet. We started getting really cold during lunch since we had stopped moving so once everyone had finished eating, Sally had us warm our bodies back up by acting like we were in the winter Olympics and participating in the sports. We looked quite silly actually but it definitely warmed us back up. I was anxious to get back in the water because I wanted to stand up!!! The waves were not as big as they had been in the morning but I kept on trying. It took a little while but guess what?!?!?!?! I stood up on my board!! I actually did it twice and only for a few moments but I did it! You have no idea how proud I was of myself. I accomplished my goal of the day (and it was a tough goal). Now I can say I officially surfed. Sally called us back in and we divided into pairs to play some games like holding the surfboard while your partner tried to stand on it and things like that. It was fun but all of us were exhausted from balancing on the board, pushing ourselves up and fighting the waves while walking out to the deeper water. We packed up our stuff and headed back to the Center. When we got back to Bangor, I took a shower and then went down to the train station to meet Dad. He had a great time at Portsmouth and London but it was good to see him again. We had pizza from Pizza House (delicious!!!) It was no resting that night though because we had to pack our backpacks for the trip to Scotland tomorrow!

Yes, Your Majesty

Well the first day that Dad was with me, I had classes to go to. But while he rested (it's a 7 1/2 hour flight over here) I went to class and then in between classes, I showed him around Bangor. There really isn't much to show but I walked him around High Street and the main arts building that we call Hogwarts. I made grilled cheese for dinner and we finished the evening with watching Red Skelton (I love Red, he is the best comedian ever!)

The next day Dad and I took the bus to Caernarfon Castle. This was the first castle I visited on my first fieldtrip. It is the one where Prince Charles was crowned the Prince of Wales. This is a huge castle and very neat, so naturally, I wanted to take Dad to it. We left Bangor with a lot of people standing around the train station because the Queen of England was coming to visit. She hadn't been to Bangor since the 60's so it was a big deal. We arrived at Caernarfon in about 20 minutes and walked straight to the castle only to find a bunch of people standing around. Apparently, the Queen was visiting the castle the same day as well! My Dad and I couldn't believe our luck. We wanted to go see the castle and the Queen of England decides to show up the same time as well. We walked around the back where a police man stopped us. We asked him if the Queen was coming around this way and he said, I can't tell you that sir. But then the policeman said, If you go behind these gates right over there, you are going to get a better view of her than the people standing at the front. So basically he told us that the Queen was coming around there. We waited for a little while until a fancy car with a lot of policemen following showed up. And who stepped out? The Queen!!! She waved at the crowd (of course a security guy got right in my way when she waved so I couldn't get a picture of her waving) and stepped into the castle. She was dressed all in pink with a hat to match. Dad and I walked around the castle to the front at the Queen's gate and waited with the rest of the people for the Queen to show up and wave again to everyone. There were so many people! The Queen came out and waved to everyone. She didn't stay for very long but while she was in there, my Dad and I walked around the town for a little bit. She left not long after that and Dad and I were able to go into the castle. He absolutely loved it! It was so enjoyable to have him around, showing him the castle. We stayed for a while there and then headed on back to Bangor. I had my art class that evening and I needed to finish a paper for OP. The next day Dad left to finish touring London and visit the town of Portsmouth where the H.M.S Victoria was at. He was going to be back on Thursday, after I got back from OP. And boy was outdoor pursuits fun . . . . . .

Cardiff-the capital of Wales and a very special visitor

Day One: The bus left around 8 in the morning and it was a tiny bus. It was a 22 seater and there were 20 of us on a 4 hour drive. We were supposed to have a bigger bus but since the volcano erupted, they had to use the bigger buses to take stranded passengers from Dover where they took the chunnel to London. Our first stop was at Hereford to see the oldest cathedral in Britain and also holds the Mappa Mundi, the 13th century medieval map of the world. We only stayed for a little bit before moving on to the next place called Tinturn Abbey. Now this is pretty much the one and only thing I wanted to see on this entire trip. It is a medieval monastery that was once occupied by monks. The roof no longer exists but the place is just massive! It was the coolest thing ever! We stayed once again, only for a little bit before arriving to Cardiff. We got our room assignments at the hostel and went out to eat as a whole group. It was really nice we did it because we hadn't hung out as a whole group in such a long time. We went to a Mexican restaurant where I got enchiladas. They were delicious! And so ends the first day in Cardiff.

Day Two: The hostel provided breakfast and then we followed Iwan to the castle. Tecwyn was supposed to be with us on the trip but he was in the States at the time the volcano erupted so he was stranded and was unable to make it back in time. But don't worry! He made it back just fine. But Iwan, a friend of Tecwyn, took his place. The Cardiff castle was once a castle but then was transformed into a house. It was actually given as a wedding present. We got a tour of the place where we were taken to different rooms. The rooms were so decorated and beautiful! After the tour we walked around the place for a bit and then moved onto the Millennium Stadium. This stadium is where Wales plays its rugby and football games! It was massive! It can hold about a third of the population of Wales, which is in my opinion, pathetic. There are more people in London than in the entire country of Wales. Anyway, we had another tour of the place where we saw the players' changing rooms, the hospitality boxes (these are really fancy rooms to watch the games), and the seat where the Queen sat at a game in 1999. The place was so big! They even have a retractable roof where it only takes 20 minutes to open and close it. We climbed onto the bus after the tour and went over to Cardiff Bay where there were shops and places to eat. It was a very popular place to hang out but we had other plans and a schedule to keep to. We went to St Fagans: National History Museum just outside of Cardiff. It is an open air museum that is just like Living History Farms back at home but only its Welsh. It had several different houses throughout the place that showed the different living styles of the Welsh. It was very repetitive to me so I didn't find it too interesting. But don't worry, I still had a good time. The sad thing is that I didn't take too many pictures of the houses, I mostly took pictures of the sheep and the flowers. Anyway, we went back to Cardiff where my friends and I went to a souvenir shop to get some things. And of course, I certainly bought some stuff. We got Subway for dinner and went to a nearby park to eat it. There were magnolia trees everywhere so we sat on those while eating my chicken bacon (and of course toasted) sandwich and smelling the beautiful smells. And this is when we decided to get a little goofy as well. There was a joke going among Melissa and I when we sat in the special seats in the Millennium Stadium. There were names to mark who they belonged to and the ones that Mel and I sat in where for a married couple. I sat in Mark Polin's seat and Mel sat in Karen Polin. So we made it a joke that we were married. So while we were all laying in the tree, an idea came to me. Let's take pictures from the courting stage to the marriage stage! Now, you must remember that we are young college aged students who are bored at the moment. The next few pictures are very entertaining.

First comes the courting stage (left).

Then comes the proposal (right).

Engagement pictures are then followed (left).

With the marriage at last (right). Kaylee and Cassie were our bridesmaids throwing flower petals as we proceeded down the aisle. Now I know several of you who are reading this are either rolling your eyes or shaking your head, but remember, we are bored and this was actually a lot of fun! After the wedding (and to inform you, Mel and I's marriage didn't last long, we both agreed to end it since it wasn't working) we went back to the hostel and packed our bags to be ready to leave the next day.

Day Three: It is the day we returned to Bangor. But not without first making a stop at the National Museum and Gallery of Wales. This was an incredibly boring place and I won't even feel sorry about saying it. We walked around it for a little while and then walked around the shopping area for a while. Then we headed back to Bangor. It was a long ride back because it was 4 hours but it felt longer to me because I had a surprise waiting for me. Dad was coming!!!!!! I was having such a hard time being patient while we drove back to Bangor. I wanted to tell our driver Arwel to speed things along so we could get back faster. But I didn't, of course. We got back and I rushed to my room to put everything away from the weekend and check my email to see what train my Dad was arriving on. He wasn't going to get in until later that evening so I straightened my room up once more and headed over to Mel's room for a little researching. And you won't believe what we did. We bought tickets to the Wales vs. South Africa rugby game on June 5th! It is the day before we leave for home but we figured it all out and we found out that we could make it! I still can't believe I'm going to the game! It was hard waiting for Dad to arrive but I went down to the train station to meet him. I saw his train come in and I searched the cars to make sure he wasn't sleeping. And then I spotted him, he was standing up and waving to me! He came off the train and it was sooooo good to see him! We hugged each other for a very long time and I will have to say that I got a few tears in my eyes. He brought me so much stuff! He brought clothes and so so so so so much food! He spent the day in London before coming to Bangor so we talked about that and pretty much everything else. We skyped the family back home, Mom thought it was so weird to see Dad there with me and it felt pretty weird as well. I now had my Dad with me for the next two weeks.

You have to move with the waves

Well, the activity for OP this day was kayaking! I had never been kayaking before and I really didn't know what to expect since we were doing this in the ocean. We grabbed all of our gear (kayaks, wetsuits, buoyancy aids, helmets, paddles, and wet suit boots) and headed over to Rhoscolyn, a small bay that was perfect for beginning kayakers. We got to the place and unloaded everything when all of a sudden Sally realized that she forgot the spray decks! The spray decks are what go over the tops of the kayaks around your body so that the waves don't come into the kayak and sink it. Thankfully, the Tuesday's OP leader came with us so she drove the 30 minutes back to get the spray decks while Sally had us warm up our bodies on the beach. Once we warmed up, Sally had us get into our kayaks and head out into the water. It was very wobbly at first but then Sally told us that we needed to let down our skeg (also known as the fin) in the water and it certainly helped our kayaks to go straight. We learned how to paddle with the double paddle and pretty much just learn how to maneuver the kayak. We played some games such as follow the leader, raced a little, and played tag. It was very tiring work! Laura had then arrived with the spray decks so we raced back to shore and had our lunch break. We grabbed our spray decks once lunch was over and headed back out but this time we were going along the coast. We followed Laura with Sally bringing up the rear. We went along the coast, in and out of inlets but it was when she told us to go over the rocks that caught us off guard. We had to move with the waves that were moving us all around to go over the rocks. The wave would pull out and the rocks would appear and if you didn't time it right, you would get stuck. So when the wave would come we had to paddle hard to get over the rocks before the wave pulled out and got us stuck. It was pretty tough at first because you had to paddle through a tiny passage way in time with the waves and still remember all the stuff you learned earlier about how to maneuver the kayak. After the first one, the rest that followed were not that tough. I got the hang of it and was able to go over the rocks fairly well. Sally decided it was time to into open water to the Beacon, an island not too far away with a light house on it. We paddled out there and then Sally yelled PADDLE HARD!!!! We were going into over the eddy line and into the current so we had to paddle like you were going being chased to get through the current. It wasn't terrible at all and we made it to the Beacon. We kayaked around the island and then that's when we saw a seal!! It was so close to us! It was so neat. We finished paddling around the island and it was time to head back into shore. We had to cross a particularly difficult current where Elliot capsized and fell out of his kayak. Sally went to help him while we stopped at some rocks to wait for him. He was just fine and we all got a good laugh out of it. It was a very, very, very long paddle back to the beach and we were all exhausted when we finally made it. Sally and Laura had us to a game when we got back that involved us linking our kayaks together. We each had a number and when Laura called out 2 numbers, those people with that number had to switch kayaks without getting into the water. We all failed miserably and that's when Laura gave up. We had the challenge of standing up in our kayak and then turn around. I was able to stand up in my kayak but when I started to turn around that's when I fell in. Oh well, it seemed impossible anyway. We headed back to the beach, loaded up our stuff, and headed back to the Conway Center. When I arrived back to my room, I couldn't relax too much. I had to pack for the fieldtrip to Cardiff, which will be explained in the next post.

Jumping into the Irish Sea

This is my second most favorite OP day (I'll tell you about my favorite activity later on). We went sea level traversing!!!! We put on full body wetsuits, wellies, waterproof pants, cags, helmets, lifejackets, and harnesses and took about a 40 minutes drive to get to our place called Penryhn Mawr. It was the most beautiful day ever! The sun was shining and there were hardly no clouds in the sky. Now for those who do not know what sea level traversing is, it is where you traverse along the coast on the rocks with your body up against the cliffs and the level of the water is just below you. So if you did fall it wouldn't hurt unless you fell on a rock. We traversed for a little while until we came to the place where we made camp and ate our lunch. Then we proceeded into the best part of the day. We went along the coast until we came to an inlet and climbed up the sides until we got to the top, which was really high. Sally was at one end hooking up some rope on a rock while two of the girls from the group were on the other side of the inlet with the other end of the rope tying it off there. Then Sally told us what we all were dreading to hear. We were supposed to go across the rope either by going underneath it like a sloth or going on top of the rope and pulling ourselves across. This is called the Tyrolean Traverse and I would suggest looking it up more on the internet. Here is a picture of someone doing it off the internet just to give you an idea. It was the coolest thing ever! At first I was really scared but once I got on it and was pulling myself across, it wasn't so bad. If we did ever fall, we wouldn't fall in the water, which was quite a drop below us, because the karabiner's and the two cow tails from our harness were hooked on the rope. Once we were all across we traversed until we came to Slot Cave, a little cave that didn't go back very far but once Annie and I went around a corner, there was a long tunnel that opened at the end. It wasn't really a tunnel because it was open at the top but it was a tight squeeze because we had to go sideways at times. We came to an area where the ground went down but the tide was coming in so there was some deep water there. Sally told us that we were now going to bridge ourselves across. This is where you place you feet at one end and your back on the other wall and scoot yourself across. It was so much fun! Once we reached the end of the tunnel we traversed ourselves back to the area where we did the Tyrolean Traverse. Sally went to the edge and then looked at us and said . . . . . okay, now jump. WHAT!?!?!?!?!? She must had been crazy because it was about a 20-25 feet jump into the water. Well we figured that she wouldn't have told us to do it if it wasn't safe. Annie was the first one to take the leap of faith and then I went next. Everyone counted to three and I jumped! The first few seconds were scary and then I realized that I was still falling! I hit the water and went under with the life jacket pulling me right back to the surface. The water was freezing! It took your breath away but as I was swimming to the other side to get to shore, Annie was still in the water and asked, "Do you want to do it again?" And what did I say? "Of course!" We went up and waited for everyone to jump in and then we went again. It was so cool! This is the first time I have ever cliff jumped before and I must say that doing in the Irish Sea was pretty cool. Once everyone jumped as much as they wanted, we packed up our gear and headed out. It was one of my most greatest days.

Stuck in Athens

I am finally on my last day of spring break!!!!! I have been so busy lately that I have not been able to catch up with my blog very fast. But now that spring break is done, I'll be able to finish all my other days fairly quickly, I hope.

So, we woke up really early that morning and finished packing our stuff. We said goodbye to the lovely ship that was our home for the past week. It was an amazing cruise. We said goodbye to the boys and Paola, then us girls and Beth got on a charter bus for a small tour of Athens. It was a very short tour before we were dropped off to go to the airport. Our first stop was at the 1894 first modern Olympic stadium. It was extremely nice and you would have not known that it was built in 1894. It looked brand new. We only stayed there for a little bit and then our next and last stop was the Acropolis at the highest hill. At the Acropolis, there are several buildings and temples. And of course, it was under construction as usual. I made a comment that for once, I want to go to and see a place that is not under construction. Both Mel and Teresa looked at me and said I could come and see their house. Which is completely true! Anyway, our tour guide was very nice but also very boring so towards the end we left her and walked around ourselves. We were extremely tired and just ready to get back to Bangor. But I was still really happy to see the Acropolis. I have always wanted to go to Athens in my life and I finally got to go. It was fairly warm that day but around 11 we headed back to the bus where it dropped us off at Syntagma Square. Now this is a very busy square and we had all of our luggage with us. We hauled it all the way over to McDonald's and got some lunch before heading down to the metro to take to the airport. It felt so good to be going to the airport so we could get home. The train stopped at a station and everyone got off and then the lights shut off in the train. We were a little confused but then a lady stepped back on the train and told us to get off. She told us in the best English that she could that there was another train coming for the airport. It was so nice of her to let us know because we had no clue what was going on. We finally made it to the airport and most definitely in plenty of time. We sat for a while and then checked our bags in before going through security and then once again, sat some more. It was then that we heard our flight had been delayed 3 HOURS!!!!! We were going to get in to Gatwick at around midnight which caused us to miss our train that we booked around 11 that night. We finally got on our flight back to Gatwick but had to come up with a plan B. We decided to spend the night in Gatwick (AGAIN!!!) and take an early morning train. I only slept about an hour because we didn't have as such nice benches as last time, they were wooden this time. We went to get tickets to Bangor, hoping that we wouldn't have to pay for new ones but unfortunately we did. They cost 48 pounds which really, really stunk but actually the Lord really was looking out for us. If we had not missed our train in the first place we would have had to spend from 1am to 4am at a train station called Wolverhampton. Now if that name isn't creepy enough, staying there from 1-4am is. So the Lord took care of us by making us miss our train and staying in the airport which is much safer. The Lord is so good! We got back to Bangor around 9 or 10 that morning. It felt so good to be back!!!! Spring break was officially over but it was the best thing ever!

Mama Mia, Here We Go Again

We woke up the next morning fairly early where we were already docked at the island of Crete. We were only spending a few hours there so we put on our swimsuits and headed to the beach. Once again, the water was freezing so we just laid out our towels and just soaked up the sun. After a little while we decided to brave the water. It took a while to get into it but once your body went numb it was alright. It certainly took your breath away! The water wasn't as rough as it was at Rhodes so we got to swim out fairly far. The water was so blue and incredibly clear! We could see the bottom of the sea and I estimated that it was about 25 feet below us. It was amazing! We didn't stay too long because it was so cold and the boat was leaving soon. We did go into some shops before we headed on the cruise ship but what was funny was that while we were in one shop, all three of us felt like the shop was rocking like it had been on the ship! I have never had that happen to me before, it was soooo weird! We took naps that afternoon before we landed at our last destination, the island of Santorini. There was no port for cruise ship to land at so we had to go to shore by tender boats. Once we had landed, there were charter buses to take us on our tour of the island. We were supposed to do the tour of the volcano and actually go swimming in it but for some reason it wasn't available when we arrived so we had to do the other excursion which ended up being pretty neat. We went to the town of Oia (pronounced ee-ah) where the entire place looked like it came from a postcard. All of the buildings were white with rounded roofs and even the footpaths were painted white. The island of Santorini is actually where Mama Mia was filmed as well as The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants. We stayed there for only a little while and then got on the bus for the last time where it dropped us off at the capitol of Santorini: Thira (pronounced th-ee-ah). The sun was setting and it was getting time to head back to the boat but we had to go down to a different port for the tender boats to take us back to our ship. But we decided to take the 680 steps down to the port in style: we rode donkeys!!! It was so much fun!!! It was a little scary at first because sometimes the donkey would slip on the pavement but after a while I got used to it and loved it. My donkey was tied to Melissa's donkey and the guy leading us kept turning around looking at me. I was video recording some of the trip when he turned around and yelled at me telling me to stop and I can take pictures at the end! My saddle felt a little more forward than usual so I think he was worried that I was going to slide off forward if I didn't hang on. We finally made it to the end and got on the tender boats to take us to our ship. We had dinner, watched half of the show at the Metropolitan Lounge, went to the disco for a bit, and then headed back to our rooms to pack our things. We had to put our suitcases out of our rooms by midnight so they could take them and get them ready to get off tomorrow. It was such a fantastic cruise! I couldn't believe I got to go to all of those places. It was amazing.

Alright, here is the layout of the cruise ship. There are ten decks total. Decks 2-7 were all made up of rooms. Deck 5 had the reception, store, and the Caruso Restuarant where we ate dinner. Deck 8 had the La Scala Restaurant, Rendez Vous Lounge, Monte Carlo Casino, Romeo & Juliet Bar, and the Metropolitan Lounge. Deck 9 was the Trivieta and Rigolleto Casual Dining, Riviera Pool and Bar, Beauty Salon, and the Wellness Center. Deck 10 was the sun deck and the Stars Lounge and Disco. Our room was on Deck 7 and each floor had a deck at the back of the ship where you could walk out on and relax.

This is the reception area. (left)

This is the Rendez Vous Lounge. (right)

Looking down the staircase from the top deck. (left)

The disco lounge on the top deck. (right)