Hello everyone from a freezing cold London – so cold that we are expecting a snowing downpour in just one hour’s time. Pretty blimmen cold!
This weekend we headed to Cardiff for the highly-anticipated All Blacks game which we purchased tickets for during our first few months in London, and despite the severe weather warnings and the snow, off we set on Friday evening after another week of work. As always, traffic was terrible but we arrived in Cardiff just before 9pm, so it could have been a lot worse and by other reports, we seemed to fare quite well.
We met Ryan (flatmate) and his mates as the bar where they were drinking with the bar-man and the father of the owner, Douggie. After a few drinks we headed out to meet up with the rest of Ryan’s friends, who were staying at a different hostel. All in all there were about 10 people who officially made up the ‘Cardiff crew’, plus all the random people you bump into from back home, of which there are always a few! We had a grand night heading home via the infamous ‘Chippie lane’ – a place where you can get deep fried food for cheap at any hour of the night... After a few onion bhajis, a pizza and a few cones of chips, we were ready for bed.
Despite our every intention not to, it ended up being a big night and we got to bed at about 4.30am, waking up at 8am to put some money into the parking metre – not the best start, but the atmosphere was epic which made the lack of sleep worth it. After the boys had a few morning drinks with Douggie and I had spent an hour putting on as many clothes as I possibly could, we set off and after the obligatory snowball fight, we settled into a Welsh bar and managed to score a table – no mean feat given half hour later you couldn’t move on account of it being packed with so many people.
The game was really out of this world and the whole thing was such a surreal experience. The stadium is huge and so steep – our seats were at the back and the merest glance down was enough to turn my stomach. I clutched that hand rail pretty tight when making my way up and down the stairs. A real highlight for us both was the minute of silence in memory of the miners – 80,000 people fell silent and you could have honestly heard a pin drop. It was certainly an experience we will never forget.
After the game we set off to a bar called Tiger Tiger – a great spot, which was rumoured to be hosting the mighty Abs later on in the evening. While we didn’t see any current Abs, we did happen to spot Paul Tito and Casey Laeulala and I just managed to restrain myself from telling him you’d named your cat after him Mum! We had a great night dancing away, but true to form, I couldn’t last as long as the other boys and Ryan walked me home a few hours before the rest of them stumbled in. Because Ryan has spent a bit of time in Cardiff before, we just followed him around the weekend and never learnt our way... It was welcome relief to not have to navigate, but at the same time Ryan was not impressed he had to leave the warmth of the club to accompany me home through the blanket of snow and -5 degree weather!
The next day we decided to take the scenic route home, darting off to wherever took our fancy. This is always a great approach and although it often brings added stress with a longer route and additional traffic, often you stumble across little gems that make the stress worthwhile... This time was no exception and we managed to stumble across one of the prettiest places to date – Caerphilly. A small village north of Cardiff which is home to a medieval castle, complete with moat and a leaning tower, which rivals that of Pisa (or so says Lonely Planet). Snow had freshly fallen the night before and the sight really did take our breath away. The snow was like powder – so much so that we could barely make a snowball, let alone a snowman. Brad managed to muster through it though and produce our very first snowman of the season. Despite only being 20cm tall it was a snowman all the same! After all that work in the snow, we were frozen solid and the only option was to head to a cosy little pub for a Sunday roast – Turkey for me, lamb for Brad – bloody good tucker! It was the best pub lunch we’ve had and despite having just had a hearty dinner as well as a supper of peanut butter on toast, my mouth is watering at the thought of it!
After lunch we slowly made our way back to London, skidding around the ice on those smaller roads, so we stuck to the main roads which had been salted, arriving back in London at around 5.30pm. A perfect day to finish a perfect weekend!
This weekend we’re off to Lille, France with the flatmates and Philly to check out the famous Christmas Market... We’ll be experts by the time the week is out as we’re also heading to the famous Winter Wonderland Christmas Market in Hyde Park tomorrow evening.
After a snow-filled weekend though I have managed to pick up my first bout of the English flu and was sent home from work today on account of looking dreadful.... Teary eyes, runny nose and continuous sneezing – not fun and I’m anxious to kick it in the bud as I don’t want it to interfere with tomorrow night’s ice-skating and mulled wine escapades!
Love to all in sunny New Zealand. Missing you all heaps, although the snow and sub-zero temperatures are helping to keep it at bay!
xxxx
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