Wales- Wow, what a great weekend. First let me back up.

Accidently missed my 1st Shakespeares London class on friday morning due to not having recieved an email about it. So much for my having thurs, friday sat, sun, monday, off. I guess a 3 day weekend isn't that bad though.

Right so the bus to Swansea was long and things seemed a bit chaotic when we arrived there as a few people didn't make the bus and students were now in pairs with thier families. I wound up with a family different than the one i was originally assigned and with a girl named Gillian. The family was quite nice. All of the students weren't actually in Swansea, which is the 2nd biggest city in Wales, but rather in The Mumbles or Langland (which was where i was). The Mumbles claim to fame, is that Catherine Zeta Jones is from there and recently just bought her parents a huge house there. Go figure. Anywho this was really right out on the beach. The next morning 2 of the parents of the whole group took us all out to see the castle there, known as Oystermouth castle, which was really nice. We were the only people there and they pretty much let us have free reign to wander around as we like. the view from the top was just amazing, you could see the whole shore line and the tide going out. After the castle we got a little info session on the lifeboats and the crew that runs them. Afterwards we went over to the pier where you can see the lighthouse and whatnot. Had lunch at the Mumbles Yacht Club and then most of us headed over to Swansea itself. Did a little shopping and tried some welsch food-- i had Lavabread which is basically seaweed. Kinda a shock to the tastebuds, but i suppose with the proper preperation it could be quite tasty. That evening Gillian and i had dinner back with the family. It was a mom named Jane, who was divorced and her 2 sons, Rupert (19) and Oliver (17). Afterwards, all the americans met at a pub in Mumbles called the White Rose. Had some drinks there and then went to another one called the Antelope where we met a lovely girl named Sarah who may come visit us in London, as well as the 2 blokes who had given us the tour of the lifeboats. Went home later on and then the next morning we got up and Gillian and i walked to the beach which was like a 2 minute walk from where we were staying. It was just really a bay but wow how amazing. There were tons of people out and even people in the water surfing. We had great weather over the weekend to the point where i was walking on the beach in short sleeves. We beach combed for awhile and i did a bunch of photograpy. It was so peaceful and amazing. Just what i needed after having been in the city for 2 weeks. I really just loved this town it was just beautiful.

Long bus ride back and today is being dedicated to doing homework.

Miss you all! Love from London,
Lindsay