Arcadia England

Well, not one minute of this reading week was wasted.  I went from running around the most vibrant parts of the city with my family, to taking a refreshing weekend away from civilization with 40 other Arcadia London classmates in the Preseli Mountains of Wales.

(Yes, Wales is its own country.  It’s part of the UK, so you don’t even need a passport to go there from England, Scotland, or Northern Ireland.)

The coast is 5 hours from London by National Rail trains.  The capital city, Cardiff, is only 1 ½ hours away. It looks like modern London, but feels more foreign because all the signs are written in Welsh too. There are people in the more remote areas who only speak Welsh.

The Preseli Eco-Lodge in the tiny coastal town of Haverfordwest was like a Welsh kibbutz.  There was no phone reception and it was refreshing to be off the grid for a few days.  The lodge had very friendly staff, tea and hot chocolate, and card games to play at night.

So quaint.

The bedrooms weren’t numbered, but named after tiny Welsh offshore islands instead.  I stayed in this room:

The food was actually more distinctive than what I’m eating in London – a traditional Welsh stew, fruit cobblers and homemade cakes with pudding, and cheese.  Fresh cheese at every meal.  There are certainly enough cows here.

10,000 people actually live in Haverfordwest (written as Hwlffordd in Welsh), but you’d never guess there were more than 100 people living in the tiny harbor neighborhoods we saw.

The first outdoor activity was kayaking in the Pembrokeshire Harbor.  Steering a single-person boat.  For a moment, the thought of that was terrifying and I almost stayed back.

But the trip went swimmingly.  Ironically because no one had to swim. There was some wind, but all 12 of us paddled through it without capsizing and laughed every time our boats bumped.

Then there was the hike along the Pembrokeshire Coast Trail.  I’ve hiked through woods and deserts before, but the coastline felt very different because the ground was so soft and grassy. I never want to step in that much mud again, but I’m glad to have seen such gorgeous views of the coast, hikers with puppies, and more sheep than I thought was possible.  They can even jump over fences, very well I must say.  I think it’s an insult to actual sheep when we refer to oblivious people as “sheep”.

(These pictures don’t even do justice to how high we were standing above the water.)

So I’m glad I challenged myself to make this trip, and I’m ready for next weekend’s day trip to York!

You can also read this post, and many more, on Rachel's personal blog.