Dinefwr Park and Cardiff in two days...

It's nearly impossible to see everything there is to see in Dinefwr and Cardiff in just two days but you can still see quite a bit.

Dinefwr is a combination of things.  It's a 12th Century castle that's been destroyed and rebuilt over time and conquered by more people that I can count on one hand, and it's also an 18th Century landscape park with the Newton House as it's anchor.  Unfortunately the group didn't have enough time to visit the castle-that will be remedied very soon-but we did get to tour the Newton House and it was amazing!

At ever corner was a piece of history, from the beer cellar and distillery to the the dank basement rooms where the servants were once quartered.  Perhaps the most incredible view was not the ornate furnishings of the house or the exquisite artwork in the paintings of the family, but the landscape and architecture of the garden and outdoors of the land surrounding the house itself.  Don't get me wrong, I've been out of the landscape business for several years but if you paid attention carefully, you could pick out what plants and trees were planted by man and not indigenous to Wales.  Nevertheless, it was convincing enough to induce several jaw-dropping moments and camera battery draining photo opportunities.

The following day, the full group of international students from both the Carmarthen and Lampeter campuses traveled to Cardiff but made a stop to visit St. Ffagans to explore an outdoor style museum meant to mimic the past.  How far in the past? The dates escape me but are easily found on the internet.  We had the chance to see everything from the outer walls of a former fortress to the dark and dreary woolen factory basements.  The added smell of farm and old wool only added to the effect.  It in no way made me cringe and scrunch my nose in disappointment.  We did however visit the gardens where flowers will be in full bloom come spring and summer and several out buildings and pagodas in which a few of us inscribed our legacies for eternity.

And finally we traveled to Cardiff, Wales.  Cardiff, compared to Carmarthen, is much more city like and metropolitan.  Several hordes of people walked in the streets thank to the Wales vs. Italy rugby match-Wales won easily 27-12-and the town was spotted with arcades or 'malls' with shops similar to those found in malls in the States or even in Carmarthen.  Unfortunately we only had a short amount of time being that the game started at 2:30pm and most time was spent in a pub watching the game, but I wouldn't trade the time for anything.

I can't wait to get back to all the place the group has traveled this year.  With Easter break and St. Patricks Day in Ireland coming up, there won't be many trips left besides an excursion to London.  It's been an absolute pleasure experiencing all these destinations with fellow classmates and now life long friends.