So close, yet so far away!

Only 4 days from tomorrow (I say tomorrow because I am writing this post at 11:40 PM... don't ask me why) and E and I are FINALLY off to Europe. We can't believe that the time has come already. Swansea has been so great, however, the 3 week Easter holiday that lies ahead will be the climax of our adventure! After all, it marks the half way point of our stay abroad and when we return back to the UK, it is all FUN and TRAVEL throughout Britain until the end of May. Yes, we have school... but... well... need I say more? (Don't worry dad, I'll get my reading done for class ;) )

So anyways, I have a few pictures that I have yet to post... Come to think of it, E and I haven't really given the low down on all the parks in Swansea. There are parks everywhere! And they are not small ones by any means. They are kept fairly clean and tidy, truly adding to the natural bliss. The largest of these is Singleton Park. It surrounds the Uni and is full of lush greenery, unique trees, and animal life, that is if you count the birds and squirrels as variety ;) Inside the park there are separate gardens; for example the Oriental Gardens and the Botanical Gardens. Here are a few pictures from each:

It is so weird, but here in Wales flowers will bloom
through the grass just randomly under many of the trees.
It gives them lots of character ;)

Too bad the Botanical Gardens haven't quite bloomed yet!

I love all of the different trees! This one is so cool
and some of it's branches almost come low enough to sit on.

So, that's a recap of our trip to the gardens of Singleton Park. And to top off the day, we enjoyed a warm cuppa tea.

Sunday, we enjoyed a nice Sunday brunch for St. Patrick's day and happened upon this market in City Centre that we had no idea was even going on. We found lots of goodies and couldn't resist buying something from the charming Italian boys running the Little Italy booth.

E's first cappuccino AND first drink with a design.
A "Win-Win" situation if you ask me!

This wasn't the Italian's booth... but I am convinced that these
macaroons are truly the "best in the world."

And finally, from previous posts you probably know that when the sun sets in Swansea it freezes up like the Ice Age. However, on days like today, when Father Sunshine decides to dish some warm rays at least during the daylight hours, E and I get to actually sit outside to enjoy our afternoon drinks of choice.

See, the sun even wanted to warm the lens of the
camera ;) (sorry sar,didn't mean to block your face...
but at least everyone can see your muffin right? Haha)
In the photo though, we have a couple new
first's. E enjoys her muffin with a spoon for the FIRST time,
a proper English lady. And then, as already mentioned, we
are sitting outside for the FIRST time! Whoop Whoop!!

So there you have it... from the parks, the Sunday brunch, and lovely sunshine, we are still finding ways to fill our days until our exciting adventure begins come Saturday!

Ta-da!

- d

instead of's:

Hiya! 
just a short post of some fun "instead of's" we've encountered as of late:

juice there is squash

raisins there are sultanas

almonds there are hazelnuts

sprite there is sparkling lemonade

soccer there is football

American football there is rugby

"check" there is "ticket/bill"

movie theater there is cinema

Hershey's there is Cadbury everything!

Mother's day in May there is "Mothering Sunday" in March

toasted sandwich there is "toasties"

meat filled pastry there is "pasties"

trash there is rubbish

crepes there is  pancakes

french fries there is chips

chips there is crisps



that's all for now
cheers!

-e

playing catch up

yet another week has passed us by!
we can't believe we have almost been here for 2 months,
time flies when you're having fun, am I right?

Well it's time to play a little catch up,
although we have to admit this last weekend was lower on the adventure scale.
Unfortunately it is midterms over here, so we actually had to do school work.
  wah wah wah.
poor us right?

In prep for all the school work we were planning to do over the course of the weekend we treated ourselves to new nail polish and What Happens in Vegas on Friday night.
I mean if we are going to be stuck inside doing homework all weekend our nails better be pretty, right?

"YOU KNOW WHY!" for those of you who have seen it... best quote of the movie.

P.S. if anyone ever has a boyfriend that needs to be "you know why"d, count us in. 

Saturday morning we got straight to work! working on our essays for the entire day!

it didn't actually look this organized and pretty when we were writing

As a treat for all of our hard work we got all fancied up and went out to eat at this snazzy restaurant called "Grape and Olive".

It is located on the top floor of the tallest building in Swansea. 

Luckily neither one of us are afraid of heights ;)

of course diet coke was involved

 I got a delicious falafel burger and chips on the side, of course! it was delightful(:

D was the incredibly daring one and tried mussels! she says they were good, but she wouldn't get them again (; at least she tried them! 

& that sums up our weekend. You will be happy to hear that we got our essays done and turned in on Tuesday. 

One down & one to go. 

Onto tonight's event! 

Tonight we met up with our awesome friend, Kate, who is from Tennessee! 

We tried a really great indian restaurant that's located right on the coast... gorgeous views! 

After a few minor difficulties ordering (Welsh accents are hard enough, add in the indian accent on top of it and it's a whole nother beast) We ended up with some great dishes & AMAZING nan bread. 

the nan bread was filled with coconut and almond paste, I have never had anything better. It was almost like dessert... I am still obsessing over it apparently! ha. 

10 days, 1 more essay and 6 classes until we head to Europe for 3 weeks! (:
we're not excited at all..

Tada!

-e out
yes sometimes i speak like Ryan Seacrest, don't act like you've never have ... all the cool kids do.

the sun'll come out...yesterday!

To our great followers- pretend this post is dated Tuesday March 5, 2013 because contrary to today's weather description, BBC Weather reported AND delivered a glorious sun shiny day yesterday; E and I took full advantage of it, putting on hold our much needed school reading I might add ;) However, after a dreamy run in the morning and sunny trek to Mumbles, the work required to prepare for classes tomorrow was totally worth it; kudos to E for actually completing all the work, I feel like all this educational reading is just killing off my brain cells one book at a time - lets just say I have to take more breaks. But back to the post - reading about school is boring. So, because the weather was just so lovely, we walked to Mumbles right?...

Yep, those are E's little toesies... The weather was so nice, resulting in a shoeless beach stroll! Her shell was cute too, I just had to point out how great the weather was haha. Have I mentioned how nice the weather was yet? 

On our way there, a man, say 60+ years old, came and joined us a little over half way. His name was Mike. He was a typical Welshman; very proud of his country and his family, his children in particular. Just a glimpse of their accomplishments: One girl knows like 14 languages and works primarily in NYC at the United Nations or something, another child is a "billionaire" and has worked in the oil industry, one daughter is a soft tissue surgeon, the other girl married into wealth and another is really rich and I can't remember what she did. Mike was so genuinely nice and it was a pleasure talking to him. He had much to say, actually teaching E and I a lot about America that we hardly even knew about. I don't know whether I should feel embarrassed or not ;) We finally made it to Mumbles, and we were hungry. We decided to go to The Kitchen Table Cafe; well, I've found my new favorite restaurant, not just in the UK, but in the entire world!!! 

https://plus.google.com/109273196664491137158/
photos/photo/5733987372939107826?hl=en

It is vegetarian with many vegan options, gluten options, and dairy free options! They even have GF/Vegan Chocolate Ice Cream!!... but I am saving that for a treat because E and I BOTH plan on going back... a few times haha. I am going to dream of that place! The chai tea?...milky (soy of coarse)... 5 star rating! It was THE CUTEST cafe too with such a fun atmosphere. Too bad it isn't like right next door to our house. But perhaps that would be more detrimental than beneficial... on our wallets ;) so scratch that idea. But our meals?......

...we cleaned our plates! Good thing we had to walk back home. So, even though E and I are getting used to Swansea (ONLY 2.5 weeks until Europe!! AAHH), the seemingly monotonous days in this small city definitely catch you by surprise, especially if the sun peaks out of the clouds. How grateful we are to be here to enjoy them!

As for the rest of the week, we are off to school tomorrow... wish us luck! Our class discussions qre quite eventful, with a whole 7 people total to contribute... that is, if everyone shows up. Until next time!

Cheers!

- d  

OH!... and p.s... how could I forget?............ E plays dress up too! hehe

adventures, adventures and... more adventures (;

hiya!

time seems to have slipped away from us once again. But after a week without posting we have a lot to catch you guys up on!

First, we finally got to see Safe Haven, it came out here on March 1st. So we had to wait almost an entire month after all you lucky ducks in the States had already watched it.

We both read Nicholas Sparks' book & were too eager to see it. It didn't hurt that Josh Duhamel (or Tad Hamilton as we like to call him over here) was in it! swoon. How Fergie hooked that hottie will be something we question forever.

Needless to say, we both liked it! (E a little less than D, but hey looking at Josh for 2 hours is something I will never complain about) - yes me and Joshie are on first name basis these days. Look out Fergie.

P.S. Did anyone else leave that movie with a HUGE girl crush on Julianne Hough?? She's a winner.

After that lovely adventure on Friday night, we woke up early to head to Bath, England with 50 other Swansea Uni students. Boy oh boy was it a treat! Words can't describe this one, so we'll leave it to the photo's that the wonderful D captured (what would I do without her?)

Our first stop was to the Bath Abbey-

Our next stop was to the Roman Bath's:

these ducks were living luxuriously in the warm water

Then we hit the streets, to find some lunch! 

Pigeons!!

our new friend Julia from Sweden!

D found a Fudge Shop with dairy-free fudge!
Fun fact: the normal fudge flavor in the UK is Toffee (it's delightful!)

I got THE best peanut butter cookie ever. I'm told D's dad would be jealous (;
Sorry Scot, I would bring you back one if I could!

we got some yummy omelettes! 

Next, we hit the Jane Austin Center-

D's gonna kill me for putting this up (;

Then took a walk along the parks & river- 

We worked up a thirst and hit a tea room for a cup of loose leaf tea!

 our last surprise was an awesome street performer who peddled on this uni-cycle with the little boy on top of his shoulders!! He also juggled fire sticks and some other crazy stuff!

By the time the bus came to get us at 6 pm we were exhausted!!  

ok you caught me.. this is a fake sleep.

Where we slept or pretended to.. in order to keep our bus driver from flirting with E. Talk about awkward as he was at least 60. YIKES!

Sorry for the long post- we just had so much to share! 

Cheers,

-e