With some delay due to a lack of time, here is a summary of my week-end in Cardiff, capital city of Wales, where I had a wonderful time with my friends Elsa, Romain, Benji and Solène. I took a train in Hull on Thursday, changed in Doncaster and then had a direct train to Cardiff. Not so direct, since I had to get off the train in Bristol because of a closed tunnel. Luckily enough, the tunnel re-opened shortly after my arrival in Bristol and I managed to arrive in Cardiff, less than an hour late.

Elsa and Romain have been living at 37, Cumberland Street for nine months now, there in Cardiff as Erasmus students, with two housemates, Sandra and Ben, in a nice and comfortable little house. After being welcomed by Elsa, I was given a quick tour of the house, then we had dinner and waited for Romain's return from Newport where he had spent the day with his friend. We talked about the good old times (we have known each other for five years now, time flies...) and of course of our lives as exchange students in England. When Romain finally came back home, we celebrated our gathering with a French aperitif (pastis, bien entendu!) and talked until late at night.

I woke up fairly late on Friday and had just the time to take a shower and have a quick breakfast before Benji and Solène arrived. They had spent the previous night in Portsmouth, at Solène's sister's. Benji did not know I was there, so seeing me was an absolute surprise, and I guess he enjoyed it as much as I did! After a quick lunch, we set off to the city centre for a shopping afternoon. The weather was not on our side, but even under the rain Cardiff is a lovely city and a lot of covered shopping galeries can be found throughout the city centre. Despite the weather, Benji and I bought swimsuits for this summer at a very low price in TK Max! We ended up in a warm pub called Qué pasa? where Benji discovered this improbable mixture: Guinness with blackcurrant.

In a pub

Benji, Elsa, Romain and myself.

After a stop at Tesco, we had dinner and went back to town to enjoy Cardiff by night. It was predictible: Hull's nightlife does not stand the comparison! We went to two different pubs, both huge and very crowded, loud techno and dance music and people of all ages gathering, drinking, dancing, flirting. The british party at its best!

I would have spent the whole night out if it had not been with Benji and Solène's weariness. So we made our way home quite early for a good night sleep.

Once more we emerged from the sleeping bags quite late, had breakfast and went back to the city centre. Benji and Solène insisted on trying this very typical and local restaurant called Burger King... We found a shop full of French specialities, called Madame Fromage, where I bought un saucisson auvergnat, for the aperitif of course! What a nostalgia to smell all these good cheeses... but the shop assistant did not seem to speak a word of French... On our way home we met a wide an uninterrupted tide of football supporters flowing out of the Millenium Stadium.

The Millenium Stadium

Romain, Benji, Solène and myself in front of the Millenium Stadium.

Football supporters

Swansea City VS. Barnsley.

After a quick aperitif came the farewells time: Benji and Solène had to leave to spend their last night in England with Solène's sister, and Romain was taking the ferry in Dover because his internship in Paris started on Monday. Hard to say goodbye, that was a short week-end yet we had a great time. Left alone, Elsa and I spent the last night at some French friends'.

On Sunday the weather was rather nice compared to the previous days, so after having lunch I set off and walked to the railway station. Seven hours, three different trains and fifty minutes walk (thanks to the wonderful bus network in Hull) later, I was back in Hull. That was another wonderful week-end in a beautiful and welcoming city, I just regret not having the time to go to Cardiff Bay. Next time perhaps! A big thank you to Elsa and Romain for welcoming us, and see you soon!

PS: As you probably noticed, this is my first article in English, I hope not to make too many mistakes, any corrections are more than welcome!