I finally finished captioning and posting the rest of my photos from Wales and the wedding. 236 total! And I didn’t even post them all! Ah the beauty of digital photography.

A lot of the story is told through the captions, but tomorrow I’ll finally finish a bit of a trip write-up.

I’m still tired but I offer you the first 74 photos from my time in Wales.

Descriptive narrative still forthcoming.

I’m feeling surprisingly refreshed considering my body should think its 2:46AM rather than actual morning walking around time. No airport problems. I actually even left early. D picked me up at 11am and dropped me at the CR airport by 11:30. My flight wasn’t scheduled to go until 1:20pm or so, but the ticket counter lady told me I could get an earlier flight if I wasn’t checking any baggage and by 11:40am, I was winging my way to Chicago. I was in Chicago by 12:30 and my flight to Manchester didn’t leave until 6:10pm. So I spent some quality time with O’Hare. I’m glad I got my earlier flight because looking at some of the arrival/departure board throughout the afternoon it looked like the afternoon flights were either delayed or canceled, probably because of low passenger numbers because the weather seemed fine.

Alrighty, now I’m back in the UK for real as I’m on a lovely train heading to Wales. This train is actually going to Crewe, wherever that is and then I change trains for Chirk. Man, the joys of travel, loved getting that passport stamp, loved getting some nice 20 pound notes, and getting the nice orange-edged train ticket currently stuck in the edge of my keyboard just made me smile.

Can we take a moment and enjoy the wonders of ATM cards that work in other countries? I think we shall. Its bloody brilliant. I haven’t been here in six years and at that time I still banked in Bussey and didn’t even have an ATM card. I opened a bank account (I think it was Nat West) in Wales and had my ATM card and checks (or cheques) from there. I didn’t even bring any travelers checks with me. Just stepped off the plane and got some cash.

Now how is it that my ATM card will work here, but my cell phone won’t?

Oh well, can’t have everything, I suppose. It will be kind of a nice break from cell phones and the internet. (Obviously, I will post these when I get back.)

The weather is cool, but nice. I’m in a t-shirt and khakis and I’m perfectly comfortable. Ah Britain, where people smoke and don’t care. Watched a chick roll her own cigarette while I waited for the train. I forgot that average people do that here because its cheaper than buying cigarettes.

That’s it for now. I want to stare out the window and soak it all in for the rest of the ride.