The following post is a write-up of my trip to Wales in September 2007 to attended a conference. It was quite the experience so I wrote up this account of my journey.
Stranded in Atlanta and on to Cymru
The date was August 31, 2007. The day began peacefully in Gainesville, FL. After a paced morning of packing and double checking my packing list, we (Kristi, Anwyn, and I) loaded our car and headed to pick up Sandra, my fellow student, aeronautical adventurer, and lab mate. We made our way through the traffic in Gainesville and on our way to Jacksonville. After a relatively uneventful drive interspersed with the sky's shedding of many tears for our departure as well as exuberant choruses from a 2 2/3 year old of great classical music by one of the Masters, namely Mozart's Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star (words by someone else) as well as other songs by less well-known composers, we reached the airport. After a quick goodbye to Kristi and Anwyn I made my way into the airport. It was the beginning of a saga; none of my most sagacious predictions could have prepared me for it.
Our already changed (we were originally scheduled to be on an earlier flight but were changed to a later one by Delta a month or so ago) flight was delayed by 25 minutes. I boarded the plane after walking uneventfully through security – sans shoes, belt, and dignity. Once on board, however, it began to rain, really rain, with lightning striking close by. The storm delayed us for at least another 20 minutes. After a short hour-long flight to Atlanta we landed. We weren't on the ground until 10 minutes after our connecting flight to Paris was supposed to leave. Hoping against hope that we could make it on another flight to Paris that was scheduled to leave within the next few minutes, we travelled across the Atlanta airport (literally to the other side of the massive airport) to get to the international terminal. By the time we got there both Paris flights were long gone.
We had a long discussion with a Delta representative, who searched to try to get us to Paris in time for our flight to Cardiff but was unsuccessful in finding openings. We agreed to chance getting on a late flight to Paris by waiting standby. If we were successful getting on we would then fly to Amsterdam then on to Cardiff. Of course, the flight to Paris was delayed for 1.5 hours so we had to wait and wait and read. A Delta/Air France representative said over the intercom, much to the chagrin of the majority of the people waiting standby, "We're sorry, this flight is completely full." Back we rushed to the Delta service desk to try and get on another flight.
"All flights out of the U.S. to Europe are full. We're sorry, here's a T-shirt." Okay, I made up the part about the T-shirt but in retrospect, it would have been nice to have at the very least a lousy T-shirt. "We can get you to Cardiff on Monday," the representative continued.
"We have to be in Cardiff before Monday; we have a class/conference we're attending and need to be there. How about London, can you at least get us to London before Monday?"
"We can get you to London via Germany and Belgium by late Sunday afternoon [London is 2-4 hours by train, depending on transfers and waiting, from Cardiff]."
"Is there any other way to get us there sooner?"
"No."
"Ok, we'll take it."
We each received a voucher for a hotel room and 3 meal vouchers, good at the airport, since the flight to Frankfurt wasn't leaving until late Saturday afternoon; It was around midnight. We worked our way to ground transportation to ride the shuttle to the hotel. After waiting 30 minutes Sandra got through to the hotel – it was completely full. So much for our voucher. Now we got to wait in another line to try and get a voucher to a different hotel. The only problem was there were 250-300 people in line ahead of us.
"We have no more hotels available. All of our hotels are completely full. Come back at 5:15 am to check in. Sorry, we can't help you; here's a meal voucher if you want one," the Delta representative told the tired and huddled masses. This was at about 1:00 am. My spirits were high but my companion's were wavering. "Hmm, I wonder how comfortable that tile floor over there is?"
I continued my account at 7:50 Saturday morning, still in the Atlanta airport. By that time I had had about an hour of sleep (split between two different times of "going to bed"). [The following events took place between 1 am and 5:15 am]. The floor was too hard and the airport too noisy to get any more sleep. Between the music blaring over the speakers – interspersed with TSA announcements – the powered floor cleaning equipment, the construction noises "brrrrrr-tat tat tat tat" "thunk thunk thunk", and the flashing fire alarm lights (thankfully without the audible alarm) useful sleep was nearly impossible. It was also really cold under the A.C. vents that seemed to blow on every square inch of carpeted areas (and uncarpeted for that matter). I ended up walking around a lot. After one of my attempts at sleep I got up and realized that an area of the floor on which I was lying was wet (hopefully as a result of cleaning or even just spilled water), which resulted in the side of one of my jeans being wet and stained.
After some more wandering and waiting, it was finally 5:15 am and time to talk to the airline representatives again. The Delta lady looked at our itineraries. Apparently my trip according to the Delta computer ended in Brussels – the last leg to London hadn't been entered. That was nice to find out in Atlanta and not Brussels. They still couldn't get us directly into Cardiff in time for our conference but the representative was able to get us on a direct flight to London, which got in on Sunday morning. Things were looking a little better; although, we still had to pay for train tickets to Cardiff from London. The woman reserved two hotel rooms for us so we could spend the day there instead of the airport – our flight wasn't supposed to leave until 5:30 pm.
We caught a shuttle to the hotel and went to check in. "That will be $75 each."
"We have vouchers from Delta."
"We don't accept vouchers. You're getting this room for half-price."
"No thanks."
"You can have some of our breakfast if you want."
So we went back to the airport to wait some more. It certainly had been an interesting time so far. We went to the airport Atrium to find a place to rest. I managed to amass a total of nearly 2 hours of sleep in a chair in the Atrium. The room is beautiful but not very comfortable. To pass the time I read (and read). At 11:30 am we checked in for our 5:30 flight. We breezed through security and headed by train to concourse E. It was nice to have a change of scenery. We wandered around for a while and looked at a nice little exhibit about MLK. Then we got lunch – I had Chinese. At 5:00 pm we started the boarding process. I had a slight lack-of-sleep headache but wasn't much worse than that for wear.
The flight to London – Gatwick was nice. We were served dinner & breakfast and could choose from a number of movies or TV shows or games to watch or play. I slept for almost two hours. We were on a 767-400ER and flew up the East coast then over to London. We landed at Gatwick at about 7 am London time, waited in line to get our passports stamped (the long queue was organized well and moved fairly quickly), then went and got our luggage after purchasing a train ticket to Cardiff (cost 55 GBP). We breezed through customs and were on our way to the train. We left from Platform 3 (I looked around for a 9 ¾ but they didn't have one at the Gatwick station) to Reading. We passed through beautiful farm country and saw sheep, horses, corn, and other crops. The little towns we pass through are bucolic and beautiful. Our stops were: Redhill, Reigate, Dorking, Deepdene, Dorking West, Gomshall, Chillworth, Guildford, North Camp, Farnborough North, Blackwater, Sandhurst, Workingham, and Reading. At Reading we transferred onto a train to Carmarthen (with a stop at Cardiff Central – our destination). It was interesting being on the trains and having a man come around and ask for your tickets; I've never had that experience before. We passed fields with hay rolled into large bales. We passed the occasional herds of languid cows. Picturesque country homes stood tall amid England's pleasant pastures and clouded hills. After Reading, the train stopped at Swindon, Bristol Parkway, Newport, and Cardiff Central.
On the train, when we passed another train going the opposite way, there would be an immense pressure built up between the two trains, which were separated by only a couple feet. There would be a loud whoosh with the pressure; anyway, it was interesting. The same thing would happen in tunnels – we went through a number of them, some of them quite long – so I'd need to "pop" my ears to equalize the pressure.
[Narrative continued at 9 PM Sunday, 2 September 2007]. We arrived at Cardiff Central (on Sunday morning), got off the train, & started figuring out where to go. I withdrew some GBP from an ATM. We talked with a nice station worker who showed us where the right bus was but it wasn't coming for 45 minutes. We decided to take a taxi. Our cab driver took a round-about trip to our destination because of construction and traffic. It actually is not terribly far from Cardiff Central to the university campus where we were staying (we later walked the distance) but it would have been a long hike with our luggage.
We checked into our rooms and headed on up to the 3rd floor, where we were staying. The flats where we stayed were up a somewhat narrow and creaky set of stairs (not bad at all, I'm taking a bit of literary license). 8 flats/closet-rooms shared a common kitchen area but each had its own bathroom, including diminutive shower. The rooms were clean and cheap (only 20 GBP per night), which is the most important thing.
After taking my first shower and putting on my first change of clothes since Friday, I went out to take a few pictures and video. I called home using a pre-paid card I had purchased before leaving (got a nice rate on that). The building where I was staying had a pay phone downstairs but the card I purchased had a toll-free number to call in the UK, so I was able to make all my calls on pay phones. It was really nice to talk to Kristi and Anwyn. With the 5 hour time difference, it was only 9:45 AM in Gainesville but was 2:45 PM in Cardiff.
Sandra and I walked around the city for a little while. We saw some of campus. We also saw the lovely Alexandra Gardens, which is a large park with beautiful red flowers and various war memorials. We then walked down to the National Museum and Gallery of Wales. We didn't have much time there because it was closing soon. We only had time to see the art gallery. Most of the art was donated by two sisters who acquired it in the early 1900s. There were a lot of Monet paintings – they really are beautiful. We saw two Renoir paintings, including his very famous La Parisienne (also called The Blue Lady). We saw Van Gogh's Rain-Auvers as well as works by Manet and Cezanne. We also saw some statues by Rodin. All in all, it was a wonderful collection of beautiful artwork. There was one fantastic Renaissance painting (Virgin and Child with a Pomegranate by a follower of Botticelli, painted in about 1500) that I particularly liked. The colors were rich and the detail was amazing. It looked really beautiful up close. I also liked all the Impressionist works. It was neat to look at them up close and see the bright blobs of colors, then walk slowly backwards until the forms in the paintings took shape – lilies on a pond, a castle, or trees. We unfortunately did not have time to see more of the museum.
After walking by a few government buildings we walked to City Centre. There were a lot of people milling about on this Sunday evening. We managed to mostly avoid an outdoor concert where a cross-dressing man sang out-of-tune 80s songs. I got away about as fast as I could (more for the assault on my ears by his off-key notes than his cross-dressing). There were hundreds of shops all over the place, but most of them were closed or about to close. We walked quite a distance, looking at some of the sights of Cardiff, including the exterior of Cardiff Castle. We finally found an Italian restaurant at which we ate dinner. As we walked around, it rained off and on – the rain fell softly, like a mist, most of the time. The sky was cloudy the first could days we were in Cardiff but clear after that. It was much cooler than Gainesville and actually felt like Fall (although it would warm up to about 70+ degrees Fahrenheit the rest of the week). The food I had was good – I had a pizza – but it was fairly pricey (about 8 GPB). After dinner we walked home, which took about 20 minutes (I had to walk more slowly than I normally would have walked because Sandra doesn't walk as quickly as I do).
I went out exploring a bit after dinner to try to find an alarm clock – I had not brought one and I didn't have a watch or any other way to tell time. I never did find one (outside of an airport) on my trip and so I made do without any way to keep track of time (Sandra had an alarm on her phone and would knock on my door in the morning to wake me up). I wandered around for a little while and eventually found a gas station. I purchased some food for breakfast. Gas in Cardiff comes out to be about $5.00 a gallon. After I walked home via a roundabout way, I wrote a little (of this adventure) and fell asleep.
I got up around 6:30 AM, got ready and went to the conference at 8 AM. We waited for a few minutes while the organizers got everything ready for registration. I received my name tag, my course packet (about 360 pages long), a bag, and other stuff. We went to a lecture, had a break, went to a practical (computer) session, had lunch (they ran out of food before we got down to lunch but they ordered more so I had some lunch), went to another lecture, had a break, went to another practical session, then went to a "drinks and nibbles" opening reception. The food was okay. Everything we had for lunches was served cold (sandwiches, chicken, pizza, etc.). After the dinner, we went to the Lidl Supermarket around the corner and purchased food for breakfasts. After shopping I called home then went back to my room.
Tuesday was probably our most fun day. The lectures and classes were all about fMRI (which we don't do in our lab) so after attending the morning lecture and practical and lunch, Sandra and I left to see more of the city. We walked down to Cardiff Castle, a 20 minute walk from the Psychology Building. The castle grounds are quite large, with a tall wall around the whole thing. We were able to get the student discount for the tour, which saved us $3. On the castle grounds there were old Roman walls, and old Norman keep, and the big house (mostly built in the 1800s). The castle originally was a Roman fort, built around 100 AD. Over the years the area was built up, with the Normans raising the keep mound around 1100 AD and building a wooden keep there. A short time later, the keep was constructed of stone. The rest of the castle grounds were built up over the years, with a lot of the restoration done in the 1800s.
We were unable to take pictures on the tour of the inside of the house. The decorations were amazing and beautiful. Our tour lasted about 45 minutes. I really liked the Children's Room and the Library. After the tour we were able to climb up to the keep and on the keep (up narrow spiral staircases). The keep isn't very big but could house 500 people or so in a battle.
After the castle we walked next door to Bute Park (named for the Bute family who owned the castle in the 1700s – 1900s). We didn't really see much of the park (it's huge). We then walked over by the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff's rugby and football (soccer) stadium. It is huge (seats 75,000). A hawk is kept there to keep away pigeons and seagulls. We continued walking on to Cardiff Central and caught a bus (Route 8) down to Mermaid Quay (Cardiff Bay). We saw the impressive and beautiful Millennium Centre, Cardiff's big theater. We also saw a plaque in honor of Rhold Dahl, who was born in Cardiff. We looked around at places to eat. The area of Cardiff is being built up as an upscale shopping and eating center. We decided to get fish and chips at a restaurant. It had some really good cod. The chips would have been better with ketchup (I tried some vinegar on them). In general, food in Cardiff is 1.5 – 2 times more expensive than food in average U.S. cities. This is partially due to the weak dollar. After dinner we caught a bus back to Central Station and walked home.
One thing I noticed is how many different accents there are spoken in Cardiff. Some people barely have accents and others sound as if they are speaking a foreign language (no they weren't speaking Welsh). Here are some of the word differences I noticed. Elevators are called lifts. You have litter and rubbish bins. Renting a place is called letting. There were other differences too.
Wednesday was more of the same with classes. On Thursday I started feeling sick and couldn't make it through all the classes that day; I left after lunch and went back to my room to sleep. After a few hours of sleep I got up to go find some dinner and buy a couple gifts. I bought Kristi a silver necklace. Anwyn got a book about a princess who became a knight. I also purchased a little Cardiff magnet for our fridge and a really cute little sheep and dragons tic-tac-toe game. For dinner I purchased a chicken pasty at a Cornish Bakehouse with "Award Winning Cornish Pasties" – the food was good. On Thursday I really missed being home, especially as it was getting closer to me going home.
Here are some of my observations from Wales (this paragraph is almost like a list so I've expended little effort at intra-paragraph flow): a lot of people smoke (especially young people) – a lot more than in the U.S. It's hard to walk outside without having to walk through clouds of smoke at some point. They use a lot of coins for money in the UK – 1 pence, 2 pence, 5 pence, 20 pence, 50 pence, 1 pound, and 2 pound. I never was given any bills as change. A lot of people walk and bike around town in Cardiff. There are also a lot of trains and busses. The cars are smaller on average and I never got used to them driving on the other side of the roads. Cars also generally do not stop for pedestrians, if they can help it so you have to keep your eyes open. Also, there are no road signs or speed limit signs posted anywhere. Well, I saw one or two speed limit signs (on little off streets) but don't remember ever seeing an actual road sign. Cardiff isn't the prettiest city but it is still beautiful. It used to be a big coal mining/shipping town but it's being renovated to look nicer. I haven't noticed a lot of "bad teeth." I ate a Mr. Kipling Fruit Flapjack – a processed granola-bar like food. Every electrical outlet here has its own power switch, so they can be turned on and off individually. Shops usually close by 5 or 6 PM. I don't know when people do their shopping but the mall is all closed down by 6 PM. The only stores that are open are little convenience stores. Restaurants are open at night but nothing else. A lot of people sit around drinking beer in Cardiff at night. There are pubs on every corner. There are a lot of impressive cathedrals all over town. Some toilet paper comes as separate tissues, like Kleenexes but thicker.
There were a couple times when being in Wales was very emotional for me because I was in the land where some of my ancestors were from and lived. Cardiff is in Glamorgan county, which is named after a Morgan family. I don't know if we come from the same Morgan family but it's a possibility.
One day at lunch I was sitting and eating my food when I heard a girl talking. "She has an American accent! She sounds like me," I thought. It was funny to be able to hear an American accent.
[Narrative continued at 8 PM on Sat, 8 September 2007]. I am sitting in Atlanta – fancy that – as we wait to board the plane (we leave in a couple hours). This morning I awoke at 3:30 Cardiff time (10:30 PM Gainesville time). I didn't know what time it was so I showered, got dressed, ate, then left to go find a clock and see what time it was (I didn't have an alarm clock or a watch). I walked to the Cathays train station down the road (5 minutes away) and saw that it was 4:20 AM. So I walked back to my room and tried to sleep a little more. Our taxi was picking us up at 6 AM so I managed about another hour of sleep. We got on the taxi and headed to the airport, about 12 miles away. The roads in Cardiff are pretty complex; I was glad I wasn't driving. The Cardiff airport is small. We checked in, walked by the Airport Police carrying assault rifles and wearing body armor, and got some breakfast. For breakfast I had a sort of breakfast sandwich with a sausage, hash browns, and bacon on it. It was good. Then we went through security and waited in the "Departures Area" where everyone waits until it's time to board your flight. At that time you walk to your gate.
We were on a Flybe flight to Paris, on a Bombardier Q400, a good-sized dual turbo prop plane. The flight to Charles de Gaulle airport was about an hour and uneventful. To get on the plane we walked outside and climbed up the stairs onto the plane. We got off the same way, so I can say I actually walked on French soil (tarmac, at least). France looked very green, from what little I could see.
Charles de Gaulle airport was pretty bad. It looked beautiful but was very confusing. There are no signs telling you where to go. We had to get to a different terminal via train but to get to the train we had to get down to the ground floor. To get to the ground floor we had to take an escalator up (the escalator was in a suspended tube through the middle of the building) and then find an elevator down. Maybe this makes sense to the French. There were a few information desks around but only one had anybody at it. In general the airport was pretty and had a lot of nice features but they need someone to go through and work on the flow issues. If there is one thing good about American airports, it's that they are efficient and user-friendly (of the 10 or so that I've been through), at least compared to Charles de Gaulle Airport. We found our gate and boarded the plane (after a long wait in line). Oh yeah, getting through security was very inefficient. The lines moved really slowly. I also was patted down after going through the metal detector even though I didn't set it off (the guard was patting down pretty much all of the males). I also noticed when we were on the train between terminals that there were a bunch of airport police in body armor in armored vehicles carrying assault rifles. I guess they like putting on a show of security. I've never seen men with assault rifles in U.S. airports.
We were on a Boeing 747 to Atlanta. We were up on the top story of the plane, which was really nice because it wasn't as crowded. It's hard to describe how large these planes are. The flight across was nice. I watched a few movies and rested some but didn't really sleep. We got to Atlanta at about 5 PM and got dinner. We had to wait until about 9:30 for our flight; so, there I was in Atlanta again. I guess 24 hours wasn't enough the previous week.
The trip was very enjoyable and wonderful in general. I learned a lot about brain imaging and processing brain MRIs so they are useful for statistical analysis. It was great to travel to a different country and spend some time there. Wales is beautiful and is rich with history.
