To The Motherland...Wales.

Ah Wales, where to start? It is such a beautiful and quiet country that is filled with so much of my family's history. To be able to experience where my mother and all of her siblings, aunts, uncles, mother and father grew up has filled a hole in my life and for that I will always cherish this trip. Walking through the rolling hills and seeing all the little lambs and the smile on my mother's face to see her youngest daughter living this moment is unforgettable. I hope I can share how much these moments meant to me through the pictures I have taken:

Entering Wales! 

Mom and I shopping in Cardiff

Aunty Jane, my cousin Kayleigh and Mom in Cardiff

Driving through Brecon Beacons

The following pictures are in Llandrindod Wells, a small town in Wales where some of my mom's siblings and my cousins grew up. 

My Nan used to live in here above the optician

Now we are on our way to where my mother, one of her sisters, and brother grew up. 

The house in the next photos has SO much history in my mom's family. Her father and his siblings as well as my mom and some of her siblings grew up in this house called "Tynant". We originally planned to walk up the lane and take a few photos with it but the current owner actually invited us in. As soon as we entered you could just feel the emotions in the room and all of the memories it brought back to my mother. It was such a bittersweet thing to witness. So after having some tea and chatting with the owners my mother and my Aunty Elaine said their goodbye's to Tynant.

That concludes our trip to Wales, a country where I was thankful to breath the fresh air and understand where I come from. I am proud to say that I am Welsh! Iechyd da!

Thanks for reading!!
xx

Nikki goes to the UK!

As most of my friends and family know I am half Welsh and most of my relatives reside in the UK. I was born in England but only lived there for a few short years as a child and therefore barely remembered it. I hadn't seen a relative from my mother's side of the family in almost 20 years, not because I didn't want to but because the opportunity just hasn't been there for me to travel to the UK and visit everyone. I always wondered what my family was like and have longed to have a personal connection with them all and that feeling of belonging in a big family. My mother comes from a large family of 6 brothers and sisters, each with their own children so when I saw the opportunity go to the UK last month and visit all of my family I quickly booked my plane tickets. What made this trip so great was the fact that my mom was meeting me in the UK from Florida so not only did I get to catch up with her, she was able to introduce me to everyone. It is hard to put into words how great of an experience this was for me, but I will begin with some pictures and we will start in England:

Cafes near my Aunt's house in Southend on Sea

A proper English breakfast sandwich :)

Shopping on Oxford St.

Mom near Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace, the Queen was in! 

Having a night out with my Uncle Matt and Mom in Southend.

More shopping on New Bond Street

Tower Bridge

Tower of London

At the Thames River with Big Ben and the British Parliaments in the background!

The next few photos were taken in Chirk which lies right on the border of England and Wales but I will include it in this series ;)

Mom, my Great Aunty Gwen and my Aunty Elaine

Mom with my Aunty and Cousins on the canal

Me with everyone on the canal

Walking to Wales! :)

Love the sheep

The back gate to Chirk Castle.

And finally some photos from visiting my mom's cousin Russell and family in Shrewsbury:

These pictures bring me so much joy and cannot wait to see all of my family in England again. I wondered what it would feel like to be back in England and to be honest it felt like I belonged there, I suppose this was partly because of my Welsh/British upbringing in America but I have never felt so comfortable entering into a "foreign" (to me) country. 

Next blog post I will be taking you to Wales!

Thanks for reading

xxx

Currently Missing: Camping

Something I never thought I would say! Being in Korea and seeing the love the Koreans have for camping and being able to have so many camping options available really made me enjoy it. Our favorite location to go camping so far is the Taean-Haean National Park. It is a beautiful ocean side campsite on the west coast and in order to get a spot close to the shore you most definitely have to get there early! I am really looking forward to the weather warming up so we can get back out and visit Taean again. Here are some pictures from our last trip there back in October:

(My best Yeti impersonation)

Our friend Dan!

Fortunately the Koreans think of absolutely everything in terms of having a good time. I thought to myself, "wow it would be cool if we had some fireworks" and wondered off to a little store down the beach later to see what they were selling, sure enough they had a legit fireworks supply which I took full advantage of:

And much to our surprise the tide went completely out overnight and you could walk so far into the ocean! There were many people searching for clams to eat for lunch!

(This is how Pip likes to drive)

So there you have it, I miss camping. This princess and the pea actually misses sleeping in a tent. So glad winter is almost over!

Thanks for reading xxx

*Yawn*

::Currently waking from hibernation::

Be back to blogging soon ;)