Well Cardiff was....wet. Very wet. I would have liked to say that I loved Wales, but I was only there for five hours and most of that was spent trying to make sure I didn't poke any unsuspecting passerbys in the eye with my umbrella. There is a gorgeous castle in Cardiff which I would have loved to have seen the inside of, but our crap tourist skills set in and we couldn't be bothered going on the tour (which lasted 45 minutes) or paying the £6.50 (so we just had a free squiz around the grounds, trying to see something through the torrential rain!). I have consoled myself with the fact that I will go back sometime – hopefully when it's not raining – and stay fo a bit longer. it looks like there's some good pubs there and the bay would be lovely in Summer. The Millenium Stadium was also great to catch a glimpse of - next time we'll try and see a game there. The Welsh accent is just entertaining in itself as well - how cool to have an accent which sounds like you're singing a little song (I'm not being rude here, I think it's lovely - although I kept thinking I heard the Welsh designer Julian McDonald from Project Catwalk whispering in my ear).

Daylight saving kicked in over the weekend so even though it's still pretty cold, at least it's not dark anymore! It will now stay light at least until 8 or so, with the days getting longer as summer gets closer. The famous boat race between Oxford and Cambridge is on in Putney next weekend which is going to be huge - there is a massive festival and apparently about a quarter of a million people line the Thames – and my flat is smack bang in the middle of it all (from our balcony we have a prime view of the starting line).

I've added a link to the side of this page to my sister's 'European Extravaganza' blog. She's studying in Germany for a year and should have some funny tales to tell so have a look.