You have hillbillies?! Do they really eat people???

Some of our flatmates have been watching too much telly, and take it a little too literally haha. So, it's been way too long since my last post, my apologies! It only means I have all the more to tell you about! Lets go wayyyyy back before valentine's day... There is a really cute castle called Castell Coch not too far from Cardiff, and it literally looks like it's out of a fairytale. So cute.

{i didn't take this one... just to give you an idea of the location}

Fairytale :) love it. So we ended up taking a bus and then walked up the hill [just as an aside, I love walking around anywhere here, everything is so pretty...] At the top of the hill you're greeted with a drawbridge entryway.
Now, this is a lot smaller than Cardiff Castle, so it was more of an explore yourself kind of deal, which was really fun. Jessica's friend Arlene was visiting this weekend so the four of us spent a few good hours exploring, and this is what we saw:

{this is the drawing room, painted on the walls are various images of Aesop's fables such as the tortoise and the hare}

Basically, it was a really fun adventure! The next day we went to the Big Pit, which is an old coal mine, and we were given a tour of the mine by a real miner. He took us about 400 ft. below ground and took us through the many tunnels while giving us loads of history as we went. Unfortunately, we couldn't take our cameras down because they have dry cell batteries which would cause an explosion down there, but here are a few pics from right before we headed down!
{Our miner tour guide!}

We then headed down into the pit and he showed us how they measured for carbon monoxide, and where the stables where the horses lived, in complete darkness all year except for 2 weeks. They also would take a canary down with them because they breathe 7 times faster than we do, so if the bird started freakin out they would know they needed to get out of there. I think the thing that hit me the most was that there would be 5 year old boys and girls working in the mine, and their job was to open and shut the doors to let the ponies go through, but the doors needed to be shut again for ventilation purposes. Now, the mine owners did not provide candles, so if you couldn't afford to buy one for yourself or your son/daughter, they would be working in 12 hours of darkness 6 days a week.

And then we had time to explore a bit :)
Right after this, we headed over to Blaenavon Ironworks. It is the is the best preserved blast furnace complex of its period and type in the world. Thousands of men, who were iron experts, moved to work here and it was very common for people to be injured or fall into the furnaces... The ironworks grew over the years and became one of the most significant iron manufacturer in Wales.

{at the top of water balance tower}

And then we could go into some of the houses on site where the workers would live.
Now, for Valentine's day, we basically just stayed in a watched a couple of movies and i made homemade truffles, mmmm! Here is the coming line up of adventures: we will be going to London on Sunday, and on Wednesday we leave for Scotland for 5 days! woooo!

prayers:
- I have been sneezing a lot today... so that it doesnt turn into a cold!!
- safe travels and good times :)

love you all!
cheers!
love, emily