Expectations: Cardiff, Guy Fawkes Day and Chislehurst Caves

Cardiff, Wales

On Friday November 2, Caitlin, Libby, Amy and I are taking a day trip to Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. I know practically nothing about Cardiff or Wales. The little bit I do know comes from watching television shows like Doctor Who and Torchwood, and from talking to our British friend, Beth.

The Doctor Who Experience is the reason that we are going to Cardiff. I am really excited about it, probably more than I was about going to see the Harry Potter Studio. I am expecting the tour to be like the Harry Potter one, just on a smaller scale, and about Doctor Who, of course. It will probably be focused more on the most recent television episodes and the 11th Doctor, though there should be props and displays about all of the Doctors throughout the years.

Beth went to Cardiff for the first time last weekend to see the premier of Skyfall, the new James Bond movie. She described the city as a mixture of old classic buildings and ultra-modern ones. It will probably be really busy since it is the capital city and we are going on a Friday. I hope that the streets will be in better condition than those in Dublin, and the people more careful when crossing the roads.

It looks like the weather is going to be pretty bad. The high is in the low 40s Fahrenheit with a 70% chance of rain stretching throughout the day. The dampness from rain always makes it seem colder and I am not looking forward to having to walk around outside most of the day.

Guy Fawkes Day

Guy Fawkes Day, also known as Bonfire Night, is a UK holiday celebrated on November 5 every year. The holiday is in celebration of the capture of the Catholic terrorist, Guy Fawkes, who tried to blow up Parliament in the 1600s.

There are parties and fireworks like Independence Day in the United States. The biggest part of the night are the large bonfires. Into the fire, people throw effigies that they have made themselves. These effigies are usually made by taking old clothing and stuffing them with newspaper, similar to a scarecrow. Beth has told us that sometimes you make the faux-person with a theme in mind. Last year her friends dressed their effigy as a gangster.

I am expecting it to be pretty similar to the 4th of July mixed with the county fair, except that it will be freezing outside. We are planning on going to see the fireworks in a nearby park where they have been setting up fair rides for the past week. There will probably be a lot of children out with their parents, along with the inevitable person who has had a little too much to drink. The big events will probably be over relatively early since they start before 7pm. Since the time change, the sun has been setting around 5pm so at 7 pm it will be plenty dark enough to start the fireworks.

Chislehurst Caves

Tomorrow, Sunday November 3, Caitlin, Amy and I are going to Chislehurst Caves. They are located in Kent, outside of London. All I know about them is that they are caves and I am not going to read anything on the website so that there is a little element of surprise about it.

I am expecting the tour to be about 45 minutes to an hour long. The caves will be dark and spooky but relatively safe since it is a tourist destination. I am hoping that the tour guide will tells us stories about people who lived or hid in the caves and its historical significance instead of a lecture on how the caves were formed. I've always found history to be more interesting than science. 

We are going by train via London so the trip should be relatively relaxing because we are now familiar with using the railway system. Some of the day will probably be spent in London, perhaps at Piccadilly Circus. 

Expectations: Edinburgh and Dublin

According to the dictionary, expectation is "the act or state of looking forward or anticipating." Whenever you are planning on going somewhere, your excitement (or perhaps dread) causes you form a picture in your mind of what that place will look like, how it will sound and smell, even the emotions you plan on feeling while there. You pull on all of your past knowledge from books, movies, and personal interactions to make up these preconceptions. Depending on the accuracy of your information, these preconceptions could be very accurate or they can veer sharply into the realm of fantastical imaginings.

To add a nice contrast to my posts about what actually happens during my time in Europe, I want to document what my expectations are for each of the places I am planning to visit. Some places, like Oxford, London, Edinburgh and the Harry Potter Studio, I have already been to but I still remember some of the things I had formulated in my mind about what those places would be like.

Edinburgh, Scotland

Most of what I know about Scotland comes from reading historical novels set anywhere from the Middle Ages to the Edwardian Era. It was often portrayed as England's uncivilized northern cousin where family clans fought for land and status. Because of this I expected it to be a little rough around the edges with not that many ornate, older buildings like in London or Oxford.

I did not expect Edinburgh to be as culturally diverse as I have found Oxford to be. I thought that most of the people I encountered would be Scottish, or at least British.

I freely admit that my expectations of Edinburgh were completely inaccurate, at least regarding the areas of the city that I visited. I rarely heard a person speaking with a Scottish accent, and most people where actually from other parts of the world. This was probably because we spent most of our time in the tourist areas of the city. One of the priests who did most of the speaking at St. John's Church where we attended Matins, had a Southern British accent. I was a little disappointed that I did not get a chance to hear much of the Scottish brogue.

The city was full of amazing architecture, especially in the Old Town district. The buildings were made mainly from grey stone and many had unique features like domed roofs or spires. Flags hung from many of the buildings, showing the people's pride in their country.

Dublin, Ireland

I expected my time in Dublin to be cloudy and all around dreary. This opinion was partially formed by what I have heard, and partially from looking at the weather forecast for the weekend. Since the Irish are regard as a drinking culture, I expected the streets to be a little dirty and full of drunk people at night. I also expected to see more Irish people in Dublin than I saw Scottish people in Edinburgh, simply because Dublin is the only really major city in the country. This would mean I would have a chance to hear Irish accents in person instead of just in movies.

Architecturally, I did not expect there to be a lot of grand old buildings in Dublin. The Tudor style row houses so common around Oxford would not be present.

I was also very excited to meet up with my friend Kaitlyn who is studying at Trinity College for a semester. I thought that we would try to eat a meal together and maybe see if she could show us around the city a little bit.

My expectations for Dublin were mostly correct. It rained the entire day on Sunday and it was cold. There were a ton of pubs, a least one on every street that we walked down, and we did see some people who appeared to be drunk roaming the streets when it got dark. The streets were not as nice to walk on as in Oxford and Edinburgh. Everything did seem a little dirty even though there were small cars with spinning brushes cleaning the streets constantly. A lot of the flagstones in the sidewalks were loose and rocked dangerously underfoot.

Dublin did seem less culturally diverse than Edinburgh. I saw very few Muslim women in Dublin. They seemed to be replaced with an abundance of young men and women where track suits with matching sweats and hoodies.

Most of the buildings we saw in Dublin were fairly modern. Lots of them were made out of bricks and concrete without the detailing you would see on older buildings. There were some older buildings in the center of Dublin like City Hall, Trinity College, and the old Parliament building which is now a bank.

I did get to see Kaitlyn briefly on Monday for lunch before her 2pm class. She showed us around the main shopping street in Dublin and the entrance to St. Stephen's Green, a large park.