witsandnuts

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  • Tag: Wales

    • Cardiff Bay, Wales

      Posted at 8:59 pm by witsandnuts, on December 7, 2016

      Cardiff, Wales

      Is it possible to get ‘homesick’ each time I remember Wales? I am not Welsh and do not even know anyone there personally, but I insanely feel being homesick. When I watched this year’s Euro Cup, I followed Gareth Bale and the entire football team of Wales religiously. (And I promise to learn Rugby and watch one of the matches in Principality/ Millennium Stadium.) When I spray on the perfume that I particularly used in Cardiff, it reminds me of the cool breeze of Spring then. When I see images of castles, I associate those to Wales more than I think of England and Scotland not because they outdo the others, but just because #anythingwales. The list goes on. While my life is in order and I am happy with everything, in general, I am beginning to suspect that I am going went through something amazing and bothering at the same time. Upon researching, the one that made sense the most was this Welsh word,

      Hiraeth (noun) which means homesickness for a home to which you cannot return, a home which maybe never was; the nostalgia, the yearning, the grief for the lost places of your past.

      It is good that my UK visa is already expired, otherwise, I would probably be broke now if I grabbed all those plane fare promotions to UK. Let the truth be told, I have postponed blogging about the other details of our trips to England and Scotland until I am done with the posts related to Wales. The challenge though was I had to get over this homesickness/ hiraeth first because I prefer not to be writing when I may tend to be illucid that I may over or understate some information.

      Cardiff, Wales

      I am ready now. I guess. While I am still trying to figure out why I seem to have consumed a love potion for Wales, I decided to write about Cardiff Bay because our visit here was among those I enjoyed the most. A portion of Cardiff Bay reminds me of San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf. The wharf is actually more colorful. However, maybe it is the ‘soul’ of Cardiff itself that made it more striking. Continue reading →

      Posted in Travel, UK, Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged Cardiff, Cardiff Bay, Wales
    • Top 10 experiences in South Wales

      Posted at 1:16 am by witsandnuts, on June 26, 2016

      “Bore Da!”

      “Diolch!”

      “Iechyd Da!” (So difficult to pronounce!)

      “Hwyl Fawr!”

      I was practising and memorizing a few words to get me through with my first visit to Wales. Not that I plan to speak a handful during our 4-day wandering, but I thought it would be decorous to make an impression to the locals and provide instant entertainment with my funny accent. We intentionally designed our Wales trip with no fixed itinerary, unlike our England and Scotland visits. Armed with tidbits from several researches, we only booked so far an accommodation within the city centre. Will this trip be overwhelming or not?

      There is a 3:1 ratio of sheeps (15 million) to humans in Wales. There are at least 751 castles. Oh, wow. Continue reading →

      Posted in Travel | 0 Comments | Tagged Wales
    • Winter and Spring in the UK

      Posted at 10:15 pm by witsandnuts, on April 19, 2016

      Scotland, January 2016
      Highlands, Scotland

      For someone who has not experienced four seasons, I am full of gratitude that I was able to witness both winter and spring in the UK. It has been a week since I returned to the still not so sunny UAE and as usual, I still have a hangover (do we really move on from trips?). The good news is that I have improved on timeliness of sorting of photos compared to last year’s US trip and other previous trips. While I wrote an overview of my first US trip, I decided to share some of my adventures and misadventures starting this July instead. In a sort of reminiscent way. After all, it was 4th of July when I first landed in the US territory.

      Continue reading →

      Posted in Food, Travel, UK | 2 Comments | Tagged England, Scotland, Wales
    • About witsandnuts

      Snapchat-5703935704258315256 Marhaba! That's "hello" in Arabic. I am an expatriate based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). I started writing about my adventures and misadventures few months before arriving here at winter of 2008. I have 2 cats and a dog who live harmoniously together. I am also surrounded by kindhearted, crazy, funny and indescribable humans! I was a dormant blogger for almost 3 years because of countless reasonable justifications like watching football, postgraduate studies, sleeping, traveling, caring for the world, and more! :) I am just so happy that I am back! It is never too late to catch up with the people and things we really care about. Feel free to look around.
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    • Recent Posts

      • 2017 Reflections and being back to basics in 2018
      • Obtaining a license for your dog in the UAE
      • 2017 Spring break in the US
      • Citywalk, Dubai
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  • Recent Posts

    • 2017 Reflections and being back to basics in 2018
    • Obtaining a license for your dog in the UAE
    • 2017 Spring break in the US
    • Citywalk, Dubai
    • Not in This Lifetime Tour: Guns N’ Roses in Dubai
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