#splott

We got to chatting and I've never been so thankful that I bit the bullet and engaged in small talk becuase I shit you not, when I asked which office this lovely lady worked from she said Cardiff.

I smiled politely, thinking we'd reached a dead end when she then continued to tell me to my utter delight that she lived in Splott

And I got to say to her

Me: Hi, yeah, this is my cat Splott

Imaginary friend: Splott?

Another day, another gig for Francesca.

This time we went out of the city to an old folk's home, where Francesca delighted with songs from yesteryear. It was beautiful to watch these people light up and sing along to their favorites. And the staff were into it too. I really appreciated it.

After, it was time to explore, and explore we did.

We went out to the Kenfig National Nature Reserve, and it was absolutely beautiful. See for yourself:

The nature reserve butted up to Swansea Bay, which is part of the Bristol Channel, which flows out into the Atlantic Ocean. The hike was a bit muddy in spots, but well worth it as we came upon this:

We just sat, listening to the ocean waves. It was spectacular.

We made the hike back, but realized we had spent most of the day on the reserve, so we headed back into town.

Keeping with my mission of collecting soccer scarves, we stopped by Cardiff City Stadium, home of Cardiff City FC. It was the only place to buy a Cardiff City scarf in all of Wales! Francesca had the brilliant idea to mention to the shop assistants, "He flew all the way over from America to see us! Can we see the stadium?"

And you know what?

We freaking did. One of the head security guards gave us a private tour, complete with great stories about the good ol' days when you could not give the opposing team hot water.