A Little Trip to Swansea

My Nanna would say I am a bit of a nightmare when it comes to presents. It's not that I don't love getting presents and surprises. I just never know what I want.

Of course my 22nd birthday was not going to be any different!

An email pinged into my inbox advertising the Autumn International games, and as a bit of a rugby fanatic I knew exactly what Nanna could get for me this year!

I rounded up some fellow rugby enthusiasts (not that I had to do much convincing) and was soon off on another little adventure. 

After some light reading on the flight over about a serial killer who choose young blonde, college girls as his victims, I landed in Bristol. 

First stop was Swansea!

Lucy, or Dr Knox as I like to call her, has just started her postgraduate degree in Medicine at Swansea and as I am half Welsh, I thought it was my duty to fully introduce her in to one of the best parts of Welsh life: Welsh rugby.

We took a stroll along the beach, trying not to sink in the sand, and had a big old catch up. Being practically glued at the hip during university (no, but seriously. In first year, we had only spent 1 night apart after 3rd term, travelling to Spain, Scotland, Cambodia and Thailand!), we were both mortified to figure out it had been 8 months since we'd last seen each other.

Okay, it wasn't the prettiest of afternoons.

By now it was 4:30pm which could only mean one thing in December: mulled wine o'clock.

We bought ours from Marks & Spencers and picked up a bottle of Mulled Rum punch as well.

Lucy let me use her personalised pink stethoscope to make sure my heart was still beating and I imagined for a little while what it would be like to be Dr Burt.

In the blink of an eye our glasses were empty (whoops!) and maybe the bottle too... (double whoops!) We then had to rush to get ready as Alan, my family friend, was picking us up for dinner.

This greeted me as I walked in to Alan & Suzanne's house.

Yeah. I really wasn't impressed. (For those of you who don't know him, this is Leigh Halfpenny a.k.a: my imaginary future husband).

However, I soon got distracted by mojito juice and Bacardi rum.

Suzanne cooked a delicious roast chicken dinner for us both and we indulged in a very traditional Welsh dessert of tinned peaches and ice cream, Joe's ice cream of course! After much wine, lots of good conversation and laughs it was time for us to go.

Not before I got my very own photo with Alan and Suzanne "a la Leigh Halfpenny" style.