So the next morning I woke up a frozen Mike-cicle. Barely able to move and with a bit of pain in my knees and elbows from the cold. I was sleeping in a futon in the living room and I would later find out that this was the second coldest room in the house. (The first being the kitchen.)
After forcing myself in the shower and burning my hands and feet off with water I felt a bit better and greeted everyone else waking up and taking their showers. The nicest of which wore a bathrobe and the crudest wore only a towel and grunted "Guy (his name) need... running... water..."
After an hour or so of having morning tea and breakfast. (Nutella and toast.) And saying hello to a few of you on yahoo we decided I needed to go do some shopping to obtain my winter clothing.
On the way to the central square I had to stop by an ATM to get money for the day, and it was at this point I had to introduce my friend and his flatmates that were with us that day to the great traveler's custom of shoving money into your underpants. (For once it was not because I was Jewish. =p) The reasoning for this was that I had to place the money into my moneybelt (a thin nylon or silk zip bag tied around the waist and worn underneath the pants as a hard to reach area for pickpockets and very hard to misplace item as it is easily worn when sleeping.)
Once we arrived in the shopping parts of town I was introduced to the Arcades of Cardiff. Rather than being a gaming arcade these were streets with roofs over them and basically an outdoor hallway of stores.
I found a Millets clothing store going out of business and obtained a great deal on a fleece sweater in navy. I believe I look ridiculous in it but I was assured more than once by the people I was shopping with that this was not the case.
I also bought some toiletries from the local chemists store. (Pharmacies that produce chemical cleaning agents and various plastic items that usually include most hygenics. There are not many all around stores like how this function is in every grocery in the states. The groceries there sold food.)
After a few more shopping expeditions that have sadly passed out of my memory we went to a local pub called "The Prince of Wales." I did the customary tourist thing and ordered the fish and chips with mashed peas and scraps. =p In other interesting things the pub used to be a Victorian theater so it still has all its stage and furnishings as a great gimmick and view.
Needless to say the food was delicious, and it was at this point that I found out that ketchup in the UK actually has sugar in it. Not corn syrup but actual sugar. Just a small point of delight there.
We headed home shortly afterwards and I spent most of the time after that talking with them about music theory or somesuch while also trying to adjust my packing method to include my summer coat, fleece sweater, and its previous occupants.
I still need to weigh my full backpack so I can plan to work out cuts.
After this Daniel gave me lessons on sound crafting and antique game systems (of which we played Dr. Mario on an old Amiga game system.)
I forgot my dinner that evening and it was also fairly late when I realized I forgot to by long underwear and while my torso may be comfy my legs were sure to freeze yet again.
This is of course exactly what happened.
Onto the next day.
P.S. I now remembered that I was driven out to Tesco's (the equlivent to Wal-Mart in the UK) and picked up some ingredients to cook my own dinner. Cod Loin with blueberry sauce with rice and veggies. It was also while waiting for the rice to cook that I got to play a rousing game of **** you with the flatmates as Daniel had already left the house by then to visit family. (It was lighthearted and no one was actually yelled at. )
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