Fy Ymeliad at Caerdydd, y Cyfalaf am Cymru

No, that's not gibberish; it's Welsh! Of course, some would say that there's very little difference, and certainly my translation leaves something to be desired (it should mean "My Visit to Cardiff, the Capital of Wales"). I'm citing this perplexing language because today was the MSc field trip to the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff. It was a fascinating experience. The moment you get off the train, you realize you're in a different country (an impression that I understand the Welsh actively cultivate). For one thing, the Welsh dragon is everywhere - in architecture, on the flag, strung over the road in Christmas lights, etc. More obvious is the language. All the signs are printed bilingually, and Welsh is invariably the upper of the two, usually printed in brighter colors and a bigger font as well. This shouldn't be too surprising, as this is Wales, after all. That said, if you try to listen for Welsh spoken on the streets, you won't hear it. Maybe things are a bit different in the country, but in the capital English is still very much the first language, while Welsh is the "official" language. It's a strange situation, and leads one to think that Wales mostly flaunts its own language to spite the English (By the way, I strongly suggest you all try translating your name or some of your favorite words into Welsh - it's great fun to see how they turn out!).
Our reason for visiting the museum in Cardiff was to study what is widely considered one of the best paleontology exhibits to be seen anywhere. We spent the bulk of the day looking at the displays and getting a behind-the-scenes tour of the collections, and I won't bother with the details except to point out that it's the first place I've been that had both my favorite dinosaurs on display (Coelophysis models and a Plateosaurus skeleton) and that the positive reputation the gallery has come by is definitely well-earned.
We spent the evening wandering back towards the train station through central Cardiff, which really is a very nice city. It's predominantly Victorian, with lots of colorful facades and vaulted shopping arcades that most people would describe as "charming." Incongruously, there's an enormous rugby stadium that sits just outside of the center and hovers over the rest of the city like some sort of enormous UFO. Apparently rugby is huge in Wales. Tomorrow their national team takes on the New Zealand All Blacks (the New York Yankees of the rugby world), so of course things were at a fever pitch, and we got to get a taste of the anticipation at the pub at which many of us stopped off. We all went back to Bristol fairly early, which was a bit of a shame, as I would have liked to see more of Cardiff. Of course, it's not even an hour's train ride from here, so I'm sure I can get back easily enough should the need arise. Plus, if I hadn't gone back to Bristol for dinner, I wouldn't have had some of the best Indian food I've ever tasted, so in the end it really did turn out to be the best of all possible worlds. Hooray!