Wales: March 17th - 22nd 2008

On March 17th we flew to Manchester to go see Katrine and Aled. We were totally excited, but a little worried as well, as the first thing we saw when we looked out the bedroom window was snow. Last time I flew was going back from Finland and guess what? ... it was in a snowstorm. So I was really worried on top of already being anxious about flying. But luckily we left Copenhagen a bit over an hour late and arrived safely in Manchester to be picked up by Katrine and Aled. We went back to their house, freshened up a bit and went out to a local pub for dinner and pints. It was St. Patrick's Day after all, so a few pints were obligatory.

On Tuesday we went to Chester with Katrine. We saw the Roman Gardens and the city wall of Chester and then did some shopping. We had lunch at a French restaurant which had really lovely food and we enjoyed that thoroughly. The shops were full of awesome things that called out to me and desperately wanted to be brought home. Unfortunately I had to keep a bit of an eye on how much I spent, but I still came home from our day in Chester with lots of great things such as a couple of books about Elvis Presley, lovely Marilyn cards, a scarf and various accessories.
We were picked up by Aled and went to get some KFC, which was great. I didn't eat much though as this was the night my mum called and told us that Sanchez had passed away the previous day. She wanted to wait to tell us until we were together, plus she knew I was kind of stressed out about flying, so she didn't want to add to the fire, so to speak. It was pretty rough, but I decided that I had to sort of push it away until I got back to Helsingborg. I don't get to see Katrine nearly enough, so every moment we have together should be spent enjoying it, rather than feeling down and sad.

On Wednesday, Aled's mum picked us up and took us for a drive around Llangollen, where Aled grew up. The scenery was absolutely amazing. Being used to Denmark and southern Sweden, which is as flat as a pancake it's almost surreal to look around and see mountains and valleys like those. We had an amazing afternoon with lots of wonderful impressions and tons of photographs to take home and enjoy. When we got back to Wrexham we picked up a curry dinner and watched a film at home. All the fresh air made us lazy and sleepy and just wanting a night in to relax.

On Thursday Katrine had to work, so Johan and me went out on our own little adventure discovering Wrexham and all it's little hidden secrets. In other words, we went shopping. I found an awesome shop called New Look, which had great clothes even for us of the pudgier sort. I found a Betty Boop pyjamas, which was just too cute and I of course had to have it. I bought more things, but can't at all think about what I got now. But I found lots of great things that I wouldn't have had a chance to find over here at all. So I was very happy.
We met up with K and Aled when they finished work and went to Tesco to do some grocery shopping. K made us each a huge plate of nachos with cheese, garlic cloves, artichokes and sun dried tomatoes and we stayed in a watched a film.

Friday K and Aled were off work, so we had a lie in, or as much of a lie in as Johan and me can master and then K did a fry up for us, which was gorgeous. We just sort of hung out and watched American Dad most of the day and then in the evening we went out for dinner and drinks at Frankie and Benny's, an American styled Italian restaurant. The food was gorgeous and we really had a great time. There was the more or less constant lump in my throat, which always forms when I know that I'm going home soon and will miss my sister so terribly. But I made it through the night without going all sob face.

We had to leave the house early Saturday morning. Our flight took off at 10:15 am, but we had to check in at 8 am and the drive to Manchester from Wrexham is a little hour, so we were up and ready to go by 7 am. As always it was a pain having to say goodbye, but that's just the way things are now and I suppose at some point I'll get used to it. I had an awesome week with so many good memories, and I'm just happy that I finally got to see where she lives and what her scenery is now. There's no doubt that she fits in where she is and that she is the happiest she can be there. And I'm just happy knowing that and having seen it with my own eyes. Guess it sort of puts me to rest a bit.

So I've had a wonderful week with my sister, brother-in-law and my fiance. There's been a few rough patches with Sanchez passing away and then returning home and finding that my little baby fish, Marilyn had been eaten by the other fish, but luckily the good outweighs the bad. I'm still sad about Sanchez, but I'm at the same time happy that I got to be with my sis. I needed that.