Cardiff Castle, Bath and a victory in Hockey!

Mónica Bruck reports on the last few days. Thanks, Mónica, for such eloquent pieces and vivid photos!

Monday, December 17^th

It was the gilrs’ turn to visit Cardiff Castle, one of the most fascinating buildings in Britain! With a long history stretching back to the Roman invasion, the site is a reconstructed Roman fort, an impressive Norman castle and a Victorian palace, all in one. The girls were excited and looked forward to visiting the beautiful buildings. Some of them climbed to the top to enjoy the view, toured  the tunnels used as shelters during the Second World War, explored the keep and visited all the beautiful rooms of the Victorian palace.

Congrats, BDS girls!!

Later, it was time for the first hockey match to be played in the United Kingdom. The second team played first and was able to defeat the Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf team 1-0. Our girls played with enthusiasm, energy and will. We all celebrated our first success! . The Welsh school´s coach congratulated Martina Díaz Fernández for her excellent performance.

The first team also played the best game of the tour. It was an exciting match because after superb collective action Agostina Dasso scored the first goal. The other team scored twice but in spite of their initial disappointment, they never gave up and Florencia Bortman scored a second goal.

After the match, we all shared hot chocolate and Christmas sweets and exchanged presents with the other team. The girls from the other school spoke Welsh and it was interesting to listen to young girls speaking such an ancient language. We were told that some of their parents spoke only English.

After the match, we toured Cardiff streets to admire the beautiful Christmas decorations.

December 18th

After breakfast, we boarded our bus and headed to Bath. It was an hour and a half ride and our first stop were the Roman Baths. The gush of hot mineral water which bursts from the ground in the centre of Bath has always been a subject of wonder and the girls were just as fascinated.  In the first century AD, the Romans chose this site to build one of the most astounding public buildings of Roman Britain.

We saw fragments of the magnificent Temple of Sulis Minerva, Goddess of the thermal spring, and the remarkably well preserved bath-house frequented by residents and pilgrims nearly 2000 years ago. Also on display are coins and curses thrown into the Sacred Spring, and numerous other treasures unearthed through archeological excavations over the past 300 years. The girls loved to make a wish and then toss a coin into the thermal waters. Hopefully their wishes will come true.

We then walked around Bath, which has justly earned its status as a UNESCO World Heritage City due to its splendid architecture, its Georgian crescents, squares and streets lined by elegant townhouses built in the particular Bath stone.

A few hours later we left the city and made our way to Bristol. This is a busy city with streets lined with shops, quiet different from Bath. It is a port, though not on the sea but on the Avon Gorge.  The highlight of Bristol is its beautiful Cathedral, founded in the year 1140. The Cathedral has much of interest including unique architectural features, unusual memorials and an historic organ. After visiting the Cathedral we went back to the hotel for an early dinner. The girls had to pack to get ready for their trip to London.

To read about the boys’ experience in Spain, please go to the Spanish version of this post.