Country #30 ... Wales

If you all didn't know , I was supposed to be here with Rainer and Timo originally but Timo couldn't make it and Rainer was supposed to meet me in London . He had a car rented and we were supposed to drive around the UK together . Due to unforeseen circumstances Lufthansa went on strike and Rainer was left stranded in Budapest and couldn't get to Munich where he was supposed to catch his RyanAir flight to London .... That means that the day I was to leave London I had to leave the rental & book a bus ticket to Cardiff , Wales on my own :( 

When I checked out at 11 am I went to the lobby and booked my bus ticket with National Express and 1.5 hours later was on my way to Wales to meet Anton Rimko who I had met briefly in Barcelona at the tournament there last summer . Anton was kind enough to pick me up at the bus terminal and let me spend the night with his amazing family :) when I arrived after sleeping the whole bus ride he was there with a big smile waiting for me ! 

We drove to his place and dropped my bags and his wife was kind enough to do my laundry !!! I was in desperate need of fresh clothes lol . Thanks ;) we headed to his local watering hole and grabbed a couple pints and I had a lovely lasagna , I needed something different then steak or burgers . We have to be on the ice in a few ... After we ate we walked back to his place and talked about former players from Slovakia as he is Slovakian , we spoke about the Stastny brothers and how things were back in the days when Slovakia and Czech made up Czechoslovakia and how Slovakia had it tough (hockey wise ) when they split and were in division 3 of the IIHF . It was a great conversation and was quite educational . I love hearing and talking about the old days in some of these countries I visit and clearly I have to visit Slovakia . 

We had to go meet Anton's brother Andrej at another pub near the rink and I had a few more pints there ( total 6 before hockey ) and got to the rink which they belovedly call The Big Blue Tent as it is a temporary home of ice hockey and in fact is where the Cardiff Devils play . For those that don't know they are the pro team here that compete in the UK's highest level . The new arena has been under construction for about 7 years ?!?!? Yeah things move slow in this big city with a small town mentality . When I got to the rink I had to dress up quickly and noticed immediately that there was a divide in the players with English speakers on one time and foreigners on the other which really can't be a great idea . 

I got on the ice thinking this would be an easy skate and took it lightly and quickly gave up 4 goals and well I thought it's time to turn it up a notch then put on a but of a show . My team was the foreigners ;) I'm sure they wanted to win the scrimmage and based on my count we did as we clawed and scratched our way back , pretty sure the final tally was 8-6 after being down 4-0 . It was a good spirited game with some tense moments but that is gonna happen when you segregate your teams , I suggested after that they should mix the teams next time and a few agreed but who am I to say anything ... Things won't change . 

Hockey in Cardiff  or should I say Wales since it's the only rink big enough for a proper game is kinda strange . Apparently there are 5 teams and they don't have a league . Everyone pays monthly which means some guys end up not showing or paying when they want which is tough to build a team . Anton was surprised when I explained that I collect per season and the crazy part is that renting a rink is cheaper here then back home in Toronto . This leaves the club in some problems sometimes having to be bailed out by the organizer to keep the team alive . I heard a lot of odd stories that I won't get into but it would be tough to run a team ... Luckily the Cardiff Titans have a good base of guys . It also was brought to my attention that they are going to the CARHA World Cup in 2016 in Windsor , Canada and probably need a goalie ;) so guess who signed up ? Yeah I'm really looking forward to playing for them there and hopefully it happens ! 

After our skate we headed to the bay where it is really nice but also really quiet with everything closed our options for a pint where 0 :( oh well you can't win 'em all ! I was surprised that Cardiff which is the capital of Wales was a ghost town in the evening with only a few cab drivers lurking around . Because Rainer is not around I need to get a SIM card so we drive to the 24 hour Tesco which is closed ???? Yeah it's odd but as I said there is no one outside at all . Anton and myself made it back to his place had a cold one and called it a night . 

If it weren't for Anton and his Cardiff Titans I wouldn't be able to say that Wales is the 30th country I have played in , kinda wish I had more time to meet you all but look forward to 2016 , and if I'm in the UK again before then I won't think twice to visit you all . Thanks guys !