The Welsh do it right

I just spent a week driving up and down and around the coast of Wales. The trip was twofold, I needed a break from nonstop book publicity and I heard once that Coreys orginated from there. I found only one sign of Coreys among my travels, an A.K. Corey in a phone book. A lone entry most likely isn't the cornerstone of my family name, so I didn't even bother calling. However, the last 20 minutes we spent in Wales was on a tour of Cardiff Castle. Upon completion, I informed the tour guide of my difficulty in finding anything to do with Coreys and was a bit disappointed that I didn't find more about my family's history before I had to leave the country. He had a simple explanation, it's because Coreys come from Devon, England. Doh! Well, that just means another excellent trip in my future for me. So, Devon is now offically on my to-do list.

Most challenging thing about the trip: Driving in roundabouts on the wrong side of the street in a left-handed manual car.

Best way I found to fit in with the locals: Wearing a Welsh rugby shirt and watching a Wales rugby game in an authentic Welsh pub. You instantly become everybody's friend when you wear red.

Worst to Best experience in 1.5 hours: Getting a urinary tract infection from e-coli somewhere and having to go to a Welsh hospital. I was seen in 20 minutes, out the door in a little over an hour with a correct diagnosis, a bottle of antibiotics, a bottle of pain killers, and feeling great. Total cost: $0. This completely validated Michael Moore's movie Sicko for me. Makes me really want to push for Universal Health Care even more now.