It Warms the Cockles of My Heart

Last night was my dear friend Nathan's 29th birthday. We made our way to a pub called The Commercial which is about a 10 minute walk away from the village. Here's a video I made to commerorate the night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe9tjjW3dv4
For his birthday I gave him a Sudoku book because we always have Sudoku competitions when we are traveling together (and I told him now that he has a book he can practice because I'm 3 for 3 woop! woop!)

Katie gave Nate a bottle of pickled Cockles as a joke because Nate wrote this song about cockles.
Check the song out, haha. (keep in mind this isn't the recorded version haha)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fLhbfLSSEc
Apparently Cockles, which are small, edible, saltwater clams, are a really big legacy in Swansea. And being a resident of Swansea for the time being (and because of Nate's inspiring song), I decided to try one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T8cmtoCiu8
After eating it, I decided to do a little research on these intruiging little creatures and found out a lot of interesting facts.

-Cockles are a popular all around in cooking, but in the United Kingdom, especially places close to the sea (Swansea), they are sold as a snack. They are seasoned with white pepper and vinegar (just like everything else in this country haha)
-A traditional Welsh breakfast contains cockles fried with bacon and served with laverbread (which is bread made with seaweed in it). yummy!
-There's also an old British phrase, 'it warms the cockles of my heart.' So romantic!