René of the Day // 8.4.11 // Chester

Perhaps one of the most charming towns I've ever visited, Chester is an old walled city (originally a Roman fort; the wall spans 2 miles) on the River Dee on the border of Wales. We took a park and ride bus from the Chester Zoo and spent the day lunching at a local pub - had a delicious gyreurre and leek tart and a local ale - then visited the old amphitheatre where knights jousted, beasts fought and .... We also went into the old cathedral that had numerous tombs and interesting old grave stones, as well as old headstones of people buried right under the stone floors. A bit creepy but quite interesting...

The village is filled with great shopping and adorable black and white Victorian restoration buildings... it actually made me think of what a little German town might look like.

We saw a few gray American squirrels which have made their way to England and have practically diluted the population of smaller red squirrels - unfortunately it's become an epidemic with the American bullies. I remember when we went to Washington, DC ten years ago, Andi was enthused with taking photos of squirrels because they had so few at home and you could go right up to them to take photos LOL

That evening Sue made a fantastic lasagna and chili con carne for diner then we sat in their garden and enjoyed bottle after bottle of great wine… Lovely end to a very nice day.

Proper fish & chips with mushy peas!

Remnants of the amphitheatre