A Lovely Day or, Just A Little Further

Yesterday started out foggy and cloudy and then proceeded to just be cloudy.   Not a ray of sun to be seen.   But, I forged on and decided to run some errands and get the most out of my day.

After running two of my errands I didn't feel like walking back to the apartment and thought I'd take in some sights.  I remembered seeing something called Roman Gardens and decided to check it out. But, alas, I was distracted.   On my way to the Gardens I found this:

Whatever could this be?   Come to find out these are ruins of the St. John the Baptist Church.   The church was founded in 689 and still stands but these ruins are parts of former chapels.   A very intriguing part of these ruins is a coffin that has been embedded in one of the walls.

There are many mysterious legends about this coffin but from everything I've researched it seems that a church sexton came across this coffin while digging a grave and at the request of the rector, it was placed in this recess in the wall.   The words on the coffin say, "Dust to Dust".   The coffin has been dated to the latter part of the 15th century.

Another picture of the ruins.

After walking in and around the ruins I felt I had been transported to an earlier time.   It was surprisingly silent with the occasional bird chirping or pigeon cooing.   And then out of the corner of my eye I spied a bridge.   A bridge??   That marked the end of my time travel to medieval times and off I went to explore a bridge.   But wait...what about the errands I had left?   I decided to put those off for a while and so I went just a little further.

I came across the Queen's Park Suspension Bridge.   This is a footbridge that connects the city of Chester to a southern district called Handbridge and crosses the River Dee.

A view from the bridge.  There looks to be a very cute coffee shop on the left. 

Another view from the bridge.  You can see the river in this picture.  It's very beautiful.

After spending some time enjoying the view I made my way back and through a park filled with birds and squirrels.  This walk through historical ruins, a beautiful bridge with wonderful views, and green, luscious trees and grass was exactly what I needed.  For fear of getting maudlin, it was a walk to revive the soul and shake away the cobwebs of homesickness.  It was a perfect place to spend the afternoon regardless of it being a cloudy day.  And all because I went just a little bit further.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful start to their week.  As always, good health to you!