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!

One Week Down, Many More To Go

It's official, I've been in Chester for one week.  I've done some exploring, am slowly learning the history of this lovely town, gone through a very stressful situation (more on that later), and have learned the following things:

1.  When crossing the street, LOOK RIGHT!  We, as Americans, are trained to look left first and then right.  Well, everything here is backwards and old habits die hard.  When I get to the corner I tell myself, "Look right.  Look left.  Look right again."  So far, so good. 

2.  There is a wonderful show on British TV called "Come Dine With Me".  The premise is that four strangers are brought together to have dinner at each other's homes.  Over the course of four days, each person holds their own dinner party while the other three judge the food from 1 to 10.  Whoever gets the most points wins 1000 pounds (roughly $1500).  We definitely need an American version of this show.

3.  It doesn't get dark here until after 10pm.  I'm not used to so much sunlight in one day but it is quite nice.

4.  People here eat late; usually 9pm or later.  I, for one, enjoy the late dinner but when my husband has to go to work at five or six in the morning we don't always get to partake in that tradition.

5.  The people here love American music.  Case in point: my husband and I were at a bar last night that had a DJ and next thing you know, everyone in the bar is singing along to Journey's "Don't Stop Believing"!  I didn't know Journey was so popular here. 

6.  A cooktop, or stovetop, is called a hob.

7.  I cannot make heads or tails of cricket. 

8.  The bartenders take the art of making cocktails very seriously.  They mix the ingredients in a shaker and then taste it and adjust accordingly.  This reminds me of chefs that taste their food before serving it to make sure it is properly seasoned.   

9.  And last but definitely not least but probably the grossest, eating the worm at the bottom of a bottle of tequila is so last year.  The popular thing now is (drumroll please) Scorpion Vodka.  Yuck.




That's it my friends.  In order to get rid of the bad taste the scorpion might have left in your mouth, here is a picture of the Eastgate Clock of Chester:

This clock stands on the site of the original entrance to the city and is the most photographed clock in England, after Big Ben.

I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend.  Enjoy your Sundays and, as always, good health to you all.

Apartment Bound

Today I accomplished one thing: I washed my hair.  I actually didn't leave the apartment until 6pm and spent the day inside.  I'm sure you are saying to yourselves, "What?  She did what?  But she's in England!  How dare she not go exploring!"  My excuse?  A combination of jet lag, stress, and moving anxiety.  My body has several responses to stress.  The main one usually involves stomach pain and many, many trips to the bathroom.  Sometimes I get highly annoyed and irritated at everyone and everything.  And the least severe of them, I sleep.  Turns out, I've been sleeping a lot since I've been here.  I haven't been able to put myself on anything that resembles a sleeping schedule but hopefully I can get it together in the next few days.  Then again, if sleep is the way it has to go, I'll take that over having to search for a bathroom when I'm out and about.

In the meantime, here are some pictures I took yesterday during my wanderings.

This is the River Dee which is a 70-mile long river in the United Kingdom.  The river is on the other side of our apartment building and has a lovely walkway alongside it with benches for resting.  I hope to spend time here being inspired.

This is The Water Tower of Chester which is conveniently located in a park close to the apartment.  The tower was constructed in the 1320s.  Its original use was to control shipping and taxes into the port of Chester and because the tower was in the actual river, ships could be moored around the base.

An old-fashioned British phone booth!!  Yes, although there are few and far between, they still exist.





And the most important picture of all: my new library card!!  Although I'll only be here for a few months, they were more than happy to issue me my own personal card.  Aaah...life is good!  And yes, this is a shameless plug for the Saturday Writers.

With this I wish you all a wonderful day and good health.  And in honor of being told that England invented drinking (with the Irish and Scottish perfecting it) I leave you with this quote from Phyllis Diller:

Good Heath - what my friends drink to, before they fall down.

A Girl Abroad

Hello my fellow bloggers and followers!

First, and foremost, an apology for having disappeared for the past two months.  But now I'm back and with a whole new set of adventures before me.

Second, I am currently living in Chester, England.    It's about a four hour train ride north of London and right on the border with North Wales.  Why, you ask?  My husband has been temporarily relocated for work and I get to tag along and play tourist. 

Just a quick historical/geographical note about Chester:  Chester is a walled city and with the exception of 330 feet, the original walls, which were finished by the middle of the 12th century, still stand and you can walk the whole circumference which is roughly 2 miles.  Pretty cool, huh?  I've walked a tiny bit of it but it is definitely on my list of things to do.  Here's a pic:

This archway is part of the original structure but since I'm not terribly familiar with all of Chester history, I'm sure there has been some reconstruction in parts.  Just past the archway is the street that leads to town.

So, on to toilet paper related issues.  My husband and I have eaten out a few times and I have to say, the bathrooms are wonderful here!  Now, we haven't experienced the night life yet so I don't know how the bathrooms in a dance club will be.  Then again, dance club bathrooms in the States aren't that great so I'll just assume the same for here.  I have noticed that there are public bathrooms to be found in the city square but I have yet to experience those.

While I'm here I hope to begin a walking and writing routine, part of which will include blogging.  I am also determined to make headway in my novel.  And, all the while, discovering a new city rich with history and hopefully some weekend getaways to Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and surrounding cities.

If anyone out there has been to Chester please send your favorite places to visit.  If anyone has been to any part of the United Kingdom or Ireland, where should I go?  We're hoping to make it to Stonehenge and London but since we're not too sure about my husband's schedule, that is all we have planned so far.

With this I bid you good health.  More pictures to follow!