Day 2 30/3/08 - England

Lower Whitley -> Chester -> London

Highlight

• Had a very restless night, there were people making noise and banging about.
• Met the same people at breakfast, so had a bad start to the morning, coupled with the fact that breakfast was crap.
• Lost an hour because of daylight saving, so got to Chester around 10:30am.
• The weather was great, really sunny and not too cold, and Chester looked absolutely beautiful, charming little houses, a river, trees, boats.
• Took a walk around the Roman Walls, reading all the interesting little signs alone the way.
• Observed Roman era remnants such as the Amphitheatre and Roman Gardens.
• Visited the ruins of St John’s Church, including a tomb that was stuck on the wall. It was very interesting indeed, and a bit eerie.
• The vistor centre had some info about the Amphitheatre
• Back on the wall to see the famous Clock, which, according to the sign, was the 2nd most photographed clock after Big Ben
• Chester cathedral can’t compete with York Minster or Ely though.
• To finish, we continued along the wall to the Racecourse and Castle.
• Lunch at the historic Katies Tea Room, which contained some remnants of a <> century house. The food was surprisingly good and value for money, although we were feeling the effects of 2 weeks of indulging food, travel, and no rest.
• We did manage to tour the Historic Rows, the distinct and unique black and white timber framed, two tiered shopping arcade, the medieval version of today's shopping mall.
• Shan felt sick so went back in the car, while Slokky tried to do The Notebook by trying to hire a rowing boat down the river.
• It did start to rain, but alas, his plan was ruined by the river, which was flooded, so no boats were allowed to go out.
• Shan was still not better, so we headed back early.
• The food didn’t end there though, we had a relaxing dinner at the Wet Fish Café, chilling with the West Hampstead crowd.

Food

• Tall Tree Lodge breakfast:
  • white bread with marmalade
  • muesli with milk
• Lunch at Katies Tea Room:
  • Traditional Roast Beef served with Yorkshire Pudding
  • Pork Loin Steak (£7.50) - Grilled Pork Loin Steak Served on a Bed of Mashed Potato with a Creamy Dijon Mustard Sauce
  • Apple Pie served hot or cold, with Custard, Cream or Ice Cream
• Dinner at Wet Fish Café:
  • Cabernet-Malbec, Finca los Prados, 2007, Argentina £4
  • welsh lamb cutlets with jerusalem artichoke mash and lamb jus (£14)
  • spicy slow-simmered mutton with aubergine, dates and wild rice (£13)
  • rhubarb, ginger and almond crumble (£5)
  • warm soft chocolate cake w red berries & cream (£5.50)