Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Weekend travel to Chester and Conway

J's mother is still in the UK, and travelling around. This weekend we joined her in Chester, which is in North West England.

It has the most complete medieval walls in Great Britain and has a very lovely cathedral.
Chester Cathedral

Chester Cathedral

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Organ

One of the most photographed things in the city is the clock, which was supposed to have been built for the queen's (Victoria) diamond jubilee, but the commitee in charge wasn't able to get their stuff together in time, so it wasn't actually unveiled until two years later, for the queen's 80th birthday.

Chester clock


Chester is also famous for the "Rows" which is a series of streets with two levels of shops.

Chester shops

We bought the best tasting cheshire cheese I've ever had at The Cheese Shop (they have a lovely name, don't they?), it's a locally made cheese (Chester is in the county of Cheshire) by the Joseph Heler cheesemakers, and is less crumbly and not as salty as the generic cheshire they have here in the grocery stores.

The cheese shop

On Sunday we also took a day trip to Conway, in Wales.
Conway

Conway is another walled city, and has a wonderful and extremely well preserved castle.
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perygl

We took a really great tour of the castle by a history buff. Presumably the tour was only going to take an hour, but he was so enthusiastic it ended up being over an hour and a half long.
tour guide

He looks like a history buff, doesn't he?

It also looks like I've photoshopped a halo around him, but it's actually just a fingerprint on the lens, really.

We also looked around a very old and extensively restored house.
Plaster goodies

And finally, this is, Llywelyn the Great, who, a very very long time ago, founded an abbey in Conway.
Sir Seagullhead

8 comments:

  1. I just love to look at the architecture of the older cathedrals and churches especially in England. Very beautiful pictures!

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  2. Fabulous photos, Thea! I don't always enjoy other people's travel pictures, but you have an eye for the interesting and unusual.

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  3. Thanks Glenna!

    Thanks Suzanne :)

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  4. Hi Thea,
    You left a comment on my blog & since I don't have your email ad I couldn't answer your question directly. So I'm here visiting. Love the pics of the architecture you took. That's another thing that interests me also. ... but to answer your question: the fringe is called crochet Bullion fringe [or Tassel fringe as you called it] and it's something I teach in my crochet classes. It's my favorite fringe.

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  5. I meant to say Bullion or Twisted fringe ... not Tassel [which is different] Here's a link to a free pattern that shows you how to do it.
    http://marloscrochetcorner.com/Aran%20Sampler%20Scarf.html

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  6. Thanks Rhonda! I didn't think it would be so easy!

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  7. Wow, thanks for the photos! I feel like I've been on a little vacation!
    Vicki

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  8. I love your photos!

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