Day 5: Chester & North Wales Coast

Today we headed for Wales. Our first step was a "truck stop" where John got a Red Bull. At the stop there was also a Starbucks, a Subway and a Krispy Kreme shop. Our next stop was Chester which is one of the two walled cities in England. John and I stopped at an ATM before heading out to explore. Since it was close to lunchtime, we stopped in a shop and got a shop and purchased a Cornish pasty for me and a sausage roll for John. Then lunch in hand, we began our wanderings through Chester.

We walked the length of the top of the wall. The far end of the wall ended at the ruins of a Roman garden and a Roman Amphitheater. From there we headed for Chester Castle. We went inside, but there wasn't much to see and it was close to time to return to the bus.

From Chester we headed for Conwy (pronounced Conway) in Wales. After checking into the hotel and freshening up and changing clothes, we headed for dinner at Bonant Gardens Food Center. The name is misleading. It is called a Center because they grow much of their own food and supplement that with locally grown food. Prior to dinner we had a cooking demonstration of the meal we would later eat and a wine tasting. We tasted two white wines - a Chardonnay and a Sauvignon Blanc (John and I both liked the Chardonnay the best) - and two red wines - a Cabernet Sauvignon/Malbec blend and a Merlot (John didn't like either and I liked the Cabernet Sauvignon/Malbec blend the best). The dinner was wonderful. When we returned to the hotel we took a short walk on a path nearby.

Earlier in the day we had been told that the Estuary Conwy and the hotel are on was tidal. I had never heard the term before, but learned it means that the water goes out with the tide. While we were on our walk we witnessed this phenomenon. Where we were most of the water went out leaving just mud behind. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me on the walk, so I have no photo of the phenomenon. I had no problems with my knee either. I will see how it feels tomorrow.Read more