Trip To England: Day 2

We took the morning to rest, watched fashion critics on the television analyze Catherine and Pippa's dresses from the royal wedding and caught up with Warren and Dawn. It had been about 10 years since Luke had seen them back at University of North Carolina-Asheville. We all got along amazingly, and it really seemed as if we had been good friends for years. Luke and I are so grateful for their wonderful friendship and hospitality. We hope to return the favor when they come visit America!

Luke and I do the traditional tourist shot in Chester

In the afternoon we headed to Chester, an old Roman village south of Ellesmere Port. The town was surrounded by a massive wall built by the Romans. Parts of the wall date back to the year 120! A Roman amphitheater is also located just outside of the walls and dates back to the first century. It is the largest amphitheater discovered in England.

The Roman walls

One thing that I loved about Chester (and England in general) is they never built huge shopping malls for all of the stores. Rather, they maintain the traditional store fronts along the city streets. It was amazing to shop in these old buildings, each unique and stunning. It added so much to the shopping experience.

The shops in Chester

For dinner, we went to the Albion Inn, an old Victorian and traditional English pub and inn dating back to the late 1800s. The decor is reflective of the Great War (1914-1918), which took place just a few steps from the Albion Inn. According to their website, many soldiers visited the bar before heading back out the the battlefield.

The Albion Inn

At the traditional English pubs, you have to go up to the bar to place your order. The waitresses only come by to pick up empty plates (there are no free refills in England). It was odd not having people come by asking how the food was or if we needed anything else. But at the same time, if we did need something, we could always go to the bar.

For dinner, I had a turkey dinner and Luke had an amazing cottage pie. Who says British food isn't good? This stuff was better than a lot of stuff we've had in the States!

Luke enjoying his ale and cottage pie

We strolled along the Roman walls for a bit after dinner and then headed to Tesco to pick up some food for the week. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip! I loved looking at all of the British and Scottish foods and seeing what American foods are popular over there. The chocolates are by far better than America's and their flavors of potato chips (or crisps, as they call them in England) are a little more adventurous. Some of the flavors include: Worcestershire sauce, prawn, roast chicken, pickled onion and beef and onion.

Dawn and Warren were a little surprised at our excitement over a grocery store, but they remembered how excited they were to walk around a WalMart when they were in the States. We enjoyed gawking at all the items for sale. We even picked up a pack of Scotch eggs so Luke could taste a bit of his heritage.

We headed back to their place for the night, had a cup of tea (PG Tips, of course) to finish the night and then it was off to bed.