A wonderful day out in Chester

 Hello, 

Today I thought I'd recount a trip I took with Jack, a couple of days ago. 

Jack has been feeling quite unwell and having blood tests to try and find the cause, so it isn't often both of us have the energy to go and do something outside our town together at the moment. Tuesday was wonderful as it was one of those rare days that we both felt well enough to venture out and we decided on visiting Chester. After calling at Wrexham for a quarter of an hour and not really feeling we could see much due to lots of hills which I struggle to walk up, we redirected and called into the beautiful city known for its clock tower, Roman Walls and listed buildings. 

We wondered around for a while, finding a market near to where we parked that we hadn't been in before. There were so many stalls selling delicious looking food, cakes, gifts, flowers, even champagne! It all looked amazing and was undercover, with an amazing atmosphere. We were initially drawn in by the life-size Tardis we saw in the corner of the space and I'm so glad we walked though. We didn't get any food out during this trip but we said we'll have to go back one day and try some. 

Next we called at the brand new 'Storyhouse' building. We hadn't been to Chester for at least eight months and when we last went the Storyhouse was still being built. It was wonderful to walk around and see the new cinema with all sorts of interesting films, a library (which had a wonderful children's book selection) and upstairs I think there is a theatre? The building is so beautiful, welcoming, light and free to enter. I think it is a wonderful and inspiring addition to the city.

After meandering around the streets for a while we decided to stop and rest for a coffee at Pret-a-manger which was lovely, before heading to M&S to try and source some soda bread. 

A few days earlier I had tried the M&S and two bakeries in my small town to find soda bread, all to no avail, so I was delighted to get some! I love how creamy and soft soda bread is and it doesn't make me feel over full like normal bread. It can be savoury or sweet (I actually had some with scrambled eggs and spring onions for lunch today) and is so much tastier than normal bread in my opinion. I didn't realise how hard it is to source until a few days ago, so I snatched up two loaves and I've frozen one 😆. Winner. 

We then called into Fatface, a shop we both love for its colourful and easy-breezy clothes, before heading for a little stroll around the Cathedral. It was so beautiful walking through the cloisters with their stained glass windows, whilst looking out into a garden space. The experience was made even more special by catching the choir rehearsing for the Choral Evensong that evening, something I used to love going to at the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral from time to time, and something that truly sounds angelic. 

It was a lovely warm day, the last day of April, and the Cathedral has plenty of places to rest and so we took advantage of a place to stop and just watched the world go by for a bit. 

After the weather felt cooler, we started to head back to the car and Jack drove along the sleepy Cheshire lanes to home. It was the best day we've both had for a while and we would love to visit again soon 😊.