Chester and North Wales

Warren's mom came for a visit so last weekend we headed north to Chester, one of the best preserved walled cities in Britain. We were impressed by the Rows (the street featured below) which have two levels of shops with continuous walkways. We liked the covered walkways a lot since it was raining most of the day. 

Just beyond the city walls lies St John the Baptist's church, a building dating back to 1075. The eastern end of the church was abandoned in the 1500s and now stands as ruins of a medieval chapel and choir. 

Since I love touring churches, we also went to Chester Cathedral which was formerly a Benedictine abbey built on the remains of an earlier Saxon church. The cathedral was refinished in the Victorian era but the structure dates back to the 12th century. 

The ceilings are often my favorite part of these magnificent churches, and the Chester Cathedral did not disappoint!

Chester was a really great town to visit. It is small enough that it only took one day to see the sites we were most interested in seeing.  

The next day we took a bus tour of northern Wales and Snowdonia National Park. One of our first stops in Wales was Llandudno. We were visiting on Remembrance Sunday and the weather was bad so the pier was really empty but it was still beautiful and the town had amazing Victorian buildings. 

In Conwy we saw the castle and city walls which were built by Edward I in the 13th century during his conquest of Wales. 

The Conwy town walls are a UNESCO world heritage site and have been described by some historians as one of the most impressive walled circuits in Europe.

Conwy is also home to the smallest house in Great Britain. Our guide told us that the man that lived there was over 6 feet tall and couldn't stand up straight inside the house, which has two floors. And I thought my little London flat was small!

By the time we made it to Snowdonia National Park it was pouring rain. Warren and I still tried to take some photos but sadly none of them turned out and we got absolutely soaked. 

We had a great time in Chester and North Wales despite the downpour. We also ended up staying an unplanned night in Wolverhampton because our train was delayed and we missed our connection to London. But even with all that it was still a great weekend.