Staying with family friends is the best

Because you're in the best of company.

After our ten day stay in Manchester, we made our way to Chester to stay with Scamp and Penny longtime friends of my parents from when they lived in London. Scamp and my dad go way back, having used to wreak all types of havoc together back in Zimbabwe. Now, Scamp and Penny live in Chester, which worked out perfectly for us since it’s a short train ride away from Manchester!

Very kindly, they picked us up from the train station and showed us around their home on the outskirts of Chester. Once we dropped off our bags and got settled, they took us for a tour of Chester. We started on a walk around the city’s famous walls, which date back nearly 2,000 years to the Roman Empire. The walls were originally built to defend Chester from the Welsh, due to its proximity to Wales.

Chester’s walls are famous because they were built around 2000 years ago during the Roman Empire to keep out the Welsh from Chester as it was so close to Wales. Over the centuries, they’ve been destroyed and rebuilt multiple times, still being used as a defense up until the British Civil War in the Middle Ages. Today, however, the walls are a public walkway around the city and serving as one of Chester’s main attractions.

During our walk, we also saw the remains of a Roman Amphitheatre, which is actually the largest of its kind in all of Britain. Inside the city walls there are the Chester Rows, another of Chester’s attractions. the rows are streets lines with shops on two levels, one is below ground and one is slightly above. These unique streets are lined with two levels of shops, one set below ground and one slightly above, all housed within striking black-and-white buildings.

We ended our tour of the city with lunch at an American themed restaurant, something that Jordan and I found quite funny. The servers and bartenders all wore flannel while country music played throughout the restaurant. Safe to say, Jordan and I felt very much at home.

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The following day, Scamp and Penny took us by car (our first time being in a car since the states!) into Wales to visit our very first castle. Although we didn’t get the chance to go inside, we had a great time admiring the exterior and exploring the surrounding town.

After visiting the castle, we made our way to the Great Orme Nature Reserve in Llandudno. We drove around and admired the rock formations, seaside views and plants before heading down to the beach with their dogs to give them a run. It was so windy and cold. Even in late August, where it would be blisteringly hot at home, and I was chilly bundled up in a sweater and a jacket! The beach was mostly rocky, which is fine by me because I love hunting for coolrocks. I ended up taking home a piece of sea glass and two other rock as souveniers.

Once the dogs were sufficiently ran down the beach, we headed into Llandudno in search of some proper fish and chips. Up until this point I still wasn’t sold on fish and chips. But Penny and my dad both insisted that fish and chips ar only worth it when you can see the ocean.

Well, we found a place a stones throw from the ocean; St. George’s Plaice Fish and Chips, with a whopping 1.7 star rating on google.

This post is dedicated to this Fish and Chips place. I can confidently say that these were the best fish and chips I have ever eaten. Every other establishment is going to have a hard time topping this spot!

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Jordan and I had a fantastic time in Chester and Wales, thanks to the best tour guides we could have asked for! We’re so grateful to have stayed with such good friends of my parents, who generously took time out of their week to show us around. It was such a special experience, and we truly couldn’t have asked for better company!

xx abby