Royal Engagement
in Chester
How about visiting a small town with a big wall around it and well on the day the Queen of England takes a trip there? I couldn't have a better day to know Chester. I took a train from Manchester and with a stop Midway with 1:18h I was there and I spent only £15 (round trip). By car it would only be 50 minutes. As soon as I arrived at Chester station I already felt the weather seeing many photographers with huge cameras and tripods. Yes, promised day. I left the station, took my camera and followed down the street that fell right in front of the station. I didn't even look on the map to know where I was going. My geolocation sensor was at full power and halfway through I confess I took a look just to see if I was right... And it was. I had already researched on the past day how long it would from the station to the City Centre, which was around 15 minutes.
The City
On my way there I stoped to take some pictures, I wanted to get as soon as possible in front of the TownHall to secure a place in the sun. Laughs! I already knew the Queen and Duchess's agenda, after some google searches. So I knew they'd get there by noon and having their lunch inside of TownHall.
Rows could be described as the oldest shopping arcade in Britain. They were built between about 1200 and 1350, when Chester was a booming market town and port This has been the bustling heart of the city ever since, where people have come to make a living, shop, and socialise.
After that sign I was tempted to enter this entrance, where I did not know where it would go, but the cool thing to travel is to explore the places, no?
And I ended up going straight to the Chester Cathedral.
The big moment
After waiting a long time and seeing the street crowded, they appeared after the expected time. They were late because they first officialy opened the Mersey Gateway Bridge that was opened last year. After that they came to the City Centre of Chester, where they entered straight into the Storyhouse Theater and after about 40 minutes they walked (where they passed through me) to the TownHall. They went up in the platform and then offered a lunch for both of them. After they went back inside the townHall, the crowd dispersed and I stayed a little while watching the pictures I had made. So at that moment I saw the Queen's car positioning itself in front of a side door of the TownHall. I was sure that they were going to go out there, I waited a while, but I realized that they were having lunch and I haven't eaten since 9am. I was hungry and I decided to eat something. After all, I'd already gotten a lot of pictures from that moment.
The City - Part two
After I finally had my lunch (I took a suggestion with a lady who was by my side, super lovely and talked a lot while we waited), I continued to explore the city with the idea that I would not touch the map. It isn't such a big city. The wall that surrounds the city is only 3,2 km. Then I would have the wall always to guide me. I kept walking until I stopped at the Tale of Three Gateways, the newest of all the bridges of the wall into to the City Centre.
Roman Amphitheatre
Chester has the largest Roman amphitheatre built in stone in Britain, scenery of Britain's largest archaeological excavation in 2005. The findings discovered in these excavations are on display at the Grosvenor Museum.
City view over the wall
This wall is really cool. From the bridge it is possible to have access to the shopping, restaurants and other places.
The Cathedral
An impressive cathedral, too beautiful, I could spend hours in there absorbing the whole history of this place. Founded as a Benedictine abbey in 1092, the cathedral has a rich and varied history.
The original church was built in the Romanesque or Norman style, parts of which can still be seen today. This church was subsequently rebuilt from around 1250 onward in the Gothic style, a process which took about 275 years an resulted in the incredible structure we see today.