hetismij2 You were very helpful in my planning stage, so I'm glad you've enjoyed my perspective. You got the deal of the century with a lifetime NT membership!! I know my report was critical of them, but they still are a gem and preserve so many historic gems; they are an institution to be admired and should be a role model for other countries.

I agree about scheduling down time (that's an oxymoronic phrase, right?). I find it difficult to set aside a whole day for just absorbing but I do plan late starts, early finishes and if I'm out and about but not in the mood for the next item on my list - or having fun just relaxing on a park bench or in a cafe - I eliminate the "next" stop. So, in my way I have built in some slower time. But I am seriously thinking about renting a place for 2 months where I can spend days doing nothing but reading or taking a local walk. Have looked at sabbatical web sites; when I've refined my thinking about in terms of location, etc, I'll post a new thread on Fodors for input!

Looking forward to hearing about that adventure Vickie!

Day 12, Mon, 4/27: Sunny and mid 60s

Today is the last day, when I return the rental car and stay in Chester one night before taking a train to the airport tomorrow morning. I left the cottage at 8:30 for the hour drive to Chester; the car rental people had told me that if I got there before 10:00, they wouldn’t charge me a days’ rate for today. The drive was fine, except there were a lot of roundabouts and I went the wrong way twice. I stopped to fill up gas so made it to the rental place with about one minute to spare😅

The very nice woman who had taken a lot of time to show me all of the car’s controls when I rented it was there and she recognized me and came out of the back office to ask how my trip was etc. It was good to see a familiar and friendly face at the end of the trip! I asked them to print out a receipt me which was $50 more than the estimate since they clocked me in at 10:05 and charged a full day’s rate. He agreed that I was there before 10:00, so he adjusted it – glad I checked! They’ll send me the invoice for the blown tire and service later…. My credit card provides rental car insurance so I’ll be curious to see how much I end up being out of pocket.

Cab to the Premier Inn and couldn’t check in until 3 o’clock, so I left my bags and headed out. Was planning on taking a 2 o’clock walking tour, but it was now 11 AM so I had a lot of time to kill. I walked around some of the streets of great old Victorian architecture and realized I was heading toward Grosvenor Park with a Roman amphitheater, so figured, sure, I’ll check it out. The park looked very nice but just inside there was architectural dig going on so I had to ask about that; it’s a group of students and they spend a month each summer doing a dig and since a prior gardening project uncovered a piece of stone that could be antiquated, they’re digging now. I watched for a few moments – boy, is that a tedious job! It’s all marked off with string into sections, and they are shoveling the top layers of dirt into buckets and then using small trowels to dig through lower levels. In the movies, those Egyptian digs are always very exciting because they’re using a paintbrush to brush away sand from the mummy, but the real thing is much less exciting I think. Anyway, the woman I was talking to told me that the church next door is “lovely”. So I wandered over and boy was that an odd church from an architectural perspective, St. Johns. It was a hodgepodge of at least three styles, Romanesque (big fat columns); Gothic (arched windows); and a Tudor ceiling of white stucco and dark beams plus various Victorian elements like a huge organ, stained glass, etc. I overheard a guy talking about history to some other people so I lurked and turns out he’s a volunteer who provides info about the church. I asked him about how different architectural styles had been retained (since they often get incorporated into “updates”) and I can’t tell if he was insulted or had no clue, but he didn’t have much of an answer so I thanked him for his time and moseyed away. I chatted for quite a while with one of the other volunteers who runs their little café and used book section. We talked about donated books and what a great idea it is that so many places are now accepting books and using the proceeds to support a charity or historical place. Since I volunteer at a Friends of the Library bookshop at home and triage book donations, we commiserated about receiving theological books since they are usually a difficult but she mentioned a church in the north who is well known in the religious world as a source of theology books, so they now serve as a resource for out of print, little known or hard to find books and a home for unwanted/unneeded donations. She said their book section (which was a lot of old, musty, outdated books) brings in a fair amount of money for the church. Although the church interior wasn’t so interesting, the people were!

I headed up to the cathedral because I knew they had a bathroom I could use before the walking tour.😆. Admired the buildings as I walked – that very distinctive orangey brick with contrasting dark brick built-in decoration (chevrons, etc.). I bought a drugstore sandwich and sat on a bench to eat and people watch. Popped into a couple of charity shops & looked at their books, but I had to restrain myself because my suitcase is so full it tips over and I have a very well stuffed tote bag as my carry-on and truly have no room for additional books

In the cathedral’s café, I noticed a woman police officer in uniform, wearing a bright yellow high visibility vest sitting at a table with a bunch of information so I wandered over. She thought I was a local and explained all the handouts that were about personal safety, vehicle safety, home safety, etc.. I took one to be polite and she offered me a pencil that says Chester Constabulary on it and I was so excited because who else on earth would have a pencil that says that? She was amused at my excitement so she gave me two. I asked her if the phrase WPC (woman police constable) is still used because I hear it a lot on Midsomer Murders… and she explained that they’ve dropped the woman so now it’s just PC. Which makes perfect sense. We had an enjoyable chat about places I’ve been and life in the Constabulary.

Went to the meeting point for the walking tour, but there was no leader; I checked inside at visitor info and it turns out I had mis-copied the information and they don’t do these “Discover Chester” tours at the beginning of the week; however, they do offer a Roman Chester walking tour so for £12 I signed up. There were two couples and the leader was a young-ish men dressed like a Roman centurion.

I’m not very interested in the Romans, but I had nothing else to do. I don’t know what his credentials were, but he seemed to do fine and he knew about non-Roman architecture. Although the Romans were here umpteen years ago, there’s very little left because throughout the years, walls were knocked down during battles and as development occurred - castles being built or the Victorians building galore - Roman walls, etc. were regarded as useless; the best that could be said is that some of the stones were reused, but not too many; so there wasn’t that much to actually see but he did his best to try to paint a story. We did go down into the lower levels of two stores where they have discovered Roman ruins in their cellars - that’s pretty cool!

I bought yet another sandwich for dinner along with an apple and a pastry and walked back to the Premier Inn and checked in. This is a lower priced, no frills hotel but it’s perfectly functional and clean so I’m all set

Very tired I think mentally as well as physically, so it will be good to be home in my own bed where I can decompress a bit… and then become bored by my routine in less than a week😆🤣
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Victorian buildings on random Chester street
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More Victorian buildings on another Chester street
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Ruined walls from prior church on St. John's grounds
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Roman soldier...