Bristol, Chester, Llangollen - Day 4

This morning it rained and was pretty chilly. But the main attraction we saw today was the suspension bridge. And it was a nice bridge. But this is all we saw in Bristol. Don't get me wrong, I love bridges, it's when my "inner-geek" feasts. I so wish we could have seen more of the city though.


After seeing the bridge we were off to see a ruin of an abbey. This Cistercian Abbey was really pretty but it was really raining so I only took a couple of pictures because I didn’t want my camera ruined. But that’s all I can tell you about the abbey ‘cause I fell asleep on the bus and missed any information that might have been explained about it. [Though, having been through the whole trip now and realizing that the tour guide didn't explain anything, I am fairly certain that I didn't miss any explanation about this chappel.]
Yes, I fall asleep on moving vehicles, especially a comfy bus that moves very softly.

But upon our arrival in Chester, I was quite refreshed from my nap. The city is a marvel of ancient and modern, but not the same as Jerusalem. This city has architecture that's rather distinct and some buildings that date to the 1600's. They have obviously been re-purposed and are now shops. Even the Roman Wall still serves a function other than holding up the clock. People can walk on it and it's a delineation of some of the older parts of town.

The thing that struck me as absolutely funny was to see two men in what they considered to be Latin American Indian dress (feathers on the head, cape, etc.) playing pan flutes and trying to sell CDs. The juxtaposition of this image against the 1600s buildings, the market cross, and the church just made me chuckle.

One of the optional excursions (not so optional, really) was to Llangollen. Llangollen is a Welsh word that's pronounced something close to "Langothlen". It's a picturesque town/village.

This town is post-card perfect, but so was just about everything in Scotland and Wales (we didn't see much of Wales). But the Welsh language is quite melodic and completely confusing to someone who is not familiar with it. The word on this sign is the longest word in the world. So I've been told. I wonder it says. Maybe it says "stamps here".


But more later as it's well past midnight here and I have a 6AM wake-up call.