Holiday in Wales - Day 4

On the Monday of our holiday we went to Chester. This was one of the main reasons that we stayed where we did, because I've only been to Chester once. And it was when I was eighteen, and we were looking at the university, so we didn't really see a lot of the city. So I wanted to go back, which is why we booked to stay in north Wales. We were only about half an hour away from Chester. We booked lunch at Atina Kitchen for noon, so set off just before that. It's just outside the city walls and had a nice selection of vegetarian food. Lee got a spiced turkey burger which he really enjoyed. I had a veggie breakfast which was delicious. Lee had a huge hot chocolate!

After we had eaten we moved the car to be slightly closer to the centre and walked into the centre. We went past the town hall and a few cool statues, as well as tons of foreign tourists, I was surprised actually by how many we saw from all over the world! We decided to go in the cathedral to have a look around. It's huge! There are many different parts to it. I liked the glass art that was dotted around all over, and I liked the garden too. There's a huge model of the cathedral made out of lego which was really cool to see. 

We left the cathedral and walked to The Cross which is right in the middle of the funny streets called The Rows. They are like sort of lower ground shops (down a couple of steps) with first floor shops (up a flight of steps which are all over the place) above. I remembered these from before so I wanted to go on them. There are TONS of jewellery shops on one particular bit. We went in loads of shops. 

By this time it was about 3pm so we decided to go somewhere for dessert. There was a crepe shop called Crepe Affaire so we went in there because we both like crepes. We both had them with Belgian chocolate and ice cream. It was a really cute little shop with friendly staff. 

We went in a few more shops including some record shops that Lee had found. At about 4.30 we decided to go and have a drink. The sun had come out and it was lovely. We went into a restaurant called The Shrub which serves all vegan food and has a few cocktails. I had something that was absolutely delicious, but I don't remember what it was called now. It was sweet and lovely though! We sat on The Rows in the part that was open to the world, but warm enough and contained too. It was SO nice, really lovely. It was like being abroad!

We were too late to go swimming once we got back to the caravan, so we decided to just relax for the evening. I was wearing my new Bruce Springsteen t shirt which I got after the gig in May - it's a 2XL and really nice to wear. I wore it with an old Scarlett and Jo skirt and leggings. I was also wearing some new Blue John jewellery. I love fluorite anyway and this is a type of fluorite that is only found near Castleton in Derbyshire and it has such beautiful markings. I have a few pieces of it, but I was lucky enough to get some jewellery made of it! My aunt gave me the earrings for Christmas and Sarah gave me the necklace for my birthday - aren't they lovely? I will wear them together of course. I hadn't worn them before but it was nice to on holiday.

I sat outside for a little bit after tea but it was a bit too cold without the sun on it. Then I took another photo of the sky, of course. It was lovely! This was a really busy day - we walked a lot - but really worth it to see Chester

The ceiling in Atina Kitchen, it was all recipes typed on the pages

Lee's ridiculous hot chocolate

My breakfast - yummy!

The ceiling of a record shop we went in

Chester Town Hall

This glass art was dotted all over the cathedral, they were so cute

Inside the nave

The model made of Lego

Part of the monastery that used to be there

I liked this fountain in the garden

The city walls - Atina Kitchen was further down this road

The Rows! They are so beautiful and have a really fascinating history

Crepes! Delicious

Upstairs in The Rows, this was where there were loads of jewellery shops. A lot of them had really expensive stuff in!

The Cross on the right marks the middle of The Rows

Another shot of them

Here we are in Shrub, looking down on the street from the first floor

Here's Lee

And me!

My delicious cocktail

My outfit when we got back

My beautifull Blue John jewellery

Here I am sitting outside at the picnic bench

And finally the sky

Holiday in Wales - Day 3

On the third day of our holiday we went to the seaside! We were about an hour's drive away but it was one of the things I wanted to do so we thought it would be worth it. I had also seen something that said Talacre Beach was really beautiful, so we went there first. It's stunning, I would recommend it if you go nearby. There is some parking and some amenities, but I can imagine it gets really busy when the weather is good. We walked all along the duck boards and on to the beach. It was nicely accessible which was good. The sand was blowing everywhere in the wind and it was not at all warm. 

We walked off the beach and went into Lola and Suggs which was a very cute little cafe. We shared a hot drink and some ice cream. We went into the couple of shops that there were - we bought a crappy magnet and a ball for the pool - and then went in to the bakery. They had vegan sausage rolls so I got one of those and Lee got a chicken pasty I think. We drove to Prestatyn and ate our lunch watching the sea - the water was really rough, the waves were splashing right over the prom! It was amazing. After we'd eaten we walked along for a bit. We went to Prestatyn a few years ago with my cousin when we were camping in the area. We could see what used to be Pontins which only closed last autumn, it was weird because all the stuff is still inside, it's like a ghost town. We played in the amusements for a bit. 

We wanted donuts so we drove along the front hoping to find somewhere selling them, but couldn't, and went through to Rhyl too. They're doing a lot of work on the seafront so it's a bit of a building site and it honestly looked pretty terrible. It's a shame really. Nowhere was open in Rhyl so we went back to Prestatyn and had ice creams in the amusement arcade. 

Then we drove back to our caravan so that we could go swimming. I was wearing one of my flamingo skirts and a new pink top that I had got the week before from Yours in Meadowhall. I used to have a peachy top similar so I was happy to replace it! I can't remember what we had for tea, but something, clearly. I was drinking a delicious bottle of Cotes de Provence wine that I was given for my birthday and had been saving. I also finished my first ball of yarn... I'm making something for me and I need to get on with it!

I love info boards like this

Walking along the duck boards

It went right one way and back the other

Picture of us on the beach

And here's me - yes it was June I promise!

Lee took this of the beach

You can go to the lighthouse - which is weirdly just on some rocks - but we didn't

It's pretty though

Looking back as we walked back

Hot chocolate

And ice cream to share

Vegan sausage roll - I ate it in the new car but had to be very careful to not get bits everywhere!

The caravan didn't have anything in the way of food storage so we ended up putting our sandwiches in a glass dish to take it with us for a car picnic

Look at the water! 

It was coming right in over the prom steps

This statue marks the beginning of Offa's Dyke

Look at the state of my hair

A whippy ice cream back in the amusement arcade

My outfit when we got back to the caravan

And here's the pool! There was no one else in it so we had it all to ourselves. We swam for ages and played with the ball we had bought 

View from the other way - as I said previously I think the pool needed a refurbishment but it wasn't too bad and the water was warm enough

Delicious rose wine in the evening

And finally my crochet!

Holiday in Wales - Day 2

On the Saturday of our holiday we went to Wrexham. I had put out a call on my Facebook to see if anyone had any recommendations in the area, and a friend had recommended Ty Pawb in Wrexham. It's an art space with market stalls and food counters, and on the Saturday it also happened to have a Makers Market on too. So I said we should go. We were only about twenty minutes west of Wrexham so it didn't take too long at all. We parked and went into the market. There were some lovely things to buy, but we didn't get anything at first. There's also a great retro gaming shop inside it which was cool to see. We went out of Ty Pawb and into some other shops including a record shop where we bought a couple of things. We went into a little arcade and some nice independent shops. 

We went up some really pretty streets and into St Giles' Church. It had an interesting display inside about D Day, so we read some of that stuff. The ceiling was also really nice and I was glad that a nice volunteer had given me a leaflet about the church. 

We were kind of looking for somewhere to eat, but couldn't find anywhere, so we decided to go back into Ty Pawb where there were a few different food choices. I wanted Welsh Rarebit, but it turned out that it had bacon on, and I don't eat meat. Wtf though, why did it have to have bacon on it?! I should have got a refund and gone elsewhere, but I was flustered, so I decided to just have a jacket potato with cheese and beans. It was fine, but nothing special. Lee had pie and chips which looked amazing. 

We headed back to the caravan site and went swimming. There were a few other people in but the pool was nice enough. It was warm enough, but it needed a bit of refurbishment. It was very from the 1970s! It shut at 5pm so we got out then and got showered and in our pyjamas for the evening. 

Lee made fake bacon and pan haggerty for tea. I've said it before but he always makes pan haggerty on holiday because it's a bit labour intensive. It was delicious! We forgot to get solid cheese to grate so I ended up cutting up slices of cheese with scissors, like you do.

I was wearing an old Yours dress, I love the pink colour and pattern on it. I also got a pair of Pride converse off Vinted and I LOVE them. I thought they might rub but thankfully they don't. I love the sequins and rainbows! My hair was tied up because we were about to go swimming. I also had a new costume which I had got off Simply Be recently, it was nice to wear but I didn't get a photo of it until later in the week.

The inside side of my trainers is silver sequins. You can also see most of my Hello Kitty tattoo haha

And the outside is rainbow sequins and I love them!

Inside the market when we got there. I did end up going back and buying a couple of bits, but nothing huge

St Giles' Church, it was on a really pretty road too 

I liked these signs

Inside, looking at the D Day display

There are sixteen singing angels on the ceiling, apparently

Inside a very cute shopping arcade

Jacket potato with cheese and beans

Pink dress when we got back

Cutting up cheese with scissors, like you do (the knives were rubbish too)

Pan haggerty

And that night I looked outside a bit earlier, so the sun was still setting really