International Society Trip: Chester

I woke up at 7:30 today, to get ready for my first trip out of the Manchester. I paid £16 to go with the International Society, which sponsors trips all over the UK. It was only a 45 minute bus ride to our Cheshire Oaks Outlet Center. We were there for four hours, which was way too long in my opinion, because I didn't want to do any shopping. I got a coffee with William, a boy I had met during orientation who had also gone on the trip, and then we just walked around for 3 hours. It was nice to have a familiar face though. We went into several shops. He was looking for posters and I was looking for postcards to send to friends and family, but we didn't find either. One thing that I really enjoyed was the Owls that were there. A not-for-profit group had set up a table and they had several real live owls to interact with. They were so gorgeous. I got to pet one of them.

 We loaded back on the bus soon after that, to go to Chester, which is known for it's Roman background. Chester was originally a Roman Fortress, named Castra Devana, and it used to be the most important port in the northwest. The first thing I did was visit the Grosvenor Museum, which houses the biggest collection of Roman tombstones in the country. It was amazing to see these relics from so long ago:

This Skeleton had been found at the bottom of a well. They believe he died in a fire at the end of
the third century, but they have no idea why he had been thrown down a well. 

This was my favorite tombstone of the lot. It commemorates a man names Flavius
 and his son Serapion. It was discovered in 1874 along with two skeletons.

After the museum, I visited the ruins of the Amphitheatre. Some historians have suggested that this was the site of King Arthur's Camelot, which I find completely fascinating.

My friend Wil was nice enough to take this picture, since my
mom was complaining about me not being in enough of them.

From the theatre, we made our way to the ruins of the St John the Baptist Church, which was built in 1075 and has been in ruin since 1581. There were intact tombs still, and a new church has been built connecting to the ruins.

From the ruins I walked along the river Dee, then made my way up onto the roman Wall, built around AD 70 around the whole town. Now it just surrounds Historic Chester. The wall runs for two miles, but I only walked a portion of that. I didn't even find the Wishing Steps. Local legend says that if you can run up and down the steps while holding your breath, your wish will be granted. on second thought, its good that I didn't find them, because I would have no doubt twisted an ankle attempting to run down the old stairs.

The last stop of the day was Chester Castle. It was originally build out of wood by William the Conquerer in 1070. But then in the 12th and 13th centuries it was rebuilt in stone and expanded by the Earls of Chester. 

Thanks again to Wil for the photo!