Anfield

So much food again, which would come in handy later. Packed up and checked out, we wandered into town and walked the castle /fort walls and visited the much publicised but not so fantastic crafts fair.
Then into the car for a drive/sleep back into England......via, sigh another antique shop detour. No purchases. woohoo.

Followed the Liverpool signs and drove through the tunnel that went under the Mersey. It's a bit different here. Gone are the tree-lined streets with stone cottages. I think we have hit working class. Accommodation found and entry figured out after many attempts, we hit the footpath to Anfield, home of Liverpool FC and a huge part of my childhood. What a great tour. Is it sad that I have memorized all the Liverpool goals from the 70s and 80s ? It was well after 5pm and we never did get around to lunch. There is a very cheap Chinese takeaway across the road. I am guessing chewy meat is cheaper in these parts. We also succeeded in doing a load of washing. Hooray for clean undies. Our overly heated room (we can't turn the heat down) should offer a good drying environment.  Not sure it will assist with sleeping.

You can bank on Wales

So much food for breakfast. It's a good thing that my previous attempt to eat black sausage made me exempt it from my hot brekkie. I also managed to get rid of my mushrooms. It was a big day for me as I tried marmalade for the first time.  I was right in not previously trying it.

To the car, and the one way tiny windy roads. First stop a little town and a pretty ordinary antique fair, so I'm told. I fared better and got some new cycling gear. The next town, or previous, had a woollen mill. Then there was a narrow hilly windy road that had the added attraction of also having cyclists to dodge. Then off to Caernarfon castle, one of Edward 1st's accomplishments. I love a good castle and this one was up there. Then we sped off for the Great Orme and a tram/cable car up a mountain. We made it in time and had enough time walking around the pastures to make us declare that sheep poo and our shoes may have come into contact. Declare to customs that is.

After a long day it was good to find a restaurant that serves pizza and pasta. I think they call it Italian. I did squeeze in a 3km run including a run up the very hilly driveway of 70m (because it was there). The 3rd km was the fastest which gives me a glimmer of hope leading into the upcoming selection races for triathlon Australia.

Spent the rest of the night packing and watching Top of the Pops episodes from 1980.

My Big Rookie Mistake

With breakfast done it was time to hit the road for a long day of driving to Wales. I was very attentive and was ready to make stops on the way if we saw anything worthwhile. It was early in the drive as I turned quickly off the road into an antique-like shop.

Sometimes I go into a bit of a trance in these situation. I do remember hearing words like "tidying" and "redecorating".  I remember seeing lots of interesting stuff. I remember paying a bill of 90 pounds. Being a good husband does not pay.

We detoured to Shrewsbury and drove into and out of town 3 times. We narrowly avoided head ons with trucks, buses and tractors. We saw golf courses in the most out of the way places.

A visit to the Iron Bridge at Iron Bridge led to a welcome walk and sausage roll before once more hitting the road. The closer we got to Wales, the more it rained and the better the roads got. My co-pilot would agree had she not been sleeping.

It's not every day that you get to drive into town through an old castle but that's what Conwy offers.  We found our b and b, went for a 5km run to try and shake off the large amounts of shortbread being digested and headed off to the pub. Excellent meals of lasagna and lamb burger and then off to bed. I really should write these on the day it happens.

Maybe I'm Amazed

Maybe I'm amazed at how they built all these massive churches everywhere. For the ease of writing, I am not going to differentiate between a cathedral or Abbey. They are all churches to me. Needless to say I did check out the difference as education is important to me and I now understand that an Abbey is run by an Abbott and a cathedral by a Costello.
Stratford Upon Avon, the birth, life and death place of William Shakespeare. Took me back to the 10 minutes before my English HSC exam where I tried to memorize that one quote by some dude called Falstaff that would secure my marks. Should have just quoted the lyrics by our own 70's Shakespeare from Can't Stop Myself From Loving You.
More church pics, some second hand CD purchases and it was off to the next town.
Tewkesbury Abbey our next stop. I should just have said church shouldn't I? Here's the church, here's the steeple, open the doors and see all the people.
Next stop Gloucester, which was one of the Costello churches. Also the site was used in the filming of one or more of the Harry Potter movies. My heart is still a flutter.
As we left this morning I did articulate my surprise as to the lack of Chinese restaurants in England. Having gone lunchless and being forced to eat caramel apple pie and ice cream at 4pm just so that Annette wouldn't feel guilty about her mega scones, we did manage to find a Chinese restaurant. All you can eat, from the menu. 5 entrees , 2 mains and rice was just enough.  My need for sweet and sour has been satisfied.
It did however leave us with a nasty 1 hour drive in the dark. I'm stressed,  but we made it most of the way without detours, although the last one down some lonely one way track was not really appreciated.