Today was a "rest" day. Bwahahahahaha! Sure didn't feel like a rest day. It was a day off for our driver, so we were on our own in Chester today. Luckily it's an amazing city with tons of places to explore. Breakfast was at the hotel and then Jon from XL Tours led a walking tour of Chester.
Chester is one of the best preserved walled cities in Britain. The walls circle the city and you can walk along the top. You can cross roads using bridges at each of the gates.
We went by the Cathedral on the start of our walk, and on the way back to the hotel. It's gorgeous and grand.
The clock is the most photographed clock in England after Big Ben.
Half of the old Roman amphitheater - they can't excavate the other side because everything from a certain time in Chester can not be touched. It's protected. I was personally a bit confused. The other building doesn't appear to be anything special - and you have an amphitheater...excavate the whole thing!!
Walking the walls to the tower...
Jon also took us through a replica Roman garden. Beautiful mosaics!
This is close as I'm getting to Stonehenge. I tried to get our guides to change the itinerary, but I failed. They told me this is what I get.
On our tour, we smelled the most awful BBQ smell ever...and came around a corner and saw this "Southern Tastes of America" gem. Oye.
The River Dee is on one side of Chester.
This is the Chester Racecourse. They are racing Saturday but we obviously won't be here anymore. Spectators wear fancy hats and long coats! When it was constructed, the current mayor hated football and decreed that football could not be played in Chester. Now the center of the course contains multiple football pitches. And many happy dogs :) We tried to convince the boys that they wanted to go run it once - it's just a mile - but they were pretty quick in their response.
The boys had a few minutes of free time in the city center. Most grabbed a drink or a snack.
Lucozade is the local Gatorade. It comes in a soda type drink, and a sports drink version. The boys all tried one.
More views of the incredible cathedral.
After we returned to the hotel, we had lunch at the restaurant and then the boys brought us their laundry. It's been quite a few days of trainings and games (and then more clothes put on without showers) - so the room we collected everything in was ripe. Some brave, strong men carted multiple suitcases bags and sacks full of wet uniforms (we haven't played in two days), training tops and khakis to the local laundry. They did a fantastic job.
Sorting laundry...
Ready for pickup!
The decor in the hotel is incredible. Everywhere you turn is something unique and different. Each room is a different theme and all the halls are full of things to explore.
While the men did laundry, the boys were having a tactical meeting with Coach John. After the meeting, the boys tried to do ice baths, but we couldn't get enough ice to have them be anything other than cold water baths. So they were ready to do some exploring "on their own". It was about a mile walk to center city - so the adults followed the boys...giving some space, but directing as needed. We split up into groups - my group needed Steak and Shake milkshakes.
And a visit to the local mall.
We made sure the boys made it back to the hotel and then we went to have a drink at a "proper" pub. Lynn and I are loving the cider. We're thinking about coming back next summer just to do a cider and pubs tour.
Sometimes we let the boys come too.
Then it was back for dinner. Most of the boys had soup, fish and chips and lemon spongecake. There were a few others options and I can tell you that the pear/blue salad was incredible and the turkey dinner was very good too. Chris had the broccoli and brie tart for dinner and was very happy.
Bender got Jamie a unicorn cookie!
Lynn went over 30,000 steps today! (She did get lost on her run this morning and go 7 instead of 5 miles...she was at my goal before I got up)
After the boys went to their rooms, some of the adults went for a stroll and might have had another beverage...but there's no pictures...so it didn't happen.
Busy day tomorrow...training with the Everton coach, tour of Liverpool (including the Beatles Museum), dinner at the hotel again. Some adults explored the attic and the cellar of the hotel today - the rest of us were jealous. But now that we know the way...
Cheers
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