This morning we are leaving England again, but not to worry, we’ll be back again in 6 days.  But before leaving, we made our way to the old walled city of Chester.  Founded as a Roman fort as far back as 79AD, there are even remains of an ancient Roman amphitheater to hold about 7000 people in the oldest part of town.  During medieval times, the current wall was built with much of the original wall still intact.  Modern Chester is mainly a tourist attraction with the center of town closed off for pedestrian traffic only, it is filled with shops, restaurants and galleries.

There is a 16^th century Anglican cathedral called the Chester Cathedral, which is open to the public, but it does not open until 10:00AM, and and since we are leaving at 10:15, we didn’t get to look inside.  There is also a beautiful Victorian era clock above the wall at the Eastgate.  We did manage to walk along some portions of the wall, visit the amphitheater and of course visit most of the more interesting shops.   Jody did spot a beautiful malachite with Welch gold and silver pendant in one of the jewelry stores called Clogau.  I’m sure Jody will look beautiful when she wears it on out tour tomorrow.

By now it was 10:15 and we were on our way to a little town in Wales with a big name.  Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, which means: " The church of St Mary in the hollow of the white hazel near to the fierce whirlpool and the church of St Tysilio of the red cave".  The name was supposedly contrived in the 1860’s to attract tourists to the train station with the longest name.  It certainly attracted us, if only for a rest stop and to buy a couple of t-shirts and a magnet.  This is our only stop today in Wales, but we will be returning after our visit to Ireland for a night in Cardiff.

From Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, it was only a 30 minute drive to Holyhead, Wales, starting point for the Irish Ferry to Dublin, Ireland.  It took about an hour to pass through security and drive the bus onto the ferry.  It is a 3-1/2 hour ferry ride across the Irish Sea to Dublin, Ireland.  Fortunately, we were able to get off the bus and make our was up to the 9^th floor of the ferry were we could grab a little lunch at the café and settle in on some comfortable chairs for the ride.  There was a cinema onboard, playing Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, but we decided to pass.  So we sat around chatting and people watching, since our internet access disappeared once we were a few miles offshore.

I did try to venture above decks to the outdoors, but it was cold and windy and occupied only by desperate smokers.  I did manage to snap a couple of pictures before heading back inside to the warm comforts of a comfortable chair.  Surprisingly, the time passed quickly, and before we new it, we were receiving text messages from Verizon, welcoming us to Ireland, and announcing that our service had been restored.  Soon we were docking, and since we had entered Ireland which is still a European Union country from the United Kingdom which is not, we were required to go through Customs.  Fortunately, the Customs agent came on the bus and stamped each of our passports so that we were cleared for entry.

It was now 5:30 and time for our final adventure of the night, a visit to an authentic Irish Pub.  This was an optional excursion, but almost everyone signed up to go.  Cam and Gareth dropped us off in the capable hands of Joe and Katie O'Rourke, owners of The Old Punch Bowl.  The interior of The Old Punch Bowl is exactly what you would expect of an Irish pub first licensed in 1779.  Joe and Katie have been running the pub for about 30 years, and they greeted us warmly with stories of old Ireland and the pub.

The dinner consisted of traditional Irish dishes, with vegetable soup, Irish stew, and dishes of chicken and fish.  Dessert even included a traditional Sherry Trifle, made from Katie’s grandmother’s secret recipe.   The evening was great fun, with all the food being delicious, and the Guinness flowing, though Jody and I stuck with our sparkling water.

Tomorrow, we explore Dublin, with tours during the day and an Irish Cabaret at night.  It should be great fun!