I made a trip out to a small place just outside of Edinburgh called Cramond Island with my sister a few weeks ago. Cramond lies on the Forth, a mere 40 minute bus ride from the centre of Edinburgh. The place itself has been mentioned in quite a few of my lectures as it has a great history behind it, so obviously the geek in me wanted to take a trip out there.

Typical Scottish weather (very unlike the weather we've been having this last few days) left us cold to the bone, despite the many many layers.

When the tide is high, the little walk way to the island is covered in water, but as the tide lowers the walk way becomes clear and its safe to walk there. And we managed to miss judge the times and weren't able to actually reach the island. We were able to walk along some of the island, but since the tide was still relatively high we were a little scared we would either get stranded, or a huge wave would come and sweep us off.
























Emily

I thought that I'd compose a little post showing off the beautiful city that is Chester. If you have read my most recent post then you will have seen that I spent three weeks in Chester for my archaeology dig- if you haven't given it a read then you can do so here to read about that aspect of the three weeks. This post, however, is a gallery in order to showcase the city. I never even knew Chester was a city as it is rather on the small scale, but the history that surrounds it is just mind blowing.

It was a very important and strategic point for the Romans during their invasion of Britain, it lies on the border of Wales giving it noteworthy position to help the Romans conquer Southern Britain. After the fall of the Roman establishment in Britain, the site became significant throughout the medieval times with links to King Arthur fighting his ninth battle here, as well as Anglo-Saxon ties.

The stunning black and white buildings dating from medieval times line the streets of Chester, and are a beautiful display of the history. These buildings house shops and pubs and- well- everything, the whole town centre is made up of streets of these black and white buildings one after another. When walking through them, I didn't feel like I was in England- I could have been in a different country or a different time period because these buildings are not what I have in mind when I think of an English city.





My wander through the town centre took me to the River Dee, which I had previously only seen from the car on our rides to and from the dig. On a sunny late afternoon the river sparkled, it was so lovely to see families, couples and solo people like myself, walking along the banks with ice creams and in shorts and t-shirts.



After having a gander along the river side, I took a street back up to the heart of Chester where stood the Roman Amphitheatre, which I had been very keen to see. I'm not going to lie, I was imagining a structure like those I see in text books of a grand theatre which has been preserved, so was somewhat disappointed to see that only the steps had survived and the main stage was a painting on the wall. All in all though, it was good to see the site and imagine people watching shows and gladiator fights on the ground that I stood on.


I finished off my stroll with a walk through Grosvenor gardens and decided to eat my dinner on the grass by the duck pond. The huge gardens were amazing, with a little train going through it, play parks, ponds, an outside theatre venue, and beautiful views of the River Dee.



Over the three weeks I was there, I was also able to go to the Cathedral, whose height was unimaginable. The carvings on the walls were so detailed and striking and the gardens felt peaceful and safe. Unfortunately my photos of it are no more, as my phone broke before I could back it up- something which saddens me greatly.

I hope that this post has inspired some of you to see Chester, and what it has to offer- it was a truly amazing experience, and the city is- I say it yet again- beautiful.

Thanks for reading,
Emily
xxx

Back in April, I wrote a post titled "River Side Walk", after I was snapping all the different plants that I saw on one of the regular routes for a dog walk. Over the past few weeks, we've been going elsewhere for our walks, such as the beach and forests and so haven't seen the river in a while. With my parents away this weekend, dog walking responsibilities were passed onto myself and my sisters... or more like me. An unexpectedly boozy Saturday night meant that driving was out of the question- I am pretty responsible when it comes to these types of things- and so, I donned my wellies and made my way with a very excited dog to the river.