Prowling my world, camera in hand

All of this week’s images were taken during our visit to Bodelwyddan in North Wales, where our daughter is currently doing a semester-long placement at a large regional hospital. We flew to Liverpool, rented a car and drove to Bodelwyddan. During the subsequent weekend we visited Chester just across the border in England, and of course we also drove around in Wales. I have created dedicated galleries for Chester and North Wales, but here I show some “leftovers” which hopefully are tasty as well.

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This is the gate to the house where my daughter is renting a room:

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No street or house numbers here, just names:

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This is Monica’s house, seen from across the field:

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I also met the neighbours:

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The Welsh landscape in November can be stark:

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But colour of various sorts can also be found:

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The weather in Chester was not very nice; in fact, the first thing my women did after we parked the car was to pop into a store to buy a couple of cheap umbrellas:

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Given the weather, we spent considerable time touring the Chester Cathedral (something we would have done anyway, but the rainy weather made it even more attractive):

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A prayer for Paris:

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That evening, the Cathedral was hosting a concert with a Spanish theme, and we were lucky–during our visit in the afternoon, the orchestra rehearsed, so we got a wonderful music experience as part of our visit:

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The guitarist:

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The conductor:

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Later, we went for a late lunch/early dinner at Las Iguanas in Chester, a chain Latin American restaurant. For some strange reason, I was amused by the broken mirror in the mens room:

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Chester at night, still wet:

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On Sunday, the weather was slightly better, with rain and sunshine interchanging. This provided the nicest landscape scene of the visit–the view of the Marble Church from Bodelwyddan Castle:

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My wife and daughter at Bodelwyddan Castle:

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Bodelwyddan Castle gardens–the cycle of life:

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A quiet spot, Bodelwyddan Castle gardens:

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This is something very British–a pretty scene somewhat ruined by a stupid warning sign:

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Bodelwyddan Castle started out as a feudal castle in the Middle Ages, but throughout most of its existence it was the property of various rich families before becoming public in recent times. Much of the interior decor is from the 19th century:

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This is not a mere museum. There are various opportunities to interact with the past, including a 19th century photography studio where one can dress in period clothes and take a photo using what appears to be an old view camera but in fact has a modern DSLR inside, with the pictures e-mailed to you if you wish:

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Of course, one can also use one’s own camera:

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A portrait of me, with shades of Sherlock Holmes:

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Later in the afternoon, we drove to the coastal town of Prestatyn and took a brief walk along the beach. The light was very pretty:

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It was cold and windy, and there were many more seagulls than people:

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Back at home in the evening, my daughter is playing around a bit:

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On Monday morning, Monica poses for me in her NHS Wales outfit before I dropped her off at the hospital (it is only a few hundred meters from the house, but I wanted to extend my time with Monica, and it was cold):

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Finally, on Monday afternoon we are back at Liverpool airport, have dropped off the rental car and are walking to the terminal building. As a life-long Beatles fan, I love the fact that the airport is named after John Lennon and that there is a very prominent yellow submarine:

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Inside, there is a statue of John Lennon:

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And there are lyrics by John Lennon all over the terminal building. Very cool: