Day 16: 25th March – Another, not to be day – Na rathaidean fada, lùbach tro Chuimrigh agus Alba

Today’s trivia is UK weather

Extreme Temps: The coldest temperature recorded is -27.2°C in 1895 & 1982 in Scotland. The 2018 summer was one of the hottest, reaching 33°C in Wales.
Wet & Windy: While not the wettest place on earth, parts of the Scottish Highlands get over 4 meters of rain annually. The windiest spot is Shetland, with strong gales common in the west. Great, that’s where we are heading!
Changeable Seasons: You might experience all four seasons in one afternoon.
Myths & Truths: While “April showers” help May flowers, cold air actually holds less water vapor, making it “too cold to snow” a myth.
The South East is generally warmer, while the North West is colder and wetter. Great, that’s where we are heading!
Not Always Rainy: Despite its reputation, some areas of the UK receive less than 50 cm of rain per year.
Raining forks’tiyunsdown’ards” is a Lincolnshire phrase for exceptionally heavy, painful rain.

Yes, thanks for asking, I slept like a log even with the windows rattling all night, as according to Annette who was kept awake. The water and wind was much rougher than this last night. So much so that the sea spray reached our window on level 4!

After leaving our accommodation, Annette said, are you happy to see me or what, as it’s too late to go back to the room now. I said IT’S the room key. Luckily we’d not gone too far!

First stop was Kirk Castle as it’s a National Trust site so free (well not exactly) but . . .

So we had a short walk along the Chirk Aqueduct and Tunnel, which we would have done anyway

and then did a quick charge. First time for it to be so simple. Plug in and tap with credit card. There was no app to download, app to log-in etc. Just tap and charge.

I know when it is cold, my toes get cold and my hands go purple. I didn’t need the snow sago to hint that it is cold. Yes, it almost snowed while charging the car.

The next port of call was Chester where it was still windy as hell, although I’ll never know what hell is like.

The roman gardens didn’t actually exist but these were built in 1949 by Charles Greenwood and Graham Webster and were to showcase a number of artefacts from the city’s Roman past in an open public setting.

We couldn’t go into the cathedral as there was a graduation ceremony going on.

It started to rain, actually that sago stuff again on our way back to car. To avoid getting cold and wet we popped into a shop front, which happened to be a coffee shop. It was so nice and warm we took a seat and ordered coffee and hot chocolate. At this point I didn’t really care what the coffee was going to be like.

Looking around it seemed like they may know a bit about coffee. Turns out they 200 Degrees Coffee Shop does. I’d say the coffee was the best I’ve ever had in the UK.

Had a brief look at Another Place by Antony Gormley at Crosby, just north of Liverpool. It was tremendously windy with sand blowing in your face, so perceived and only saw 2 out of the 100 status stretching out along the beech for 1.5miles (2.4km). They are cast iron with the blokes placed between 50 and 250 metres apart along the tideline and one kilometre out towards the horizon and which they face out to also.

At the hotel, the receptionist picked up we are Australian and I picked up she was American! She said we have the best room in the hotel🤔, that’s her opinion, not ours. She told us her life story of why she was here, isn’t that nice. She met a guy during a difficult divorce who happened to come from Southport. She seemed so happy, a great outcome considering a big move away from her familiar surroundings.

Annette isn’t happy with the hair drier, there’s no bench space to put suitcase on, other than on the floor, the bar fridge is pretty sparten.

I’m not happy because the balcony is pretty narrow and there are no face washers.