Grandma Goes Coastal: July 11, Chester

Due to the weather and my general lack of excitement for this city—don't get me wrong, it is pleasant enough, I am just not as into it as one should be—and because of the heat, I decided to go the zoo. The walk there was way better than the walk to the British Ironworks, but timing the walk to get there at about 10:00 when the zoo opened, meant a late start time when it was already unpleasantly hot. The walk was a little over 1 1/2 hours. The "a little over" was because there are a couple of spots so tricky to navigate that I don't know how anyone who is not a native can figure these things out, and we are talking city streets. BTW, sometimes you have to go as much a 2/10 of a mile out of your way just to cross a road. Anyway, As I was nearing the zoo, Google announced "turn right!" That instruction took me to a high, as in twelve feet or so, locked metal gate with CCTV and a stout lock. To the left was something similar. However, I heard a couple of male voices and shouted, "Hi, can you tell me how to get into the zoo?" The fellow who answered my call was awfully nice and directed me to the parking because is there any other way to arrive than by car?

I had tried to buy an entry ticket on line, a failed attempt, maybe on purpose, given that the fee is lower if you purchase on line, AND because Friday is considered off peak though you would never know it from the hoards, and I mean hoards of people visiting, This excursion, would you believe cost about $50.00. I kid you not.

Enough preamble, now about the zoo, one of the UK's largest zoos, (150 acres) I will tell you right off the bat (not sure if pun is intended), there were not a lot of animals to see, unless you count:

But there was a lot of habitat:

And loads and loads of places to eat a little something:

Actually, that was not a restaurant, it was a woman preparing lunch for the monkeys

Giraffes, so absolutely elegant:

A black rhino who was brown:

Now this fellow caught the attention of a little girl who shrieked with utter delight, "Daddy, Daddy, I saw it move, I saw it move it s head!"

And here is his relative, a Malayan tapir:

There was a bit of WOW information:

But more preachy sorts of info:

There were some pretty birds but they don't tend to pose nicely, so better to take the picture of a bird that is already a picture:

On the way out, I did see elephants, real ones:

I would not give this zoological experience a 5 except for the bus ride back.

The rest of the day was taken up with visits to the two museums in Chester. The Grosvenor had art like this:

And like this:

And even portraits like this, Loelia, Duchess of Windsor:

Quite daring for 1937, wouldn't you say?

Be careful leaving:

That last flight was 4 steps, BUT YOU NEVER KNOW HOW DANGEROUS THAT CAN BE!

The other museum was Sick to Death. At the start, an animated monk

introduces you to the most common ways people died back in the day.

You can probably guess what they were, but here is a list anyway:

This fellow who had already succumbed to the plague:

There was quite a bit of discussion about dissection....when it was allowed, when it wasn't, under what circumstances, its importance to medicine, and so on: