How Was Your Bank Holiday Weekend?

Wasn’t that mega!! A Bank Holiday weekend with nice weather. Plenty of things to do, plenty of places to visit? So, what did you do? How was your Bank Holiday weekend? Hopefully the weather continues for this week and race goers enjoy some decent weather tomorrow, Thursday and Friday. But back to the weekend just ended. Our weekend started with a fairly sedate, cheeky ‘early doors’ on Friday. An early trip to The Olde Cottage and a few weekend early liveners. Nothing over the top but I must admit I do enjoy a Friday early doors in the Cottage.

How Was Your Bank Holiday Weekend?

Saturday was a nostalgic trip down Memory Lane to a large extent. A good friend of mine came ‘home’ for a rare visit from his adopted home of Finland. Back in the old days, we were all regulars in the Golden Eagle. So, those of us that met up arranged to meet on Saturday afternoon at, you guessed it…..The Architect. Still, it was anticipated that we would make it to the Eagle but however, it didn’t happen.

Now, there’s a thing. We met on Saturday afternoon!! Wow, not done that for many years. I think the last time I went out on a Saturday afternoon, Nelson had two eyes!!! The next stop off was The Custom House. That’s where it really turned into an “All Our Yesterday’s” impromptu get together. Without prior knowledge a whole raft of other ex-Eagle regulars popped in. Not all in one crowd either. A few different groups dropping in every half and hour it seemed. Events turned into a really enjoyable, massive ‘catch up’. I’m not a betting man but if I was, I would imagine the most popular phrase at the beginning of a sentence in the “Cuzzie” was “Do you remember?”.

A great afternoon/evening was unfolding.

Why London Prices?

I’m not going to mention the other places we visited but much to the surprise of some, bar prices was a talking point. A good friend of mine travelled up for the day from East Anglia. He doesn’t drink nowadays so he was very “compos mentis”. As it happens he works in London and couldn’t quite understand the prices in some of the places. “Why London prices?” he asked me. Unfortunately known of us could provide an answer to that very valid question. As I said I won’t mention the other places we went to mainly for that reason. But come on, £4.90 for a pint of ordinary bitter. When I say ‘ordinary’ I mean brand-wise. Not a premium beer, or a foreign import. Quality wise it was awful by the way as well. Needless to say, this particular is now off the list for all of us that called into there on Saturday.

A quick question on this price issue. Aren’t all pubs supposed to prominently display prices? Walk into the Cottage for instance and you will see a big blackboard with all the prices prominently in view on the side of a pillar at the bar. Methinks all bars should follow suit – particularly those that charge “take the proverbial” prices. (NB: I should point out the “Cuzzie” charge normal prices….and serve great beer by the way).

Anyway, just a minor negative on what was otherwise a fabulous afternoon and evening. It was great to catch up with so many old faces and ‘sort the world out’.

What Else Did We Do?

If you’ve read so many of my posts you will know that we love the river and Chester Zoo. So, no big surprise – we made a trip to both. On Sunday we had a gentle stroll into town, through Grosvenor Park.

How Was Your Bank Holiday Weekend-Grosvenor Park

As usual, a stroll through the park took us to The Groves. Chester river was busier than normal. Quite clearly because of the beautiful weather.

How Was Your Bank Holiday Weekend-Chester River Dee

We must have sat there for the best part of two hours, watching the world go by and enjoying an ice cream. Plenty of boats were out in force. Chester Boat company were particularly doing a roaring trade. All of their main cruise boats were out – The Jackie, Lady Diana and the Mark Twain – and all set off looking full. Again, motor bike enthusiasts were enjoying the sun. It always seems to be a popular spot for bikers at any time of the year.

The middle of town seemed to be awash with tourists on our way back. There is a special feel about Chester city centre in the sunshine. There are plenty of tourists who take the time to visit Chester.

How Was Your Bank Holiday Weekend- Eastgate Street In The Sun

I’m not exactly sure who they were, but there was a large group of about 50 or so foreign students accompanied by about 4 or 5 adults, all wearing football tops. Not sure if they were over here to play a football match or were just supporters away on a trip. Whoever they were they made a lot of noise with their footie songs and chanting. All harmless stuff though. They seemed to be really enjoying the sun and Chester city centre.

Bank Holiday Monday

The main plan was to take a look at the Nature Reserve at Chester Zoo initially. When we got to the Zoo entrance though we asked two members of staff where the Nature Reserve was. Maybe because it’s new we didn’t get much joybut one of them didn’t know, while the other wasn’t sure. No signs giving any ideas where it was either. It wasn’t alongside the Zoo but it was, as we found out later, at the end of the car park, about 400 yards away from the entrance. We decided to check it out next time we go.

Plan B then was a wander around the Zoo. Not sure how many were there yesterday but it was chocca. Apparently, there was in the region of 12,000 visitors last week when we went. There was more there yesterday it seemed.

As the Zoo is that large we always seem to see something new every time we visit. There are always additions or changes going on anyway. But, to keep it ‘current’ so to speak we aim to see different parts of it when we make our next trip.

Last time we went, there was some work going on at the penguins enclosure so we left that alone last time. All finished yesterday so a look at these very popular Zoo regulars was very much on the cards. More so as my sister has sponsored them for a year. So, especially for my sister until she gets to visit next, a quick video showing the penguins enjoying a swim.

So, how was your Bank Holiday weekend? Ours was excellent. Looking forward to the next one already.

For More Information on Chester and Chester Lifestyle

If you wish to know more about the beautiful city of Chester and Chester Lifestyle – click HERE.

Chester Zoo – More Posts On Chester Lifestyle.

For more articles and posts about Chester Zoo on my Chester Lifestyle website, see the links below….

Chester Zoo – General information, history, timetable, admission prices and a couple of videos – click HERE.

Rare Newts Born At Chester Zoo – Read more HERE.

Chester Zoo Voted Third Best In The World – only 3rd!! Read more HERE.

Visit To Chester Zoo – see what I thought of a recent visit to Chester Zoo. Read more HERE.

Chester Zoo Nature Reserve – see details of the new Nature reserve at Chester Zoo HERE.

How was your Bank Holiday weekend? Why not let us know and add a comment below.