Ludlow and Chester

We left Hedley Lodge and Hereford after breakfast, reluctant to leave in many ways. We knew our long trip to the British Isles was coming to an end in a few days, and that looming deadline was the source of our mixed feelings.

The drive was an easy one, and we enjoyed very much a stop in Ludlow. We wouldn’t have heard about it at all if we hadn’t spent some time with a very nice lady and her dog the afternoon before. We enjoyed meeting both her and her dog while we ate ice cream outdoors before Evensong. She was very friendly and encouraged us to visit Ludlow on our way to Chester, calling it worth the time. She was right, because the little market town is about as picturesque as it could be. There were a lot of half-timbered buildings, and St. Laurence has both really nice Misericords and a Snetzler organ case.

After that, we made our way to Chester to stay in the Chester Town House, in a building dating from 1680. Chester was another beautiful Cathedral town, this one with the added attraction of city walls, in-progress excavations of a Roman city, a beautiful Cathedral, the second in-house cat of the trip, and a birthday dinner.

The biggest surprise of the trip came on our last day: we woke up to the news that new rules were going into effect that day: no carry-on luggage allowed, only wallet and passport in a clear plastic bag. That had us up and repacking everything, throwing things away, and packing up a lot of excess clothing to leave for charities.

We turned in our car at the airport, flew to Dublin, and the next day caught our flight home.

With no carry-on luggage, of course.