Europe Days 4-5

After our time in Bath, we headed north to see Andy's family in Ellesmere Port, England for 2 days. Ellesmere Port is in the north west corner of England near Liverpool, very close to Northern Wales. We stayed with his Uncle Paul and Aunt Pauline at their house. We had a great time with them. They could not have made us feel any more welcome. Truly some of the nicest people I have ever met.

The first day was mostly a family day for Andy which was really fun for us. We got to meet his Grandmother, Nan, who is 98. Andy's brother Mark, his wife Liz and their 2 kids. Andy's cousin Nigel, his wife Cheryl and their son. And his other cousin, Sarah, her husband Garreth and their 2 kids. Along with Uncle Paul, Aunt Pauline, Andy, Lisa, April and I...you can tell it was a full house. (We missed you, Ro and George!) We spent the afternoon outside enjoying the beautiful weather, eating, taking family pictures, playing with the kids, and getting to know everyone. They were all so nice and made us feel so welcome.

That evening we walked to Nigel and Cheryl's house for a BBQ. They grilled out and we enjoyed a wonderful meal together with them. We spend the reminder of the night listening to old stories about the trouble Nigel, Mark, & Andy used to get into as kids and then played a round of Wii bowling which April and I won. :-)

Our second day there Andy took us to Wales for some sightseeing. We first went to Colwyn Bay to see where Andy went to boarding school. April and I thought some of the buildings looked like old haunted mansions...very spooky from the outside. Explains why Andy is still afraid of the dark. :-) From there we went and saw Conway Castle. It was built in the 1280's by King Edward I. It was so cool to see something so old and yet so beautiful. It is situated right on the water which gives it a picturesque backdrop. April really wanted to see some old castles on our trip and this one definitely hit the mark.

We continued on to Llandudno which is a seaside, beach town in Northern Wales. It had a boardwalk and a pier and was quite crowded for what was a cool , windy day. For the most part it reminded me of a normal U.S. coastal tourist city except for the beach itself. The beach was very rocky and not what I would really want to walk around on. But the people there didn't seem to care. I guess it is whatever you are used to.

We had a great time in Ellesmere Port and Wales. It was nice for Andy to get to see all his family and we enjoyed meeting such wonderful people.

Next up...London and we loved London!!