City of Chester

I joined a virtual tour of the city of Chester this evening, which has a lot of history reflected in its architecture, in particular its city walls, its main bridge, its cathedral and merchant buildings.  I last came here in 2005.  This was not a live tour but pre-recorded.  The photos are not in any particular order.

Ian, the tour guide.

Victorian houses in residential streets.

Cheshire cat statue.

Chester Cathedral

The weir, River Dee

The River Dee

A view from the city wall.

The Eastgate Clock

The main bridge over the Dee

The Roman Garden

Timber frame house built in 1595.

City wall

King Charles Tower, also known as the Phoenix Tower.

Modern copies of Roman mosaics in the Roman Garden.

Amsterdam

I joined a virtual tour of Amsterdam this afternoon with Stephan as the tour guide.  I have been to Amsterdam three times in the past, but this is the first virtual tour.  Our guide was very nearly attacked by a nutter who then chased after him.  But Stephan emphasised that, generally, Amsterdam is a very safe city, and he should know,  having lived in the city for many years.

  

The guide took us to the underground cycle park and rental where people can rent bikes for a reasonable fee.  Amsterdam is a very cycle-friendly city.  

He also took us to see the canals that crisscross the city and Centraal Station and told us the history of Victoria Hotel, which was built to accommodate travellers coming in on the newly built Centraal Station in the late 1880s. However, the architects had a problem.  Two existing home owners didn't want to sell their properties.  To cut a long story short, the builders built their hotel around the houses, and this apparent anomaly is still there today.

I enjoyed this tour all the more because it's a place I've been to in person, in 1978, 1982 and 2004.  Unfortunately, this tour did not include the Anne Frank House or the van Gogh Museum.  They have a tour of their own.  Here are some postcards I took on the tour.

Centraal Station

The underground cycle park

Peter Stuyvesant statue

Stephan, our guide

Old map of Amsterdam

Amsterdam tram

Cycles galore!

I joined a virtual walk and talk in Blackfriars, in the City of London this evening, about Shakespeare, called Shakespeare: Myths and Mysteries, led by Gerard, an actor.  Shakespeare came to London from Stratford-upon-Avon on foot as a young man to seek his fortune.  At this point, he was already married to Anne Hathaway and had children, having married at 18.  In Shakespeare's time, too, they had lockdowns but that was for a true pandemic, the bubonic plague, and the theatres and other places of 'entertainment' such as bear-baiting, were closed down in an effort to stop the spread of plague in the still medieval London.

https://www.heygo.com/postcards/album/99504

Gerard, our tour guide

The Millenium Bridge

The Blackfriars pub

The original Globe Theatre

The City from the Millenium Bridge, showing the Shard.

St Paul's Cathedral