Day 6 Stow-on-the-Wold & Shrewsbury

Day 6 Thursday April 25th

Started the day with a traditional English breakfast at our Bed and Breakfast. It consisted of eggs, “bacon”, sausage, tomatoes, mushrooms, beans and “bubble and Squeak”. The bacon is very different from what we have in the states, more of a slice of ham. The Bubble and Squeak is just potatoes with cabbage. I like it! However, I am not so sure about beans for breakfast.

Traditional English Breakfast at Lucy’s Tea Room

Since the town was pretty much closed when we arrived yesterday, we took the opportunity to walk around this morning. There was a farmers market with lots of fresh produce. The shops in town were amazing. Each was unique and charming. We stopped for lunch at the Talbot and got a window seat where we could watch the town activities. There appeared to be town volunteers cleaning the garbage cans located all over town. Most of the cans were covered in bird poop, and that is what they were cleaning. They did not stay clean long. After the garbage can in front of our window was cleaned, 3 birds arrived and made a mess again. There was a narrow alleyway right next to the restaurant, I think it was where the sheep were corralled into the town. It has a plaque indicating that it was used as an escape route for King Charles II in 1651. 

Parking is restricted in town and we needed to get moving to our next destination. We are on our way to Shrewsbury to meet up with one of our previous exchange students, Mew. On our way we stopped at Broadway Tower in Worcestershire. they wanted 20 pounds to go in, so we just drove by and took pictures, besides we were anxious to see Mew and did not want to delay.

Broadway Tower

Shrewsbury is the birthplace of Charles Darwin and a pretty good sized city for the English countryside. Mew had completed her masters program in London and decided not to return to Thailand.    

It was so great to see Mew again. We were surprised to see how she had not changed in 13 years. She is living in an old hospital that was converted to apartments. We only stopped in Shrewsbury to pick her up and take her with us to Wales.

We had a two hour drive to Conwy Wales. Plenty of time to get caught up with Mew. Conwy is a medieval walled town in North Wales.  After getting settled into our Airbnb, we walked about the harbor where we saw the smallest house in Great Britain. We also got a nice view of some of the wall as well as the castle. It was getting late, so we found a place to eat that Mew had recommended. Sandy tried the local mussels.