We got up early today and hit the road to our next stop, Shrewsbury back in Merry Ole England.  The drive was routine but interesting.  First we stopped in Blaenau Ffestiniog because Phyllis had seen some aerial photos and a story that described it as "the hole in the middle of the Snowdonia National Park".  She thought, it being formerly the "slate capital of Wales", that appellation meant it was a dramatic setting with a small quaint town totally surrounded by looming slate debris heaps which would make for some sobering photos.  As it turned out, "BF" was a pretty sweet little town with slate tips looming all around, but not as much like a "hole in the ground" as she expected.  Apparently the "hole" refers to BF being left out of the Park when it was formed in 1951, to allow for development of new light industry.  Phyllis was disappointed, Craig was amused.  We moved on.  

This was where the really interesting part of the trip began.  This was Friday of Easter weekend and the week preceding Easter is a school holiday here as in many places.  Think "spring break".  And Easter Monday is a bank holiday.  What this means is that families are taking time off to go to other places and do different things.  In particular everyone in this area is apparently taking time off and going to Wales to go hiking in Snowdonia.  We know this because the road in the opposite direction (i.e. heading back towards Snowdonia) was slammed with traffic, in places at a standstill for a mile.  By the time we got close to Shrewsbury and still saw lines of traffic heading west we could only shake our heads and feel bad for these poor souls who (maybe) had no idea what they were about to encounter.  In any event it was pretty smooth sailing in our direction and we made it to our new home, the Abbots Mead hotel, in the old city part of Shrewsbury.

We knew little of Shrewsbury other than what we had learned from the Brother Cadfael mystery series whose usefulness as a travel guide was somewhat limited by the fact that it was set in the 12th century.  Thus we knew that there was a river, the Severn, almost encircling the old town but did not know that it had a wonderful pedestrian path that bordered it for much of its course.  We also did not know that there would be so many really good restaurants, pubs and shops in the old town, all set on a maze of twisting hilly streets.  We figured these things out quickly as our hotel was located just a stone's throw from the river walk and, as soon as we unpacked, we began our Shrewsbury orientation with first lunch at a nearby café and then a leisurely walk along the river.  Between the sun, swans, flowers, and a few boats sculling on the river, the walk was idyllic.  We finished our stroll by cutting across town past a few old churches (St. Mary's dates from the 10th century), markets and the castle.  It was a good day and tomorrow we look to continue our exploration of Shrewsbury, walking in the footsteps of Brother Cadfael.