On to Shrewsbury.

Alright.
After getting what I think is the final dregs of the laundry done, then sweating it out for a couple hours in the garden and finally heading off to the Friday market for some salmon for tonight's dinner....I'm back.
We left off with Friday's excursion out to Shrewsbury.
I think it was a little over an hour's drive, but my memory's dim. I do remember that we came pretty close to getting stuck in traffic on the motorway, and getting into Shrewsbury proper was a bit of a challenge, since everything came to a standstill at that point. Seems one way streets were introduced a couple years back, and if you don't quite make your turn, it means going all the way 'round town to get back to the turn off point. We stopped and asked directions to the hotel, and the lady was going to jump in the back to take us there. Her more cool headed husband put a stop to that however. I had my suspicions that I "couldn't get there from here", but all I wanted to know was if I had to go out to the main drag and take another go at it. Turns out I did.
Suffice to say we were on Raven Meadows (zoom in a bit) and we needed to be over on Butcher Row.

The Prince Rupert is, well....quaint. I think the term "rabbit warren" came to mind. Narrow hallways, and even though we took the lift, we still ended up having to schlepp our luggage up another flight of stairs to get to our room way at the back. This place looked like it had been added to a number of times in the last say, two or three centuries? Then of course, you have to stick on a fire escape here and there....
They take your car away and park it....somewhere. They like to have forty five minutes lead time to fetch it again, so no clue where it ends up.
This is a view up Butcher Row. That's the car waiting for us on the Saturday after we checked out. Decided to wander around Shrewsbury a bit.
After checking in and getting freshened up, we headed off to The Quarry (check the map again) for the evening's festivities. We had tickets to a concert that night, along with the worker bees and their respective spouses from the Birmingham location of the company that cannot be named.
The group playing was Jools Holland and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra
and I must say, they did a fine job.
Sorry, but I wasn't about to wade through that crowd to get a better image. You'll just have to squint.
Someone had the good sense to rent chairs, tables and a shelter......since UK weather is oh so predictable. (these guys are no fools) Turns out the weather was just fine however, and we had enough food for at least twice as many people as were there.
Now I should point out one minor item that I found a little strange. If you look closely at the above photo, you'll see there is a pavilion set up with a big picture of the Bluenose on the side?
Ya...that one.

This is the sort of thing that just makes me go, "wuh...?"
Apparently we could have won a trip to Nova Scotia!
Ohhh....man, that's exciting!
Is there some sort of market for tourists in the Shrewsbury area??? Can anyone explain this one to me? I took a pass on filling out a ballot.
Now don't get into a snit.
Yes, I would simply love to go, and we'll go back there at some point.
Really.
It's a fabulous province, I highly recommend it, so shut up.

Now here's something of which I had no clue. Turns out Shrewsbury is the birthplace of Charles Darwin. Not sure if that's why anyone would go there, but hey! he had a shopping centre named after him!

Once again, I don't quite get the connection. Charles Darwin.....shopping centre. Is there some method of applying "Darwinism" to shopping? Does a Monty Python skit come to mind?

I mean, if it's "survival of the fittest", what's really going on in there?



We thought it best to stay outside.


Just think if there were a whole chain of "Darwin Shopping Centres"! Shopping would take on a considerably different tone.

And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, would be the best excuse ever to stay away from a shopping centre.