“A friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future, and accepts you just the way you are.”
– Unknown
So it’s been about three weeks since my birthday, talk about stretching it out! But I wanted to finish my Tenby posts first! Before I tell you all about my weekend in Shrewsbury with one of my closest friends! But now they are done (no more castle posts for a while!) So now grab a glass of wine and lets head to the town of Shrewsbury in Shropshire, less then an hour from home, I can’t believe I have never visited this place before!
Of course, the first thing we did was stop for lunch and a glass of wine, after all, we were celebrating and what better way to celebrate then alcohol and carbs! Ok, so because I am a planner (not ashamed to admit that, in fact, I am rather anal about) I had a little google of places to eat and discovered the Loopy Shrew! It is a little of everything, boutique hotel, wine brew and a great brunch spot. We found the perfect time, you know the one that lets you nosy on everyone around you, ordered our first glass of wine and caught up on what feels like months apart, it had been a week!
If you are ever in the area, stop and order a scotch egg they are delicious! However, skip the salads they are only ok, it was a great start to our weekend, although an hour in and I was full and a little bit merry!
What I didn’t know about Shrewsbury was how good the shopping is there, there is something for every budget and every taste. From high to low fashion. Designer to market and everything in between and including the largest amount of charity shops I have seen in a while and we all know I love a bloody good charity shop! We spent the afternoon browsing, drinking coffee, shopping and laughing. It was shaping up to be a great and relaxing weekend, relaxing being the key, it feels like months and months since I just had a weekend with no expectations or real plans.
Before we headed to our hotel to check-in we found the campiest Christmas shop, maybe on the planet! It was incredible and I am 100% having camp Christmas as my theme this year! We stayed at the Mercure Shrewsbury Albrighton hall and spa, about a ten-minute drive outside of Shrewsbury its self. Being the old lady I am, it suited me perfectly. I don’t want to be out drinking all night instead I want nice food, wine and company. Which is exactly what we decided to do!
I would like to draw your attention to this amazing hot pink dress which I picked up during the day from a charity shop for £3.50. Possibly the best bargain of the whole year and by far my favourite dress! As soon as I saw it, I wanted it!
We headed to a three-course meal at the hotel and a few drinks, it’s my birthday remember it’s allowed (however I still feel like I am working the calories off three weeks later).
For starters I had goats cheese, cheesecake with beetroot, I am pretty sure there was an actual biscuit in it which still haunts me!
For the main course, I had pork belly I never eat/cook meat at home and I rarely eat it in general but when I do it is usually pork belly! It feels like a treat, luckily I only have it once ever. For dessert, it was the classic Lemon tart and the only non-chocolate item on the menu! I am pretty sure I ate a week’s worth of food in one day! We discovered a study within the hotel, curled up on two enormous armchairs, drunk wine and played board games.
Despite the weather forecast predicting rain, we were extremely lucky with the weather. I mean can you believe the weather report being wrong, shocking, isn’t it. We decided to head home early the next day via Trentham Gardens, it is a shopping village attached to a beautiful garden. Because we weren’t shopped out yet and apparently still hungry! Before we left we had breakfast at the hotel and walked around the gardens a bit, so glad we stayed out of the Shrewsbury and in the countryside, much more peaceful! As we left Shrewsbury the day before we saw a lot of hen parties heading out of town so was a good call!
Trentham gardens also has a monkey forest! Monkey Forest is home to 140 free-ranging Barbary macaques. Visitors walk along 3/4 of a mile pathway while monkeys just go about their business.
We spent about an hour wandering around trying to get a nice picture of a monkey, as you can see it worked! Before heading to the shops and what turning into a candle and pick n mix haul!
Before we decided to head home we stopped for one more meal! I opted for sushi! It was a perfect way to spend a weekend and I couldn’t have been happier spending my birthday weekend with such a lovely friend, although she didn’t want me to post any pictures (I fully respect my friend’s decision, its my life that is super public not theirs).
