For the first time on our journey, we had rain today. Not just a damp, misty rain, but buckets coming down. This put a damper on our visit to Hay-on-Wye which is known for its many bookstores and outdoor bookshelves. The owner of our B&B was top notch with a tasty breakfast, fantastic rooms, and great bathroom products. We also had a wonderful conversation with him ranging from US politics to rugby to Wales and how we should visit Pembrokeshire sometime. He had excellent taste in artwork and Carolyn even tried to buy something off the wall. After checking out of our B&B, we wandered a block down to the main road and went to about 5 bookshops and a map shop. I was good and kept my wallet in my pocket, especially with the maps. It was cool, I'll admit, to see first edition Ian Fleming James Bond novels. I love visiting Wales as signs are in both English and Welsh; so fun to see! Due to the rain, no shops had books outside, but this is definitely a town I'd love to revisit. Very cool vibe!
We left Hay-onWye in heavy rain and headed to Leominster (pronounced Lemster) for lunch. Google and our GPS pointed us to a great sandwich shop in the town centre. Leaving there, we headed to the county of my great-grandfather, Warwickshire. Along the way, I did introduce my traveling companions to "services" on the M (interstate/motorway). Services are really nice rest stops that include a food court, excellent bathrooms, a small grocery store, and usually a coffe shop. It was an excellent stop and always reminds me how nice the British do things.
Shortly after, we arrived at our B&B in Leamington Spa. We had originally planned to stay in Warwick, but all the B&B owners advised us to stay away as the Japanese rugby team is staying in Warwick. We unpacked and headed for our evening of Shakespeare in Stratford-Upon-Avon. We had tickets for Henry V at the Royal Shakespeare Company theatre and I have to say it was excellent. The actor playing Henry was amazing! Funny, touching, and gripping, it was a perfect evening...followed up by perfect dessert!
Tomorrow we should see Coventry, my family sites, and maybe more in Stratford. The weather should be better to! Until then...
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