Shrewsbury Abbey

Posted on June 17, 2026 by Mike

Our local abbey opened for business way back in 1083. It had a bit of a wobble during the Reformation (thanks Henry) but it’s still standing and functioning as a parish church today. The abbey is situated on Abbey Foregate, on the eastern side of the town.

The custodians of the abbey are keen to keep it alive as a destination for leisure as well as a place of worship. As such, regular concerts take place here, and tonight we’re in for a real treat.

The abbey has been modernised inside, and of course there’s a bar. The concert was really good.

On the way home we stopped at a couple of pubs and followed England’s victory against Croatia in the World Cup. Great night out.

Basel bars

Posted on June 12, 2026 by Mike

There’s a bar in the old town called L’Unique, but it’s better known as The House Of Rock. It’s full of memorabilia of rock & roll legends from down the years, sort of like a Hard Rock Cafe, but much, much better. Needless to say, the music was excellent. A few pictures:

They serve nice food too – we had wild boar burgers.

Huge life-size mural on the wall outside.

On the way back to the hotel we pass a bar called Rio. We had to go in.

Basel has an endless supply of really nice bars. It’s a pity we couldn’t visit them all.

We have a flight to Manchester later this evening, so hopefully we’ll be back in Shrewsbury by midnight.

A tour of Basel

Posted on June 11, 2026 by Mike

We had a good dinner in a beer hall last night. At places like this you share a big table with other diners and enjoy huge wienerschnitzels. The beer was pretty good too.

There’s a record player in our hotel room, along with some albums from the 1970s.

We played a few records, but it’s very strange having to turn the record over every 20 minutes or so.

This morning we had a lovely breakfast and set off on a wander around the old town. The Munster dominates everything.

The Rhine divides the city.

The impressive Rathaus (town hall) is undergoing some renovation.

Nevertheless we had a wander around the interior.

This afternoon we popped into a pub for a beer, to find them offering Salcombe pale ale from south Devon. They can’t spell Salcombe though.

Basel is really nice – lots of streets are pedestrianised and although we get complimentary use of the public transport here we didn’t need it at all.

Basel

Posted on June 10, 2026 by Mike

Somewhat predictably we ended up in the Tanne bar last night, it was nice to see Ronald.

Today we’re off to Basel. We’ve no idea what to expect. Basel is on the border of Switzerland, France and Germany. Some parts are very French.

There are some lovely old buildings.

Now we need to find a good spot for dinner.

Bye bye Ali, we’ll miss you

Posted on June 9, 2026 by Mike

There was only one event on the agenda today. Our dear friend Ali, who has featured many times on these pages, passed away recently after a long illness. We had a memorial service at St Bernard’s church, and I’ve hardly ever seen the place so full.

As is our habit in Wengen, the congregation strolled back to Rocks afterwards for a few drinks and to reminisce. If you visit Ali’s profile on Facebook you can view a livestream of the service. Rest In Peace Ali.

Wengen

Posted on June 8, 2026 by Mike

We arrived back in Wengen yesterday afternoon. Not much has changed since we left a year ago, and that’s a good thing.

As it was Sunday, Beves and Ibe were playing at the Braunbaer.

We had a good crowd in the audience. Wil and Malwina came over from Grindelwald.

On the way home we encountered a badger. These creatures are very common in the village, and it wasn’t bothered by us in the slightest.

This morning the sun was shining and a hot day was in prospect. Beanie has a new job at the Gemeinde (local council) in Lauterbrunnen, so we popped down to meet her for lunch. Waterfall looking good, as usual.

After lunch we caught the train back to Wengen and bought ice cream. We found a shady bench to enjoy it. The heat is stifling and there’ll be a storm tonight, but we’ll have to venture out as we’re looking forward to dinner at the Eiger.

A catch-up

Posted on June 3, 2026 by Mike

I have been neglecting this blog of late, largely because we’ve been a bit busy. Time for a catch-up. On Friday we caught the train over to Wellington. Thanks to our newly acquired Senior Railcards this cost us the princely sum of £1.10 each for the journey. We had a great night out with our buddies Elaine and Paul.

Not long after we moved to Shrewsbury we began to order new stuff for the flat. A few things arrived quite quickly, but the bigger stuff usually takes a few weeks (or months) to manufacture. This week some curtains arrived for our lounge and kitchen.

The heating system in our flat is desperately in need of modernisation. New radiators arrived yesterday, and tomorrow our electrician will begin to install them.

As well as sorting out the heating the electrician will refresh the lighting in the lounge and bedrooms, and improve the somewhat random distribution of power points. Once that’s finished we can look at getting some decorating done.