Market

After last night's festivities, we were up and at Euston station just after 8 am. We bought a breakfast baguette from The Upper Crust (it turned out to be a bit dry) and searched for the platform. I'd worked out that it was Platform 1, and we were the first at the gate, although a few more people worked it out before they let us through about twenty minutes prior to departure.

We were heading to Shrewsbuty to surprise Dad for his birthday. The first part of the trip, taking a train via Birmingham International, was uneventful. We arrived on time. I'd given us over an hour before the lunch booking, so we decided to look at Shrewsbury's award-winning market hall. In the end, we saw little of it as we spent the hour with a drink at a wine bar, Petit Glou, on the upper gallery. The bar had some of the day's papers to read, so I caught up on the news from the Olympic opening ceremony - which seems to have been great despite the rain - and learned that Flavor Flav is a 'hype man' for the US women's water polo team.

We arrived at the restaurant at about 1:30pm to be told there was no booking and it was doubtful that there would be space for a party of seven. I tried to contact Jez, who made the booking, but he was driving. We sheltered from the rain while trying to devise an alternative plan. In the end, when Jez arrived, we chatted with the staff, and as there was a large table leaving, we managed to secure a spot. The surprise element did not quite go as planned because we were all standing around the reception trying to sort out the confusion when Dad arrived. Still, our presence was a shock, so it worked out OK.

In spite of the confusion, the restaurant was lovely. The food and service were excellent. I had the chicken shawarma (delicious) while the others sampled duck leg or beef in a masaman sauce. It was all wonderful.

After lunch, PY and I walked back to Mum and Dad's with O. We spent the afternoon around the house before moving outside later in the day for a barbecue. In between, there was a game of croquet, which A won.

There had been a plan to use the gas ring and paella pan that was brought back from Spain, but there has been some trouble sourcing a gas canister, and everybody agreed a disposable barbeque would work just as well. We gave Dad his birthday presents - which included tickets for a test match at Lords later in the month - and had a pleasant evening. He seemed to like them all.

Later, we set to watch an episode of Death In Paradise. The upbeat theme tune, played after the murder-to-be-solved has just been uncovered, amuses my niece and nephew. In the episode, a pianist is murdered in his studio, and the team tries to solve the case. Unfortunately, it was the first of a two-part story, which means I didn't see the crime being solved, and I don't know when I'll get around to it as PY fell asleep and nobody wants to watch a mystery's resolution if they'd never seen the mystery in the first place.