We've just come home after a lovely few days in Hay-on-Wye. We both love Hay, especially the books, and over the last 25 years we have visited many, many times. My first visit was in 1984, a lot has changed since then. Chris and I first visited together in 2000. We haven't visited since 2017. We were surprised when we realised it was 7 years since our last visit, but a lot has happened in these years, including an international pandemic!
This time we stayed at the Swan Hotel, which was absolutely lovely. We mooched around the bookshops, and bought a few books. We enjoyed a sheeps' milk ice cream at the wonderful Shepherds, pottered around the Castle, and explored some of the many non-bookshops, yes, there are a few!
We had a peaceful time in this beautiful small town, which is so full of happy memories. It seemed surreal that whilst we were enjoying our holiday, all over the UK civil unrest was breaking out and racist thugs were targeting innocent communities and individuals.