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As C and I didn’t have a hockey match on Saturday, we enjoyed the rare opportunity of spending Saturday together.
This is the way to do chocolate!
We are lucky to live just an hour away from York, which as many people will know, is a wonderful medieval city, with plenty of narrow alleys, old timber-framed buildings that lean at crazy angles, haunted pubs and a wonderful circuit of ancient city walls.
York, was at one time, one of the most important settlements on the British Mainland. It was known as Eboracum by the Romans and Jorvik by the Vikings. It was also the birthplace of a Roman Emperor, Constantine the Great – intriguing to know that at one time, the greatest Empire on Earth was ruled by a Yorkshireman!
York is simply one of those places “you can mooch around” (as my wife puts it). You don’t really need to spend loads, unless you fancy a bite to eat in the town, and the city has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to sightseeing.
As the medieval city is relatively car-free, there is very little parking space near to the centre, so we have started using the Grimston Bar Park & Ride service, on the outskirts of the city. For just over a fiver, we could get a family return ticket. It’s quick and the buses are frequent, so it seems the most sensible option.
Choo choo!
We started our day out wandering up Parliament St, where there was a market taking place, and onto Coney Street, which is one of the main shopping streets. Already there were throngs of tourists out enjoying the mild weather. We stopped for an early lunch, before making our way onto the National Railway Museum. The museum is actually free (with a suggested donation of £3) which again makes for a cheap day out. As we live near a railway line, our youngest has a real fascination with trains and loved running between the displays shouting “choo choo”! There was also a miniature railway, which she also loved. Bizarrely, the thing she found most fun, was an old caste iron “pissoir” (men’s urinal) on one of the platforms. She found she could hide in there and pop out on us! Even though it had been out of use for donkey’s years, I did find myself cringing a little!
After the museum, we wandered back through the centre to St Sampsons Square where we found a pretty decent cafe. All the way along our route we kept bumping into people dressed as Vikings. Not too unusual in York, but there seemed to be a Viking Festival going on. There also seemed to be plenty of Stag & Hen parties judging by all the ladies dressed up to the nines and men in animal costumes!
We then had a wander up Stonegate, which has a wonderfully eclectic mix of shops – my favourite being a beer shop called Trembling Madness. Before we knew it, it was time to make our way home.
A small gift to myself :-)
This was really just the tip of the iceberg and there are a few other things you simply have to do when visiting York:
1. Walk the City Walls. You can pretty much do an entire circuit of the city walls and there are some stunning views to be had on some of the sections, especially near the railway station.
2. Take a stroll down The Shambles. The closest you’ll come to Diagon Alley from Harry Potter. The Shambles is a slightly claustrophobic cobbled street, with old buildings seemingly leaning over into the street itself. It’s home to a number of sweet shops and other tourist-centric outlets.
3. A photo at Whip-ma-whop-ma Gate. This is one of the most unusually named streets in the country, so you simply have to have a photo next to the road sign.
4. Wander round York Minster. The Minster is a vast medieval cathedral which can be seen for miles around York. It is even more impressive up close!
5. Visit York Castle Museum. There are still remains of York Castle and it offers some stunning views over the city.
