Monday 16 January 2017

A Day Trip To York

This post could be subtitled: In Which Janet Visits Somewhere Lovely And Fails, Once Again, To Take Enough Photographs. Or the shorter: In Which Janet Is A Shit Blogger.

So anyway.

Thomas and I had talked about going to York for a short post-New Year break but, when we realised it only takes 2 hours on the train from Leicester, decided to save some pennies and travel there and back in the same day.

Luckily, after a week of unsettled weather, Saturday dawned gloriously sunny, if very cold. Just the weather for wrapping up warm and exploring. We started our day at the lovely Little Apple Bookshop on High Petergate, before popping in to the brilliantly named Grimoire Bookshop a couple of doors down. A few pounds lighter - and our bags somewhat heavier - we walked past the Minster to Goji on Goodramgate, where Thomas got the most epic vegan hotdog ever (sadly one of the many things I failed to photograph - he'd scoffed it before I could even get my camera out.
Keen to make the most of the glorious sunshine, after popping into some charity shops, we headed to Monk Bar, from which we ascended York's ancient city walls. One of my favourite activities when I visited the city as a child was walking along the walls and peering into the back gardens as I passed by, and I can attest to the fact that having a good old nose around is still as fun now as it was then.

In need of sustenance (after all, I hadn't had a hot dog) we headed to Betty's. The crowd outside their St Helen's Square branch was enormous and we decided we'd rather queue in the warmth of their smaller Stonegate location round the corner. This is a much more traditional-feeling tea room but with the same excellent food and service as you'd expect from the venerable Yorkshire institution.

A few glasses of prosecco down - yes, we really did visit a tea room and fail to drink any tea - plus sandwiches for me and a torte to share, we reluctantly gave up our seats in the cosy nook by the fire and headed back out into the cold.
All told, it was a lovely day, and the perfect reminder that we don't need to spend heaps of money on weekend breaks to have a relaxing time away from home. Now to plan the next day trip: any suggestions?

21 comments:

  1. I'm SO jealous of the fact that you have such lovely cities that are only 2 hours away. York looks amazing, it's already on my places-to-visit-when-I-finally-go-to-somewhere-in-England-that-isn't-London list :)

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    1. Gosh, I just take for granted that I can hop on a train and be somewhere cool in 2 hours - I forget that you're so far north!

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  2. First of all, that photo of all the books is just wonderful. I want to spend hours browsing there. I have wanted to go to York for ages. Maybe one of these days I will make it. It looks so beautiful.

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    1. It's very well worth a visit, I'd recommend trying to take a trip when you're in the UK.

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  3. Looks lovely, you are lucky to have it in day tripping distance!

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  4. Posts like this make me really miss living in York. I completely agree about how the Stonegate Betty's is so much more cosy than the huge one, and I also love that you went for prosecco over tea! Excellent choice :)

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    1. The waitress was definitely a bit, "oh, you want *another* prosecco?" when we ordered our second glasses, but : ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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  5. I think you have enough photos are they're great, especially the one of all the books! I've never explored York - I visited twice with school groups and once (only last year!) with the other half but it was just a flying visit - next time I must visit properly. I've never been to a Betty's before either!

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    1. I can't ever pass a shelf of orange Penguins without taking a photo of them: I have near-identical pictures from so many places!

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  6. It sounds like a lovely day - even without the photos :) I haven't been to York for years and would def love to go again soon. Another one for the list!

    Liz x
    Distract Me Now Please

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    1. I need to start visiting new places, as this is my 3rd time in York in the past 2 years. But... so pretty!

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    2. Visit Hay on Wye! Might try and get a blogger gang to come with me this year. I loved my weekend in York but spent about 50% of my time in the railway museum so need to go back at some point.

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    3. I LOVE Hay, definitely up for a visit there any time.

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  7. Above all else, that photograph of the considerable number of books is quite recently wonderful...It sounds like a flawless day

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  8. You might not think you took enough pics but the ones you did take were great. Jim works in York all the time, and I really ought to go over there with his for a day out one time but I haven't yet! Next time I will do and just mooch with my camera! x

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    1. Thank you :) And yes, you definitely need to get yourself over there.

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  9. It's lovely, I haven't been to York in years, and when I did it was a college trip and so we had to do educational things - no charity shops and tea rooms sadly.
    Days out can be just as restorative as a weekend away I find. I think it's just being somewhere and doing something different.

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    1. Definitely - Thomas and I have resolved to have fewer weekends away (saving pennies) but more day trips.

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  10. York is one of the places I really want to visit. We're cutting down on holidays and week ends away too so day trips for us this year.

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  11. Gorgeous photos, what lovely weather you had!

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