Friday:
Since the rail tickets were open tickets, we took our time to have a proper breakfast before heading to London Kings Cross to catch the train. In fact, the trains that go to York come by every half hour so it was really no waiting time at the platform. We got a nice seat with a table so Josiah could play with his trains and look at the scenery. Two hours went by in a jiffy and we were in York! The Royal York Hotel was situated next to the train station - very convenient. Room was huge with lovely furnishings and a built-in trouser iron board! We set off to town which was about 15 minutes walk and came up to Betty's, a renowned cafe in York. Although it was a working day at 2pm - there was still a queue to go in. Everyone told us to try it out and we were not disappointed. Even Josiah the pickiest toddler in London ate heartily. We had their sausage and rosti, Betty's rarebit and scones. All done to perfection...yummmy...what a lovely way to start the holiday. I was even happier when Josiah fell asleep on the couch after eating, something he has never done before. Normally, he'd be crying and fretting until we get him into the stroller and push him around so Shaun and I managed to have our scones like normal human beings. Eating at normal chewing rate. Sipping tea leisurely. I told Shaun I could live in York, his response was - you've only been here an hour.... maybe, but I've not felt so relaxed in a long time.
We walked around York town and managed to get to York Minster just as the church bells started playing hymns. Beautiful. By the time we got back to the hotel, it was dinner time and we adjourned to their dining hall for our complimentary dinner. Although we were stuffed from lunch/high tea, we were not able to cancel it to another night so just went to taste the food. It was not too bad but definately not worth 50 pounds as per price on the menu!
Saturday:
Josiah woke up twice last night just to remind me why I find holidays so tiring. At least he was well-rested so we could be about our touring in peace. We went back to the York Minster for the full tour, unfortunately, they do not allow kids below 8 years old to go up the tower so we had to skip that. It is a lovely church with beautiful stained glass windows, high arches and mozaic tiles
There was going to be a choir performance that night so university students were practicing their pieces. Perfect timing since I love to listen to choir singing. We stopped by 31 Castlegate for lunch and received dagger eyes from the couple on the next table (probably hoping for a romantic meal). Shaun had his fish and chips while Josiah had his chicken and chips. I stuck with my boring chicken mushroom pie.
Next stop was Clifford's Tower which has rebuilt after 150 Jews committed suicide there. We climbed up the tower having to carry Josiah for the view but there wasn't much up there. Not the best 6 pounds spent. We walked around town some more, scouted for the meeting the next day, took shelter at York Minster again and settled back into the hotel.
We were still full so we jumped into the "heated" swimming pool. Once again, I find it misleading as it was C.O.L.D. But the new wetsuit I bought Josiah definitely helped but boy did his lips turn BLUE. He did enjoy it a lot and learnt how to kick his legs... time for swimming lessons? We ended up at a Tex Mex restaurant for dinner and Josiah did a great job of feeding himself so Shaun and I could have a proper dinner. Except the food was so-so and service was slow. Oh well.
Sunday:
After a harrowing night of whining and crying, Josiah ended in our bed and continued the torture by kicking me the rest of the night. I was quite glad it was morning so I could jump out of bed with the lil monster...grrr....oops, it's Sunday...must not be distracted...
We took a taxi to the meeting in St Andrew's Evangelical Church and passed them our commendation letter. Josiah immediately made friends with a boy and started playing behind the hall. He was good the rest of the meeting and we had a wonderful morning having fellowship with the believers there. We couldn't stay after the breaking of bread as we had to check out of the hotel by noon.
Our final stop before leaving York was the National Railway Museum. Josiah had a ball seeing so many trains on display. After an hour, he wanted his Thomas and promptly started playing with it on the floor. Time to go then....
The trip to York was our first holiday of 2009 which I would say went quite well despite the rough nights! All of us felt relaxed upon our return to bustling London and looked forward to our next adventure in Estopona, Spain in April.
Till then, here is the link to York photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/meiyeeleow/YorkTripMarch2009#
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