A Weekend in Yorkshire

I finally made use of the UK's school-free week called half-term and made the trip north to Yorkshire for the weekend with hubby. We haven't really seen much of the new-homeland since we arrived so we were quite excited to explore some more. Everyone we told of our plans spoke highly of York and we weren't sure how much we could fit into a day! Hope you like our trip!

Train tickets to York - Ticket prices for trains are sooooo expensive here!!!! At least the trains are comfortable.

*sings* "Welcome to New York"

We stayed at Wheatlands Lodge. Loved staying here! The staff were super friendly and even gave us recommendations for places to eat. Our stay included complimentary tea and coffee on arrival and breakfast the next morning. Our room was called 'The Flat' which was a separate room attached to the outside of the main building. There was a little courtyard at the front which would be lovely during the summertime. The lower floor of the lodge contains some sitting areas with a fireplace, a small piano nook and a bar! Totally going to come back here next time we're in York!

 Who's this guy?

 The front of our room 'The Flat'.

Breakfast at Wheatlands Lodge - we had the full English breakfast (naturally). Didn't know (or wanted to know) what the round black thing was but I ate it anyway. It had a smooshie texture so I mixed it with the beans. They also offer a continental breakfast but the hot food options won us over!

 Dinner from the night before at The Longboat. I had the salmon wellington (basically like a pie) and hubby had a burger. Dessert was banana and caramel crepes and apple tart tartan with ice cream, of course. The Longboat was a recommendation from the receptionists at the lodge. The menu had a variety of yummy options at great prices. The staff here were really helpful and friendly.

Over the River Ouse.

 Where to go?

Our first tourist attraction was the York Minster - a grand cathedral! It has so many rooms and huge, intricate stain glassed windows. We booked into the tower climb but had some time to spare. After walking around the ground floor of the Minster, we look through the museum area called The Undercroft which is excavated below the building. An ancient Roman fort was displayed here as well as other artefacts from the time. 

The time came to climb the Central Tower. All 275 steps up a tight spiral staircase. Round and round and up and up we went. There was a point almost halfway up where we walked on a platform outside to another staircase. The view at the top was very much worth it. It was a bit misty when we got there though. The worst part was the way down - I got so dizzy!

 Walking down The Shambles - named after the area being an open air meat market and slaughterhouse back in the day.

 Museum Gardens - On the way to see the Observatory and St Mary's Abbey, we came across this man feeding the birds. He gave me some seeds to feed them too! This one he named Snowy.

 Squirrels eating make me very happy!

Tea and scones (and lemon drizzle cake) at Bullivant of York. Our friends recommended Betty's Cafe Tea Rooms but the line was out the door and around the corner. This cafe was small and quaint. Lovely service and scrumptious food!

Leeds - We travelled to Leeds by train from York, only a 25 minute trip. Got lost following Google maps thinking our hotel was somewhere not even close to where it actually was (to be fair, I think the hotel moved locations). I have forgotten what a city is like after being in Cambridge for a few months. Much more hustle and bustle and crazy nightlife! We stayed at the Ibis Budget - same price as the Lodge though - about 10 minutes from the city centre. It had an amazing shopping district. I wish I had sending money!

Hubby felt like having Indian food for dinner - we went to AM Kitchen & Bar and ordered butter chicken (naturally) and a chicken tikka biryani with a garlic naan (which was huge!). When we sat down at our table, we were given complimentary poppadoms and various dipping sauces.

 Royal Armouries Museum - I was so amazed by the collections of armour and weapons. We watched a Chinese Lion dance performance in the morning before exploring the 4 floors of the museum. The main staircase circles around a tube filled with spears, guns and other armoury. I really enjoyed looking at the different animal armour and the changes in weaponry over time. The bistro located on the ground floor had really tasty food. I had cauliflower soup and hubby had a double cheeseburger. Yum!! 

Thanks for sticking around this long post!!!! We had a lovely time in Yorkshire and we would definitely want to revisit in the summer time, and perhaps with a car so we can explore the smaller towns in the region. Thanks to our good friends MH and KC for feeding our furbabies while we were away! Now back to the daily grind of work!