Out of office on……

Mum and I had booked ourselves a 3-night stay in York from 9-12 December to take in the sights and do some Christmas shopping 🙂  After a 2.5hour train trip down to York I met Mum who had flown over to Manchester and then got the train to York; we'd booked into Wheatlands Lodge Hotel so once we arrived we walked the 5mins to the hotel (great location!) and got checked in. For this first afternoon we walked part of the city walls round to the York Minster and then walked round the streets to get our bearings and explore the shops and Christmas market. By 5pm we were ready for a break so we had a drink in the Hole in the Wall pub near to the Minster, before heading to Bill's Restaurant for tea and then having a gentle stroll back to the hotel. The next day we had breckie in the hotel (I went for the 'Wheatland's Special (?!) of poached egg on ham) and then hit the shops. By lunchtime the wind had picked up and hail showers were on the way so we headed back to the hotel to chill and miss the bad weather. Later in the evening we walked into town and had tea at Bella Italia. Thursday was a cold but clear day so we took the opportunity to walk round all of York's walls, taking a historical stop at Clifford's tower and a tea break half way round to shelter from a wintry shower. The end of the walls took us back round to the Minster, so we had a quick look inside before heading to the gift shop to pick up a few souvenirs. After finishing off our last bits of shopping we retired to the hotel to chill, watch a cheesy Christmas film on TV and play cards until tea time. At 6.30pm we headed out again, going for a drink at The Slug and Lettuce before making our way to The Whippet Inn where we had booked a table for dinner. The pub was nicely busy (we were lucky to get a table) and the food was delicious! Mum went for a homemade burger and chips while I tried the Stone Bass, fishcake and sweet potato...and then we managed to find room to share a passion fruit cheesecake with pina colada ice cream for pudding - yum! The food and service was really good - we had a lovely evening and would definitely recommend the pub/restaurant if you're in York. On Friday we had a leisurely breakfast, packed our things and then wandered to the train station. Mum got a 10.30am train back to Manchester Airport for an early afternoon flight back to the IOM, and I got an 11am train back up to Edinburgh, with Glenn meeting me at Waverly at 1.30pm 🙂 York is a lovely city and a perfect place to take in a bit of history and culture whilst also getting in to the Christmas spirit!!