York Walls

Feeling refreshed after a good night’s sleep, it was time for breakfast. The cooked-to-order breakfast was delicious although I missed my fresh fruit options for a pre-breakfast starter.

After breakfast Mr C attended Vapnartak 2020 (a wargames show). It was my plan to walk York City walls whilst he was enjoying his hobby and despite the mizzly weather, I set off on a walk around the walls starting at Bootham Gate. I managed to get off track on a couple of occasions (most notably by Clifford’s Tower) when there were breaks in the wall and the trail markers were either confusing or absent.  However I got there in the end and was quite chuffed that I had negotiated the walls on my own.

Deans Park Garden

As I arrived back at York Minster at the end of my walk of the walls Mr C texted to say that he was on his way back to the hotel from the wargames show. Whilst he made his way back to the Minster I enjoyed a pleasant walk around Dean’s Park Garden viewing the war memorial, the garden, the Deanery garden and the Dean’s chapel.

York Minster

When he arrived we went for lunch at Happy Days cafe where we had also eaten on our previous visit to York. I opted for the plum frangipane.

Hedwig

Afterwards we walked around York taking in a few more ice sculptures along the way including Harry Potter and a fine carving of Hedwig at Middleton’s Hotel. There was also an ice wall filled with chocolates that children were busy hacking away at to obtain a chocolaty delight. It was nice being in that part of the city again, having stayed there on previous visits. We had walked up an appetite and paid a second visit to Betty’s tea room. On this occasion I chose cherry and chocolate cake with cherry liqueur.

The Churchill Hotel - York

After this indulgence it was time to return to the hotel to freshen up before dinner in the hotel, a red letter day gift of a three course meal and prosecco. The food and service were excellent.

8 Comments CherryPie on Feb 15th 2020

Hearts

Valentines menus in local restaurants did not inspire Mr C and I. Instead we opted for fine dining in Chez Nous.

Place Settings

Smoked Salmon on Melba Toast

Starter – Melba toast with smoked salmon and cream cheese

Melt in the Middle Fishcakes

Main – Melt in the middle fish cakes

Warmed Apticots with Honey and Toasted Almonds

Dessert – Warmed apricots with honey, yogurt and toasted almonds

Boy Meets Girl

Served with a sprinkle of Valentines fun 

8 Comments CherryPie on Feb 14th 2020

York Nuclear Bunker

We set off on our journey to York a little later than we had planned, stopping off at the Denby Pottery visitor centre with a view to having lunch. The food portions were very large and the choices did’t fit what we had in mind for a light snack so we opted to carry on with our journey hoping to find something more suitable along the way. Before we left the Denby complex we looked around the Denby shop and saw some plates upon which we would enjoy eating our ‘Fine Dining’, especially on the patio in the summer months. We intend to go back and look again soon.

We stopped off at a motorway service station to pick up some sandwiches for an ‘in car picnic’ only to find, after a long trek over the motorway bridge, that all the sandwich options were over fancy and gooey. I am a little bit particular in what I like but usually Mr C can find something he likes. On this occasion he was not inspired by anything. We trekked back over the motorway bridge to continue on our journey, eventually finding a service station with both Gregg’s and M&S, comparative food heaven. After our enjoyable ‘in car picnic’ we continued our journey to York, calling in at the ‘York Nuclear Bunker’ where we had hoped to spend a couple of hours before checking into the hotel.

York Nuclear Bunker

When we arrived at the bunker we were surprised that it was bizarrely situated in the middle of a housing estate and that it looked decidedly shut. On closer inspection we found that it was closed until further notice due to a mechanical problem.

The Bunker

We decided our best option was to check into our hotel and head into York for the afternoon. Once at the hotel, The Churchill, we were taken to our room on the ground floor which, to me, was reminiscent of Churchill’s War Rooms in London.

Ice Sculpture

We left our bags in the room before heading into town to explore the ‘Ice Trail’ sculptures that were being displayed that weekend. We walked part of the trail and saw some excellent sculptures, although they were melting due to unseasonable warmth.

A Tasty Delight

After our short walk we gravitated towards Betty’s tea room where I indulged in a raspberry macaroon. It was delicious. We then made our way back to the hotel exploring a few more ice sculptures along the way.

Later we dined in La Vecchia Scuola where we encountered another problem. Our online booking had not registered with the restaurant despite us receiving a confirmation of the booking. They were able to accommodate us but the service was rather slow and the presentation of wine was quirky. I was shown the bottle for approval and Mr C was served first.

The Churchill Hotel

After dining we visited the atmospheric Lamb and Lion pub for a nightcap before retiring to our hotel for the evening.

10 Comments CherryPie on Feb 13th 2020

A Little Bit of Sunshine

The calm between two storms. It was a lovely sunny but bracing day, perfect for a walk.

After walking some familiar paths I ventured where I have not walked before.

Shadow & Light

Storm Damage

Spring Growth

Calm After the Storm

Babbling Brook

Babbling Brook

Pathway

Stepping Out

Finer Details

8 Comments CherryPie on Feb 12th 2020

When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.

Siddhartha Gautama Buddha

Etna Sky

10 Comments CherryPie on Feb 9th 2020

York Minster from the City Walls

On Monday I returned from a mini break in York, walking the glass trail, the walls and exploring the city beyond.

We returned home to find that we had an electrical problem, part of the electrics were off and the fridge and freezer had defrosted. We reset the trip switch but it tripped several times more that evening leading us to call out an engineer (we are covered by a service contract).

An Unexpected Visitor

An Unexpected Visitor

This meant that on Tuesday I was stuck in the house waiting for an electrician and gas service man. Being house bound led me to seeing this beauty in my garden. I wasn’t quick enough to capture him on the ground before he flew onto the fence.

Our electrical problem is inconclusive. After extensive tests the electrician thought it was the central heating pump causing the problem but when the gas engineer arrived he couldn’t find any faults and no matter what he tried he couldn’t replicate the problem that caused the switch to trip. We are left with an empty freezer that we are reluctant to restock and the niggling suspicion that it is the fridge/freezer that is at fault.

I will be sharing more about my travels soon, I am currently editing my photographs. :-)

20 Comments CherryPie on Feb 5th 2020

All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking.

Friedrich Nietzesche

Long Shadow Walk

10 Comments CherryPie on Feb 2nd 2020

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