We arrived at breakfast to find that it was ‘to order’ as starters and mains. Everything was there although perhaps not in quite the right order for me personally. I opted for the American stacked pancakes with berries. The breakfast room was a little chaotic, so rather than linger at the table we returned to our room where we could chill out before walking to York Minster in time for when it opened.

As we walked to the Cathedral we took in a few of the ice sculptures that were part of the Ice Sculpture trail that was taking place over the weekend. Mr C toyed with the idea of visiting the Yorvik Centre but soon changed his mind when entry was slow and the queues were getting longer.

When we arrived at York Minster we waited in a short queue before we were able to enter the Church. Once inside we tried to book in at the ticket desk, but the computer said ‘NO!’. This meant entering the Minster took a little longer than anticipated. The Minster was as spectacular as always. I particularly enjoyed the display (which included a full size replica) about the statue of Queen Elizabeth II that was commissioned for her Platinum Jubilee but which was installed in a niche on the West front of the Minster after her death.

We spent longer in the Minster than we had anticipated leading us to join the queue for Betty’s tearoom later than was ideal. The queue was the longest I have experienced. During the 40 minute wait I was bumped and pushed by several members of a family who were queuing behind us. For some reason bodily contact with me was acceptable; some people have no concept of manners or personal space. Our waitress was lovely as was our sandwich and cake. Before we left we had a conversation with the manager about lockdown, its consequences and the length of time staff had worked there. She is quite rightly proud of the lovely, loyal team that provide us, the customers, with one of the ultimate lunchtime experiences.

Next we embarked on the wall walk which I had initially intended to do on my own whilst Mr C was attending a trade show. I had a change of plan because I thought he might enjoy the wall walk too. We started the walk at Bootham Bar but due to our late lunch we only made it as far as Clifford’s Tower. Dusk was arriving so the wall walk was left to be completed the following day after the trade show.

After our hectic day we chilled out in our room before having a pre-dinner drink in the hotel bar, where the bar man talked us through all the local gins; I chose Spiced Apple (with cinnamon spice)  whilst Mr C opted for a more traditional Gin. We dined in the hotel. I chose Haddock and Chips and was advised that the portion was large portion but when it arrived, to my relief, I found it to be a modest, manageable portion.

Our meal was accompanied by Lily Kersby who was performing in the hotel bar area. She has a beautiful voice and it was a shame that she was singing to herself. After dining we joined her, which she appreciated. For her last song of the evening she sang the Proclaimer’s ‘I will walk 500 miles’ which made me smile because it is the adopted song for the #walk1000miles Country Walking Challenge. I couldn’t resist showing her my badges and explaining how that had become a special song for me.

My walk around the ice trail was split between two days. As walking goes it was unsatisfactory there were far to many people around.

The ice sculptures were fabulous and after a walk what could be better than cake in Bettys Cafe Tea rooms .

Haruki Murakami

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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