What a completely amazing day we had on Saturday in York.  I have been to York twice previously; once in about 1980 so memories are slightly hazy and once when Ascot was being rebuilt so the races decamped to York.  So it was almost as if I was going for the first time.

We woke up in our hotel in Durham to a gloriously sunny day with bright blue skies.  Our room overlooked the river and we watched many boatloads of rowers, being encouraged by their coach on a bicycle.

Lara walked round to meet us and we headed down to breakfast :-).  I had fasted on Friday and was very hungry.  I started with mixed berry compot, fresh strawberries, muesli and natural yogurt.

Followed by bacon, a poached egg, a sausage, sauteed potatoes, ketchup and mustard.  That definitely filled a very large hole!

York was so much more beautiful than we expected. We had to drive through this amazing structure to get to the City centre.  It looks like something in a Disney movie!

Top tip to anyone visiting York for the day – park in the long stay car park at the train station!  There were lots of spaces and at £6 for the day, it was MUCH cheaper than other  City centre car parks.

Like many places in Britain, York has an ancient history.  The wonderful thing about York is that so much of it is still intact, such as these city walls which you can walk along.

The architecture here is stunning.

In the City centre, there is something beautiful to see everywhere you look.

We stopped for coffee and a cake at this amazing chocolate shop, the Cocoa House.  York has a long history of chocolate making and this shop stocks a variety of local artisan supplier’s products, all of which are beautifully displayed.

Notice the huge shards of chocolate in the drawers under the display counter!

Even the coffee area is surrounded by chocolate.

In addition to the goodies we ordered, we were given a sample of lemon truffles – amazing!

As I am on eat what I like day, I had a latte and a “Snickers” brownie which was a moist and chewy brownie with the added bonus of peanuts and caramel.  A decadent and delicious treat.

We eventually managed to tear ourselves away from such a little spot of paradise and walked in to York.  First stop was the extraordinary York Minster.

What a building!!

What gorgeous children 🙂

I apologise for all the glowing adjectives and exclamation marks but this place is stunning.  The sunshine and blue skies helped it all to look quite glorious.  

York Minster was built between the 12th and 15th Centuries and the Archbishop of York is the second highest office in the Church of England.  Much of the stained glass in here is 800 years old.

Inside the size and scale of the place is just extraordinary. Words can not do this justice and all 4 of us were quite stunned by the beauty and grandeur of the place and the quality of the craftsmanship all around us.

You must all go and visit this incredible place if you have a chance to.

These are the choir stalls.

I would love to hear a service in here or perhaps a little tune from a choir boy – Harvey wouldn’t oblige today.

There were also so many smaller examples of beautiful painting, carpentry and stonework.

We all wanted to climb up the tower to the top of York Minster.  How quickly I dismissed the warning signs about the long and steep climb and how it is not for the unfit or those who suffer from claustrophobia.

The first part was a long way but we were rewarded with a closer view of the external stonework.

We then went up and up and up.   I wondered if I would find the Pearly Gates at the top as I had climbed up so far!  What a view!

This is a view of ‘The Shambles’ which is the maze of Medieval streets we spent the afternoon in.

To get down you had to walk back the way you had come, including along this very narrow passage which had very steel steps.

Along a narrow walkway which was open to the sides so no good for anyone with vertigo.

Then back down the tower.  Notice how small in radius the tower is and imagine how narrow that spiral staircase is!

I would highly recommend this and I would do it again as I wanted to see as much of this extraordinary building as we could.  But it was a challenge and my legs are stiff today.  This is the view from inside the tower as you go down the steep and winding stairs – definitely not one for anyone who is claustrophobic.

York is such an old City and you are reminded of that as you walk around.

Sign him up 🙂

No idea what this lot were doing but they were very colourful.

He was quite colourful too.

In The Shambles there was so much to look at and that was before we even got in to the shops.  The outside of this little pub is all tiled.

The shops in York are perfect.  As well as the standard High Street shops there are top end well known shops and also lots of unique boutique shops.  Love these Easter Eggs.

But most of all I want those little piggies 🙂

Every street here was a pleasure to walk along

and look around little courtyards.

Having spent the day on our feet, a cocktail was most welcome by early evening – cheers 🙂

We had dinner in Jamie Oliver’s Italian which was really good.  I had the Misto Fritto which is breadcrumbed and fried fish and seafood with tartare sauce and served with lightly cooked assorted green vegetables.  It was cooked to a high standard.

The restaurant was massive but all on different levels so it never felt too cavernous or too noisy.  The decor was unusual but we all liked it.

For dessert I had 3 little scoops of ice cream with honeycomb and butterscotch sauce.  Yum 🙂

Good loos too – always important I think.

Farewell York.  We had a really special day and we all want to return.