York
Thought it was about time I posted on my blog again - it's been way too long!
We were supposed to go to York for the day on Good Friday, but Andy was sick so we didn't end up going. Anyway, we decided since we weren't doing anything exciting this weekend we would try again. We made it this time! We parked in an all-day parkade just outside the city centre and walked in.
We spent the remainder of the morning (we got there around 10:30 after a 2-hour drive) wandering around and seeing the old buildings. The area called "the Shambles" was really neat with lots of buildings that were crooked or the second floor stuck out more than the bottom floor.
Then we found a great little cafe called "Concerto". The bathroom was wallpapered with all sorts of sheet music! I really liked the place because, apart from the fact that the food was delicious, they had a really good kids' menu. Emily had a croque monsieur and Samantha had sausages and mash. Each plate came with a pile of fruit and vegetables cut into bite-sized pieces - all things that the girls would actually eat! Andy and I both had the soup and sandwich combo but with different varieties. Mine was a chunky tomato soup with a baguette filled with ham, brie, lettuce, tomato, and cucumber - and just the way I like it with no icky mayo or other sauce!
After lunch, we carried on with our tour, spending about an hour inside York Minster, a very large and beautiful church built between 1220 and 1472. There were some pieces of old stained glass that had been restored and put in cases and lit from the back. The leading used in the stained glass was so heavy that there are big bulges in the windows where the lead has pulled the glass down over the centuries!
When we came out of the minster, we were surprised at the change in the weather - it had been a lovely sunny day earlier, and now it was starting to rain. As fast as we could, we walked across town to the National Railway Museum. Here we saw all sorts of old rail cars and engines including the royal "saloons" used by several members of the royal family including King Edward and Queen Victoria. They did travel in style! Emily's favourite parts were the train engine that had moving wheels so we could see how they worked and the train that we could walk underneath! Oh, and of course the Thomas the tank engine toy train that she spent ages playing in! Poor Andy got absolutely soaked going to get the car while we stayed in the warmth of the museum, only to have it stop raining about 2 minutes before he got to the car!
After a decent Chinese dinner, we got the girls into their PJs and drove home. They were so tired after a long day that they fell asleep within minutes of being in the car! I wish we'd had more time - I think there is a lot more to see... We'll just have to go back another day!