Exploring: York

A couple of weeks ago, my Mam and I headed to York with my cousin Kathryn and her Mam, (my Aunty) Susan. We took the train which takes just over an hour, and had a pretty easy time getting there. Our train was even early, seriously when does that ever happen? Anyway, everyone had been to York before besides me, so I was excited to see what I had gotten myself into.


We decided to go to York so we could check out the Christmas market and also spend some time together. If you're not familiar with York, it's a fairly quaint but picturesque city. I really enjoyed looking around the market and seeing what all of the little stalls had to offer, but people ended up parting with their cash in the usual department stores like Marks and Spencers and Debenhams. I bought three Yankee Candles from a little shop on the skirts of the market to give to some friends for Christmas. There was a carousel placed in the middle of the town centre which I thought was quite quirky, but I didn't end up getting on it.

After we had looked round most of the shops and stalls we wanted too, we decided to head for lunch. A failed mission to one restaurant led us to eating in Jamie's Italian, as in one of Jamie Oliver's renowned restaurants. The restaurant was really chilled out and had a great atmosphere but I didn't take too many pictures inside. Although it was a semi high-end restaurant you didn't feel underdressed going inside wearing jeans. The food offered on the menu was pretty specific and definitely only catered to certain tastes, there was a lot of fish dishes available and I'm not a massive fan of fish. I managed to find a carbonara dish that I knew I'd like, and it was pretty averagely priced considering the quality of the food - which was absolutely beautiful for the record. It's just a shame there wasn't more choice really.

After we ate we looked around a few more shops before stopping off at a little cafe for a cup of tea. Well I had hot chocolate, but you get my point. We even managed to sneak in a trip to Betty's so Kathryn could buy some macaroons. Betty's is a famous tea room which had people queuing round the block all day, even in the rain. It offers afternoon tea and is a phone-free zone which I thought was really interesting. I had a really nice day visiting York and was glad of the change of scenery, especially since we took this trip the day after I did a super stressful presentation at university. I think I'd like to go back when it's a little warmer so I can explore a little more, and maybe also have afternoon tea at Betty's, just so I can say I have.