A very successful birthday not-weekend
We've been back a few days, but this is the first time I've had the time, energy and peace and quiet to write an update about our visit to York for my birthday.
We travelled up on the day before my birthday and settled in to our appartment at the Blue Rooms, which was glorious: a sort of studio, albeit about as big as our flat (and without all the clutter). The four-poster bed and roll-top bath were pretty nice, too. :)
By the time we'd summoned the energy to get out an explore, most things were closed for the day, but we grabbed a cocktail at the Evil Eye before moving on for dinner. We wouldn't normally eat at a chain place when we're away celebrating, but someone on TLL had pointed out that the York branch of Ask is in the old Assembly Rooms, so we decided that was worth a go...
The day itself started with a cooked breakfast at a civilised hour: I definitely like the Blue Rooms' system of leaving your fry-up plated in your fridge, ready to be fried and returned to the plate at whatever time suits you. Also rather good, of course, are birthday presents: A got me a book and a CD from my wishlist, some chocolates and Lush things and a scarf with a pretty tree-type print, in back/grey/white. And I'm told there's more to come when it finally arrives from the various places from which it was ordered. ;)
Cheques from my parents and A's had also arrived just prior to departure, so we spent part of the day in bookshops and vintage clothes shops, where I found various goodies including a black jumper with shawl sleeves in a cotton-linen mix and yet another version of Les Liaisons Dangereuses (I now own four different English translations, with this one being a sixties one which appears to be out of print...). We didn't really need lunch after such a big breakfast, but we grabbed tea and cake at a cafe called Lucky Days. Their roll-a-6-and-pay-only-a-quid concept is appealing to gamers, of course, but it turns out you only get a card allowing this for future visits at the end of your first visit. Still, their cake is really nice anyway...
Of course, bookshops and clothes shops and cake shops can be found anywhere, so we made sure to do some York-specific things, too, visiting Clifford's Tower, which has great views of the city, and Fairfax House, a beautifully conserved Georgian Townhouse which has very knowledgeable guides in each room.
We finished the day with an Indonesian meal at Krakatoa, another recommendation from one of the ladies of TLL, which turned out to be a good one.
The Blue Rooms' owners were kind enough to let us leave our cases with them after checkout the next day, for the rest of the day, which meant that we had time to visit even more bookshops and have a wander around the outside of York Minster and through the museum gardens, where we managed to arrive at the ruins of St Mary's Abbey just as dusk was falling, meaning I got some particularly pleasing photos.
I have a ton of photos from the three days to put up on Facebook, but my favourites are probably these two:
We then had a rather nice dinner at a place called Bill's Grill. Checking the website, it turns out that despite our not knowing them they aren't an independent but actually quite a large chain, with 17 branches in London alone, so it looks like we may be frequenting them more in future...
And then we finally got the train home, where more birthday cards and presents were awaiting. :)
So, all in all, an excellent birthday, made all the better by being the first time I've taken three consecutive days off work since August. :)
We travelled up on the day before my birthday and settled in to our appartment at the Blue Rooms, which was glorious: a sort of studio, albeit about as big as our flat (and without all the clutter). The four-poster bed and roll-top bath were pretty nice, too. :)
By the time we'd summoned the energy to get out an explore, most things were closed for the day, but we grabbed a cocktail at the Evil Eye before moving on for dinner. We wouldn't normally eat at a chain place when we're away celebrating, but someone on TLL had pointed out that the York branch of Ask is in the old Assembly Rooms, so we decided that was worth a go...
The day itself started with a cooked breakfast at a civilised hour: I definitely like the Blue Rooms' system of leaving your fry-up plated in your fridge, ready to be fried and returned to the plate at whatever time suits you. Also rather good, of course, are birthday presents: A got me a book and a CD from my wishlist, some chocolates and Lush things and a scarf with a pretty tree-type print, in back/grey/white. And I'm told there's more to come when it finally arrives from the various places from which it was ordered. ;)
Cheques from my parents and A's had also arrived just prior to departure, so we spent part of the day in bookshops and vintage clothes shops, where I found various goodies including a black jumper with shawl sleeves in a cotton-linen mix and yet another version of Les Liaisons Dangereuses (I now own four different English translations, with this one being a sixties one which appears to be out of print...). We didn't really need lunch after such a big breakfast, but we grabbed tea and cake at a cafe called Lucky Days. Their roll-a-6-and-pay-only-a-quid concept is appealing to gamers, of course, but it turns out you only get a card allowing this for future visits at the end of your first visit. Still, their cake is really nice anyway...
Of course, bookshops and clothes shops and cake shops can be found anywhere, so we made sure to do some York-specific things, too, visiting Clifford's Tower, which has great views of the city, and Fairfax House, a beautifully conserved Georgian Townhouse which has very knowledgeable guides in each room.
We finished the day with an Indonesian meal at Krakatoa, another recommendation from one of the ladies of TLL, which turned out to be a good one.
The Blue Rooms' owners were kind enough to let us leave our cases with them after checkout the next day, for the rest of the day, which meant that we had time to visit even more bookshops and have a wander around the outside of York Minster and through the museum gardens, where we managed to arrive at the ruins of St Mary's Abbey just as dusk was falling, meaning I got some particularly pleasing photos.
I have a ton of photos from the three days to put up on Facebook, but my favourites are probably these two:
We then had a rather nice dinner at a place called Bill's Grill. Checking the website, it turns out that despite our not knowing them they aren't an independent but actually quite a large chain, with 17 branches in London alone, so it looks like we may be frequenting them more in future...
And then we finally got the train home, where more birthday cards and presents were awaiting. :)
So, all in all, an excellent birthday, made all the better by being the first time I've taken three consecutive days off work since August. :)