One Night In York

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We caught a 5pm train from Edinburgh to York, which only takes about two hours, and arrived just as it was getting dark. I’d booked us a three person room at a place that was surprisingly cheap given how fancy the photos looked.

We soon found out why. Apart from our room being somewhat cramped and pokey, the floors out-creaked any nightingale floor I could imagine any ancient Chinese palace architect considering necessary. The whole place had a kind of shabby air but without the Fawlty Towers-ness that would’ve made it memorable. So when in York, avoid the Elmbank Hotel! Unless you’re on your own in which case creaky floors won’t be so much of an issue.

The following day we had to pick up our hire car but first we had time for a walk around York. First breakfast in a very cute and very old little tower by the river.

Apparently the building was first used as a place where dead bodies were hauled out of the river. This raised a lot of questions when I thought about it later.

Next was a bit of window shopping and actual shopping. This show shop was shut but it was amazing!

York is a university town so there was a plethora of hipster cafes and whatnot. York also has a famous cathedral and an area called The Shambles. Another one of those ‘Harry Potter inspiration’ stops. The Shambles and Diagon Alley look very similar.

We went early to get uncrowded photos. By lunchtime on Saturday there was barely room to move.

Speaking of lunch, we couldn’t eat in York without having Yorkshire puddings! Luke and I tried the newfangled Yorkshire pudding wraps.

Jess had the more traditional version.

Both were excellent.

A few last photos of York!

A yorkie in York!

A pretty mural in the hipster part of town .

luke appreciated the birthday gift Jess thoughtfully bought him.

Jess has a homing instinct for tea.

This shop looked cool but didn’t have anything good.

So old and wonky!

All in all, York is a pretty town with a few interesting bits. I’d been before and gone into Clifford’s tower etc so didn’t feel the need to go again. Next – we visit Harrogate!

Five Days Across Scotland With Haggis Tours.

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After a short two nights in Edinburgh to help Jess adjust after flying from Australia, we gathered our belongs early on Monday morning and headed to the Haggis Bus Tours office on the Royal Mile, ready to begin our 5 day/4 night tour of Scotland.

Unfortunately Jess’ baggage, which had disappeared somewhere between Heathrow and Edinburgh still hadn’t turned up and the delivery company was being painful but it did eventually reach us on the third night.

I had been on a three day Haggis tour in 1999 on my first trip to Europe and I was interested to see what had changed. I remembered it being one of the highlights of my two month stay and was sure this would be another great experience – although I did wonder if I’d be the oldest person on the bus. Turned out that there was one guy older than me – Patrick – who was 45, but the age spread between 19 and 45 was pretty good.

There were 29 people on the bus and slightly more women than men. Our driver was a perky, blue-eyed young man named Callum who had a dry sense of humour and a decent knowledge of the places we visited. He encouraged us all, as we left Edinburgh, to move around the bus and chat to new people so by the first stop we all know at least six new names and were comfortable talking  to each other.

I won’t write about everything we saw but I’ll cover my highlights (in no particular order).

Highlight 1: The Scenery.

The mountains of Scotland are very reminiscent of the Lake District in many way but there is an extra wildness to them (possibly due to the far lower numbers of people and sheep) and the autumn colours we experienced were perfect.

I love everything about it and it’s made me want to do the West Highland Way one day – or maybe even the much less popular East Highland Way. The weather is always a huge factor in any outdoor pursuits in Scotland and midges are more problematic too but I would love to see more of the wilder parts of the countryside.

Highlight 2: The Selkies.

Our first stop on day 1 was at the Selkies, a huge and fairly newish sculpture near Edinburgh that looks like two angry chess pieces. Marvellous!

Highlight 3. The Company.

While our bus group did somewhat separate into the ‘all night partiers’ and ‘the rest of us’, everyone got on and was good fun.

Isabel from Switzerland, Alice and Tim from Sydney (on their pre-wedding trip to Octoberfest) and Patrick from London were probably the people I spoke to most and were all particularly lovely. There was another (and more professional) travel blogger on the bus but she had to leave early. Her blog is http://www.broganabroad.com if you like reading travel blogs!

Highlight 4. The Ceilidh.

On our first night we stayed in Oban in a hostel that had been a church. We spent the evening at a local bar having a Ceilidh (traditional Scottish dance) with a band that had a bag piper. We dance many dances and nearly everyone got up at least a few times.

To finish, a few photos with captions rom throughout the week.

Fungi! One of the benefits of autumn travel.

Jess and Isobel.

On the banks of Loch Ness.

Same age as me!

The morning after.

Ended up being a bit of a weird flavour.

Delicious stoats!

View of the Jacobite railway line.

View from the Jacobite train. The colours!