Vela Huang

We spent today hanging out in York. We started off with a 2 hour drive over from Lincoln, with a brief stop on the side of the road to scoff down a couple of sandwiches for breakfast. On arriving in York, we went to check out the Minster. The cost to get in was 18 pound each ($36nzd) and while the place was huge and you could likely spend hours inside exploring, we didn't have the time to make use of it. Instead we walked around the outside, enjoying the architecture and gargoyles.

We had made plans to meet up with Jenny's parents, Pete & Liz, so we stopped in at Betty's for a spot of tea while we were waiting. The tea was very nice and the sultana scone was amazing! Nathan's funky chocolate scone was not quite to the same standard - goes to show sometimes it's best to stick to the hits!

Pete then met us outside Betty's and took us on a tour around York - first stop, the pub. We visited a few pubs throughout the day, each with their own style, but this one (The house of trembling Madness) was particularly neat. Downstairs was the most amazing collection of craft beer we've seen, while upstairs the attic had a hunting lodge vibe and was serving some great real ales.

After the first pub we climbed the old city wall and had a neat view into some very traditional English gardens. We made our way around to the Shambles, an old butchers street which, according to legend, was inspiration for Harry Potter's Diagon Alley. There were a couple of shops here playing off the Harry Potter theme, and a range of neat little sweet/fudge shops, apothecary's, and other souvenir shops.

Onwards to pub #2 - The Blue Bell. A very small hole-in-the-wall type pub with cosy little rooms. It felt very comfortable and you could imagine stopping in for a pint next to the fire on your way home from work.

One final stop at pub #3 where we met up with Liz as well. Pivni was another cool spot, a three storey pub with the bathrooms on the top floor. We were taking it easy on the drinks (Vela and Nathan just sharing a half pint at each of the pubs) but you could imagine people finding it tricky to get up and down the wonky stairs and twisted top floor to use the bathroom after a couple of pints.

A massive thank you to Pete and Liz for the tour of York. We feel like we've only scratched the surface and will have to come back again!

After York, we drove an hour out to Scarborough on the coast. We'd been told things like "oh you should give Scarborough a miss" or "Scarborough? Why?" But on arriving, we discovered a pretty little seaside town. Our hotel, while a little eccentric, had a great view out over the water. With sunset not until 9.30, and true darkness not until much later, we had a late dinner and watched the people, boats, and seagulls.Read more