York

We had a pretty average week and decided to get out and do something fun on Saturday so off to York we went. Aaron was nice (and brave!) enough to let me drive there as I needed more driving practice. I don't mind driving on the left side of the road and rather like traffic circles. I thought it would be fun to just follow the signs to York instead of relying on the navigation system but after 20 minutes of circling in and around Harrogate looking for the A61 I finally caved and begged Aaron to program the dreaded machine. About 30 seconds later we had a map, a plan, and an uneventful trip to York.

It was a crisp, sunny day and everyone came out of the woodwork to enjoy it. It was crowded! We had our trusty Rick Steve's guide and started with a walk through the gardens while oohing and aahing over old ruins.

Next we saw York Minster - a stunning gothic cathedral dating back to 1220 (although a church has been on this site since 627).

We enjoyed a stroll through a preserved Medieval street called (the) Shambles - it now houses lots of souvenier and candy shops and eventually made our way to an outdoor market. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking all over the city and practically collapsed on benches at the Railroad Museum - which is the world's biggest, coolest railway museum but we decided we would return when we weren't so tired. Dinner at Cafe Concerto (recommended by good old Rick Steves) with some of our new friends, Nick and Laura, and a night walk at "Illuminating York" - a citywide light show (cool but not quite Disney quality) rounded out our busy day.

(this is baby enjoying dinner)