This would be our last trip away this year, as York is our favorite place to be, that is where we were going. Our next trip booked for next year is again to York but that is not until the usual March trip for our birthdays.
Monday 19th November
The drive down was very reasonable and we arrived with lots of other vans and caravans but it didn't take long to get checked in. We chose the first plot we came too, it's not worth messing about. Got set up and had the sandwitches Dot had got in the garage on the way here.
Then it was a walk to the train station to pick up our train tickets for our trip out to Leeds tomorrow. When we got the tickets I had ordered from the machine, we discovered I had got early tickets, 09:16, so we would have to be up early in the morning.
From the station, we popped over the road into The Maltings pub, where Dot had a Leffe and I tried a local beer. But it was still early, so next we went for a look around the shops.
After that we went for food and popped into Kennedys Bar, were it was buy one get one free (on most things). We ordered steak pie with chips and peas, only there was no crusts for the pies so we had a bowl of meat, a bowl chips and a bowl of peas. The whole thing was strange, we didn't get anything off the price and the beer was not that good either.
So we moved on to the House Of The Trembling Madness, went upstairs and got a seat in the very small room. Dot had a Wheat Beer and I tried the 6.0% Wander Beyond Brewing, Great Rift Milk Stout and it was nice.
Next we moved on to the tent bar in the middle of Parliament Street at the end of the Christmas Market. Thor's Bar as it was called was nice inside and warm but the choice of beer was very poor.
Then it was back to the van, we had to be up early in the morning, my mistake.
Tuesday 20th November
Got up early, went to the shower and got ready to go, actually got the the train station with about half an hour to spare. Sat waiting for the train we had a chocolate biscuit each, we would have breakfast properly once we got to Leeds.
When we got there it was raining but we wandered around the shops popping in and out of the different arcades to keep dry. Eventually we made for The Cuthbert Brodrick, one of the spoons pubs, in time to get a breakfast in there. However we only had orange juice with it though, the beers could wait until later. So we carried on with our shopping but both of us became tire and packed in.
We went to an old pub Whitelock's Ale House, down a very narrow back street, were we got an Ilkley, Gregory Porter, for me and a small wheat beer for Dot. In fact we had two beers in there, the one I had was a Kelham Island, Easy Rider, Dot again had the wheat beer.
From there we popped into a Samuel Smiths pub, The General Elliot, this was a mistake, what a grotty little pub. We did however have a very good beer but the place was horrible. So we moved on and found an empty pub, Mook, there was nothing special about the place or beers but it was far better that the last place.
Then it was back to the train station and the Wetherspoons in there, Dot said it was too late to get a pint but a half would do. I got a pint of Butcombe, Chris Moose but had to drink it fast, very fast.
We got the the platform just as the train pulled up and got on just at the right place for our seats, which were booked. The other thing was it was an express train and went straight to York. The train tickets cost £3.00 each to Leeds and £4.50 each coming back to York.
We had not had our tea/supper in Leeds, so we popped into the chippy just outside the site for fish and chips to take back to the van.
Wednesday 21st November
I had a sleep in to make up for getting up early yesterday. We had a quiet time in the van and just had soup for dinner, it was raining outside anyway. So it was late afternoon by the time we ventured out into town.
As we went out late we didn't do much shopping and ended up popping into Kennedys Bar again, I know the food was not right last time but it was nice. But the burgers were half price today and that is what we wanted, so we went back. With my burger I had Titanic, Plum Porter, to drink, I am drinking more Porter/Stout as most new beers are just hoppy lagers.
Next we moved on to Pivní York, were Dot had another Wheat Beer and I had Atom, Dark Matter, yet another dark beer. The toilets in there are two floors up though, not good at all.
We then moved on to The Kings Arms, had not been for a while, it was full when we got there. That soon changed though when the ghost walk started and there was loads of room then. We moved over close to the fire and had another beer.
We also had another beer each when we got back to the van, a Grimbergen Blond that we had brought with us, gorgeous.
Thursday 22nd November
Today was a day we needed to do shopping, so we did, we got quite a lot but by five, I was worn out. So we went to a pub, for a sit down if nothing else. We walked down the market stalls again, thought about the tent but settled on The Pavement Vaults.
In The Pavement Vaults, Dot had a wheat beer again that's one reason we went in there, and I had a Vocation, Life & Death, not too bad.
We then moved on to have some tea, we were going to get a pizza but did not find the pub we wanted but found another christmas market, so we had a walk around there. After that we just made for Spoons, we were nearly there anyway. Got three drinks in there, the cider was two bottles for £5.00 and I got another stout, The Tapped Brew, Dry English Stout, another not bad one.
When we got sat down, we discussed ordering our food using the phone and started to set it up to work but found we had already done it. So we ordered using the phone, Dot ordered the leg of lamb and me the beef curry with onion bhajis and we also got a white wine and another beer. The drinks arrived almost immediately and the food was not much longer. I even ordered another drink later while Dot had her wine. This all worked much quicker than having to walk over to the bar, que up, order, pay, and wait for drinks, then walk back to your seat.
Friday 23rd November
We were going to go the the designer outlet for more shopping but my heart had not been right during the night. So we just got ready and drove home, again the roads were not that busy.
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