This
morning we had a simple continental breakfast and set off by taxi to Kings
Cross station. After taking our
obligatory photo of Platform 9 ¾, we caught our Virgin Trains East Coast train
to York. This was really exciting, as it
is the first time we have ever travelled to the north of England.
We
booked our train tickets very early and were therefore able to purchase first
class tickets for only a few pounds more than second class. Our tickets included complimentary food and
drinks so we had bacon baps for breakfast, along with coffee. The bacon baps were surprisingly delicious
for train food, hot and fresh.
We
arrived in York a couple of hours out of London. Our original intention was to walk from York
Station to our hotel, but after seeing the narrow cobblestone streets, heaving
with tourists even in the middle of winter, we changed our minds and caught a
taxi. It was only a few minutes ride,
but the taxi driver wasn’t at all worried about the shortness of the trip,
unlike our taxis here in Australia that will rarely take people on such short
journeys.
We
could easily see the amazing Minster from the cab, and very quickly arrived at
our hotel, the Dean Court, right next door to the Minster. Upon checking in, we
were told that there was no lift to our room, we would have to use the stairs,
or we could upgrade to a small suite, with a lift, for a small fee. It was no brainer, so we upgraded. We were led to the lift and up to our room. I
was concerned I would never find my way back again, we went through so many
corridors and around so many corners, but in reality, it was no problem once we got
used to it. The suite was lovely, quite
small, but with a large bed, a small sitting room and a bathroom. We had beautiful bay windows through which we
could see a lovely park directly opposite and off to our left was the Minster.
Here
is my review for the Dean Court Hotel in York:
We
quickly left the room and headed straight to the pedestrian precinct for our
first look at this beautiful city. The
first place we saw was the Guy Fawkes Inn, which I had read about on Trip
Advisor. We took the opportunity to go
inside and make a reservation for dinner that night. This Inn was apparently the actual birthplace
of Guy Fawkes himself, back in 1570. After
a little strolling around, we discovered Drake’s Fish Restaurant and so went in
and had classic fish and chips for our lunch.
After
lunch, we walked further through the town until we came to the Jorvik
Centre. This was one of G’s must dos, so
as the queues weren’t too bad we decided to visit whilst we were there. It was a very interesting museum,
particularly the ride around with all the images of Viking life in ancient
York. It probably only took an hour or
so, but we really enjoyed it.
After
the Jorvik, we did a little more strolling and shopping, still keeping my eyes
peeled for a coat, but to no avail. We
returned to the hotel for a glass of wine in our little sitting room. The view was gorgeous, with lights dripping
from the trees in the park and the peal of the Minster bells every hour. After our drink we walked the very short walk
to Guy Fawke’s Inn for dinner where I ate a garlic and thyme chicken breast and
G ate a steak pie. We both really
enjoyed our meals and our first day in York.
2023-09-27