Well, we certainly got the timing right, heading south to the scorching temperatures in York whilst a wet weather front invaded most of Scotland and broke our brief Indian summer.
The train journey down was uneventful, apart from a group of 4 "girls" (30 +) giggling louder and louder as their wine consumption increased. It even prompted our nearest travelling companion - a 28 year old girl - to comment, saying that, although she was still young - inferring obviously that we were not - she thought they were a bit out of order.
Normally we would have used Club 55 and our Senior Rail passes to travel first class, but it wasn't available at the times we wanted, so we were in one of the main coaches from Stonehaven to Edinburgh. The connection to York was a lot better - we were in the quiet coach there.
Our hotel was just a short stroll from the station and just outside the city wall. We went for a walk to orientate ourselves - but stopped for a few refreshments on the way. Before we knew it, time was marching on and, suddenly, all the restaurants were filling up and we couldn't get in anywhere we fancied. We ended up walking back almost to where we had set off and we managed to find an Indian restaurant - http://www.saffrondesi.com/ - that could take us. They made a feature of the way they served naan bread:
We had a plan of campaign for Saturday morning - we would make sure we were amongst the first to arrive at the Jorvik Centre (http://www.jorvik-viking-centre.co.uk/) - one of the top tourist attractions in York. We spent a while there - they even have a Disney-style ride - then we walked on, looking for a nice outdoor tea room to enjoy the warm sun. We found the Early Grey Tea Rooms in Shambles, and it had a lovely garden to the rear:
Everyone was out and about enjoying the unexpected October heatwave - there were even a few buskers who'd wheeled out their upright piano's in to the street to entertain us:
Next stop was the must-do Minster. We joined a group and the guide made it more interesting than I imagined it was possible to do - but an hour and a half in there was enough - let's get out in the sun again - so we walked across town to the York Brewery - we knew there was a tour there at 3:30 pm and we didn't want to miss it. When I say "tour", there's not really any walking involved - it's little more than a microbrewery, so it's really a more of a talk on the brewing process - plus a couple of pints of course!
From there we walked down to the park and the riverside - the Ouse we think, not the Foss, which is the other main river that runs through the city. We sat on the riverbank and read our books and people-watched for a while. After that, we took a short stroll along the city wall back to our hotel to shower and change prior to going out for dinner.
Again, we had no masterplan for the evening - other than to make sure we didn't leave it as late as the previous night. We got lucky this time and found the Waterfront - a nice Steak and Seafood restaurant on King's Staith on the river Ouse:
Apart from a short walk and another beer, that was it for Saturday.
Sunday morning was a little cloudier and cooler than it had been on Friday and Saturday, but it was still fine enough for our planned circuit of the city walls. Our first stop on the circular tour was at Cliffords Tower (http://www.cliffordstower.com/), adjacent to York Castle:
We entered and paid our admission money - it seems nothing is free in York - and climbed to the top of the tower, listening to the podcast and taking in the views, whilst carefully minding our step on the narrow walkway. Normally you grow out of childhood fears, but both Jo and I are feeling the effects of vertigo more and more as we get older. Check this short video, by way of example - note Jo hanging on to the rail:
We continued our walk - there were bits of the wall missing and it meant walking along the road/pavement:
The scene looks tranquil, but what you can't see is the adjacent dual carriageway, with traffic roaring by!
We eventually got nearer York Minster again and there were some nice views of it from the wall walk:
It was nearing lunchtime and there was yet another nice walled garden pub, backing on to the city wall, so we stopped off for a beer, before heading for our train home:
The return journey was fine for us, even although we had to bus from Berwick to Edinburgh and then had a bit of a scrum to get seats on the Edinburgh - Stonehaven train, as they had grossly underestimated the numbers likely to catch it - it was absolutely mobbed.
Thankfully, my car - which was parked in an identical location to the previous weekend when a woman had reversed into it, was untouched this time.
Lovely weekend.
