A Tale of Two Minsters

 The past week and a half has passed by in a whirlwind. A hectic last week in my old job, including a lovely send off by my old team, followed hot on the heels by starting my new job and all the reading and familiarisation that entails and all of a sudden, it's Wednesday and we're careering into the following weekend. So, time I updated on what I've been up to, because it hasn't all been work. 

Fab piece of street art

Last Monday I paid a trip to York to work from the office. The first hints of Spring were in the air, so at lunchtime, I decided to take a wander around York. A short wander along a more industrial part of the river, and some interesting street art and I was back in the town centre. In high season, I tend to avoid the Shambles. It's a beautiful road of medieval buildings but, as the inspiration for Diagon Alley in Harry Potter, it definitely draws the crowds. 

I may have to have a rethink though because my absolute favourite patissiere (maker of the best macarons I have ever tasted) Florian Poirot, has expanded his operation from Malton to The Shambles. My heart skipped a beat realising every trip to York could result in Macarons. 

Of course I bought some to take home and enjoy later. Later on, when the working day was over, I was met by the chap for a very long overdue catch up. He'd been on holiday the previous week, so we hadn't seen eachother in ages. It was lovely to have him back. 

We decided we'd try somewhere different, and opted for Zizzi on the other side of town. It always looks so nice when we're walking past. I'd booked us a table, but it wasn't too busy, so we could have just walked in. 

The chap ordered a pizza and I ordered a seafood pasta dish. Our drinks came, and then we waited. We waited some more, when the server brought us some 'complimentary nibbles'. We looked around to see that everyone's tables were lacking in food, meanwhile every time an Uber or Deliveroo driver came in, they seemed to leave pretty quickly with the order. 

40 minutes later, our food arrived. At last, we were ravenous. Despite the fact that my seafood pasta had more chilli in it than a Vindaloo, I scoffed it down and dealt with the fire in my mouth afterwards. We definitely won't go back there again. In spite of the food, however, we'd had a lovely time just catching up, oh, and of course, the chap had brought me presents back from his holiday too, which I'm sure will make an appearance in a later blog post. 

The rest of the week passed in a blur of busy, punctuated with Little Miss receiving a lovely headteachers award at school. The Spring like weather persisted and by the time Saturday came, I was itching for a day out. We decided to go to nearby Beverley. 

Beverley's a nice little town, less than an hour away from Scarborough and with its own Minster. We arrived around lunchtime, and little Miss was quick to spot an amazing craft cafe that was both dog friendly, and cheap. Impressive. 

Cool display in the crafty cafe

We had some delicious snacks, before wandering around the shops and heading towards the Minster. Unfortunately, Thelma wasn't allowed in, so I waited outside in the sunshine and took photographs of the beautiful building. 

I wandered around the different sides, when a lady stopped me to tell me how fabulous I looked. I'm sure it's the coat. I always get complimented when I wear this coat. A lady had stopped me earlier, insisting she knew me, and that I had lived with her in a house share some years ago. I've never lived in Beverley, but I was certainly attracting a lot of attention there on Saturday. 

Once Mum and Little Miss came out of the Minster, we wandered back into town for a peruse of the shops. Antique shops, high end high street shops. I didn't go crazy, but I did treat myself to a product I used to swear by from SpaceNK, a Caudalie refresher spray for my face. It's amazing stuff, but I was shocked that it had almost doubled in price since I last bought it. 

After tea and cake in a quaint tea shop, it was time to head home.

Sunday morning I was up bright and early to head down to York to meet the chap and some of our friends. We were spending a very wholesome Sunday together. First stop was York minster for a Sunday mass. I've never been to mass in the Minster before, and it was absolutely beautiful. The choir was heavenly, and as a Christian who doesn't get to church nearly as often as I would like, I very much enjoyed this. 

After mass, we took a slow wander to the Judges Lodgings where we were meeting more of our friends for Sunday dinner. I had roast chicken, washed down with a gorgeous glass of Malbec. I'm not usually a red wine drinker, I have to be careful since sometimes it triggers my migraines. It was a particularly delicious wine though, and thankfully didn't cause any adverse side effects. We sat around talking, laughing and catching up. Neither me, nor chap actually thought to take any photographs but I can assure you, a good time was had by all. 

We wandered around some of the antique shops of York, and finished off with one last coffee before heading home. That was an incredibly full week, and weekend, but my word it was fun! 

I thought you'd forgive my lack of Sunday photos if I showed you my Macarons