York: Day 1

We decided to take a short holiday before the start of school, so we packed our bags and hopped the train to York, complete with the grandparents and The Bean.

Cambridge to York via Peterborough

Waiting for our Connection to York

AquaVision!

York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence. The city was founded by the Romans in 71 AD, under the name of Eboracum. It became in turn the capital of the Roman province of Britannia Inferior, and of the kingdoms of Northumbria and Jorvik. In the Middle Ages, York grew as a major wool trading centre and became the capital of the northern ecclesiastical province of the Church of England, a role it has retained. In the 19th century York became a hub of the railway network and a manufacturing centre.

Our motley crew covered a lot of ground in three days: the spectacular York Minster, the National Railway Museum (three times! for Lucky Harry), which I'll note is the home of the Hogwarts Express (Lucky Mommy!), the Jorvik Viking Museum and 2.5 miles of stone walls that date back to the Romans and still partially ring the beautiful city.

But perhaps the highlight of our short Day 1 was our room in the Grange Hotel where the children enjoyed 'AquaVision,' positively the BEST way to get kids into the tub sans complaint.

Many thanks go to The Bean, who hauled me to an NHS clinic after I developed a wicked infected eye in Cambridge. It was my first experience with NHS (I have nothing but compliments). Saw a doc, got diagnosed (all free) and then spent 7 quid on a prescription that fixed me right up (after a few days in York looking like I'd been punched in the face.)