York Trip - 9 to 10 December 2005

A Medieval Christmas...Castle, Cathedral, Ice-Skates (huh? medieval?)!







My lovely sister, Meiyin, is doing her postgraduate studies in York and when she was last in Durham, she invited me and my fellow brackies to York. So with accommodation and travel itinerary all sorted, we (6 of us) trooped to Yorkshire to spend a lovely weekend at the OTHER medieval city in Britain.



After approx. 2 hours' drive, we were greeted by a city decorated with christmas lights (the non-tacky kind), streets filled with ice sculptures, and a continental christmas fayre. I would also add that we listened to some really BAD german pop music at the christmas fayre! Following a short stroll through the city, we decided we deserve (why? I don't know, but well, it's christmas after all, we can indulge a bit) some nice local cakes and tea. And that we did. Of course, being poor students (erm...except Alida, that is, for she almost bought a 10k diamond necklace...talk about indulgence!), we could only afford the not-so-posh tearooms. But the cakes and scones were heavenly and we had to restrain ourselves from eating too much before dinner. After all, Meiyin had promised a Japanese feast!

I think Meiyin makes the best sushi and chawa-mushi, and yes, I think I would go back to York just for that! The cheesecake that Olaf made was also yummy-licious! So, erm, yes, we ate a lot in York! After all that food, we decided we had to work out a bit, so we went to play pool and futsball! It sure was SOME heavy physical workout! But for some reason, Matt didn't think it was enough physical activity for we had a really big pillow-fight at bedtime. Can someone stop that boy??!!!!






The following day, we walked round the city (again, but this time, in bright daylight), and along the city wall. No, for once, none of us did anything stupid! Not this time! Until midday, that is... for we decided it would be a great idea to go ICE-SKATING! In this regard, there's one particular person worth mentioning...Mr Jean-Pierre Loutoby - the King of the rink!!! He deserves a bravery award for taking on the challenge. For someone who had never skated before, he did awesomely well and by the end of the session, he was almost moving around the rink rather gracefully! Well done, JP! For that, he deserves lots and lots of fudge - that's why we spent like an hour in a local fudge-shop, one of our final stops before heading back to Durham! For a moment, I thought he was going to buy over the shop!



Ahhh....what a weekend! Watch out, Meiyin - we'll be back real soon for more fun and sushi!


Lynn Tok. 15 December 2005.