Way Up North

We took another trip, this time up north.

I would hate for you to think that our travels are all perfection--they are far from that. I suppose anyone with kids would know that.

We left at bedtime and drove four and a half hours north while the girls slept--Esmé fell asleep with a kit kat in her hand and when we stopped for gas, she rubbed her melted chocolate hand across her whole face. She was so cute, covered in chocolate and acting wide-eyed and loopy. The sun was setting, the drive was traffic free, and the girls slept. The trip was off to a great start.

We got in to York late and slept terribly. I was commanded(by Esmé) not to leave Esmé's side through the night, and each excruciatingly careful shift of my weight woke her right up.  It was sweet to see her smiling at me each time her eyes popped open--she was excited to see me there still, keeping her commandment.

The day dawned gray and windy and cold--typical England late-May high 40's. Oh, England! How you toy with us! There are really just two seasons in England: winter and spring. It depends on the day which season you'll get. This day decided to be winter.
We set off bundled up in our two strollers to explore.

Here we are in The Shambles, an especially Medieval, tiny street. The half-timbered buildings lean in across the cobblestones like a Harry Potter film set.

From there we walked to York Minster, the largest Gothic church in England. It has more Medieval glass than every other church in England combined.

These interesting facts battled for attention with Esmé running and touching and pulling and climbing. Penny refused to be held and crawled full-speed everywhere, usually towards lighted prayer candles. When we stopped or redirected her, her distraught yells filled the church and she'd arch her back so she'd look like a tormented, flailing, horseshoe. So I distracted Esmé with fruit snacks and we let Penny do some laps on the stone floor for awhile. It was a good break from the cold. And it was an amazing church.

We had lunch in a tiny Italian restaurant in The Shambles. Thankfully, it was once we got inside that it started to hail. We ate pizza while hell's fury was unleashed across the land (and tourists) outside. Once it eased up, we walked back to the hotel in the rain.

After naps (okay, more like "naps") we wanted to walk along the city wall. The problem with the city wall is that it is not stroller-friendly. After debating a minute whether or not to try it, we hefted our two strollers up a big set of stone stairs and walked for about 1/4 mile before we reached another set of stairs, and another, and another. So we gave up and just walked on the street. We did manage to get one picture though:

It was still freezing cold, but we didn't want to go back to the hotel. We would stick it out until dinner. There are plenty of cute shops in York, but they are almost all too small for our massive American strollers and too full of delicate things for our little American kids. So we just walked around for a couple hours, popping in whatever places could accommodate us all. We hung out in a park by the cathedral and encouraged Esmé to run and play like children in the open air are expected to do. She did put in a valiant effort, but her shivering really interfered with the fun.

Then we ate dinner at 4:30 pm.

We all took a dip in our hotel pool then put the kids to bed. Finally, Roo and I had some time to relax on our own. I was looking forward to watching a movie and eating a chocolate bar we'd bought. But within ten minutes we were both fast asleep.