A Winters Wonderland

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas... Everyone's dreams of a white Christmas. One of those fairytale dreams when you wake up to a city that lies beneath a blanket of soft, fluffy snow that crunches under your welly's. Well everyone would love one of those picture perfect Christmas'  but they don't always plan out. It doesn't always snow, the roast turkey gets burnt, there's bright coloured wrapping paper all over the floor and the kids want scissors to open their brand spanking new prezzies. It's a pretty hectic day which always turns out to be one of the best. But to make it extra special why not go to the magical place, that will definitely get you into the Christmas spirit, and that place is Lapland! A perfect Christmas treat to get you in the joyful spirit. With blankets of deep, thick snow, it's a beautiful winters wonderland. And the joyful spirit starts as soon as you step foot onto the plane...

I say goodbye to Birmingham for the day and head off to snowy Lapland!

A early morning start as I sat in the departure lounge with my nan and grandad, aunty and uncle, my two little excited cousins and my younger sister, waiting for gate 47 to open for my flight to Enontekio. It was only a small wait and seats 32 to 40 were called up first to board the plane which luckily was our seats. When we boarded the empty plane we were greeted by friendly air hostesses and the sound of Christmas music playing softly in the background. What a way to start a early, drizzly Saturday morning. The plane started to fill and sound of excited little children grew louder and louder. The plane took off and I said a goodbye to the drizzle and sat back and enjoyed the flight. On the right of me I had my little sister, my nan and basically the rest of the people on the plane and on my left I had, what looked like rolling fields of pure white. The fluffy, candy floss clouds rolled out like a ocean until it met the crystal clear sky. This was the only daylight I saw because by the time I got to Lapland the darkness was slowly but surely creeping over the clear sky!

The view from the plane!

The airport!

I finally landed at Enontekio airport, it was a chilly minus eight degrees Celsius but I had my thermals on and all my other layers on top. I briskly walked into the airport where they checked my passport and gave me my all in one snow suit and snow boots to wear for the day. I vaguely remember the building and the snow suits from last time and that was eleven years age. By the time I had put on my over alls
I wanted to get outside because it was getting hot with everyone to sort out their suits and boots.

The airport!

Now when you first step outside all you can see is snow and what I call "twilight" trees in the distance. The sky was that bright grey you get at home when it snows. The first activity was a sleigh ride through the snow as the snowmobile pulled all eight of us through the thick snow of Lapland and across the frozen lake. Snow was falling gently around us as the sleigh entwined in and out of the trees. I could feel the crisp sharp wind even though I had a helmet on. The journey across the lake was magical! The sky went from a dull grey to a deep indigo and in the distance there was a few glimpses of warm orange.

The snowmobiles that pulled the sleighs!

After the ride on the sleigh it was time for a hot drink and on a bench a man was giving out steaming hot juice which was just what I needed to kick start the afternoon a head. When I went to get a drink Amy, Alex and Jess couldn't wait any longer and they went off to play in the snow. The next stop was a visit to the big man. As the others played in the snow I de-iced my hands over a fire. The heat went straight through my gloves and through my snow suit and warmed me up nicely. We got back in a sleigh and went over to the other side of the lake where Santa's grotto awaited us. We didn't have a helmet this time round because it was a quick ride. The snow pinched my cheeks as we sped off across the lake and the wind whistled in my ears. I've got to admit it was rather refreshing. Me and my family got off near Santa's grotto and waited to be called to go and see him. When it was our turn to go and see Father Christmas I stood it the grotto, soaking up as much heat as possible before heading off outside again whilst watching my cousins talk shyly to Mr C. It was all good fun returning to see Santa but I don't think he would remember me now.

The restaurant is hidden amongst the "twilight" trees! 

A reindeer!

When we returned back to the other grotto's/cabins, it was like walking through a winter's wonderland. The cabins glowed orange and red and the roofs were blanketed with white soft snow like icing on a cake. It was truly beautiful! I did a few activities whilst I was there like a reindeer ride, a husky ride (oh what fun it is to ride on a one husky open sleigh hey... such fun that was) and I went to visit a stunning ice/snow castle, as they call it there, where everything was made from ice and snow and we got a yummy hot chocolate when we were inside. It was great! I was a bit too big for the sledging and tobogganing so I left the younger ones to have fun on them however one activity which I could of done over and over again was riding my own snowmobile. That was a highlight of the day. Me and my Aunty left the others on the sledges and went to have a go on the snowmobiles. The man put on another helmet for me and I went to sit on the snowmobile with my Aunty on one behind me. In front of me was the guy who lead us around but once we started I could see that he kept on speeding up because I was right behind him. It was so much fun it was like I was in a James Bond film trying to keep up with the bad guy. I was glad I was behind him because if I crashed he would of been there however there was a bit of pressure not to go too slow because I had six others behind me on snowmobiles. Anyway it was great fun to feel the wind against the helmet and to feel the adrenalin rush through you.

In the ice/snow castle!

A husky!

Me in my helmet and snow gear
ready to rock and roll the day a head!

After that exhilarating activity it was time for some hot food and on the menu was yummy bolognese and pasta and for pudding was sweet pancakes and jam with a nice hot cup of  tea to wash it down with. Time was running away. I had only an hour and a half left to absorb this magical place. So what did I do? Well I persuaded my little sister to come on the snowmobile with me again. Now, I thought I've done it once so I can go faster but then I was thinking I don't want Amy to fly off the back and break something because mum and dad won't be happy with a phone call home from the hospital. So what did I do? Obviously I went faster! Anyway on the first lap I nearly went off track into a pole and the second lap I decided to risk it for a biscuit and went even faster. Luckily Amy didn't fall off. We both jumped off the snowmobile and trekked back up to the restaurant to wait for the coach back to the airport.

Me and Amy ready to go on the snowmobile!

A wigwam where you can sit
and warm up by the fire!

It looks like the lamp post
from Narnia!

The coach arrived and I said a farewell to the beautiful Lapland. So many memories I will have from that day. I watched the snow settled as the coach drove us to the airport. I got given a "reindeer drivers licence" a "husking mushing licence" and a "snowmobile drivers licence" and I also retrieved a certificate to prove that I had crossed the Arctic circle. That's twice now I've crossed it. I had such a good time especially the ride across the frozen lake and the adrenalin from riding the snowmobiles. It was a fantastic experience and I'm glad that I relived some of those moments from the last time I went and now I can treasure them until maybe next time. I drifted into sleep before taking off. The flight was a bit delayed because the men were de-icing the plane for take off. That was the only sleep I had on the plane. I watched the darkness outside the window with my music playing quietly in the background. My sister rested on my arm before suddenly becoming hyper. So my peaceful silence turned into me and my sister doing impressions from films which entertained us and got us in fits of laughter. Suddenly we were flying over patches of orange lights from below and it looked stunning from above. We then flew over our home and I saw the masts near where we lived so I knew we were near the airport. We landed safety and we headed back home. It was a silent drive back home and I drifted in and out of sleep. My nan and grandad dropped us off and I managed to drag my feet up to bed. The day went quick but what a day it was! Lapland was a beautiful place, full of fun and magic. It's definitely a day to remember and to certainly treasure forever!

A experience I will never forget... Lapland!

DofE silver practise expedition: The Peak District Day 3

It was the last day of our silver DofE practise expedition. We had completed day 1 and 2 and now it was time to face day 3! I didn't sleep well that, somehow I timed myself to wake up every time a train went pass the camp site  It was also colder that night which didn't help either. Anyway me and my group was again one of the first to leave that morning. We woke up in fog again and we hoped it wouldn't rain, like the forecast had said, as we put our tents down. Luckily it didn't, it didn't even rain that day! We headed off through fields and then up the hill which was behind the camp site  We could still see fluorescent orange rucksack covers from the camp site below. We paced ourselves as we walked across the hill as we knew when had to be back a certain time but we didn't want to wear ourselves out! Me and Lucy pretty much walked together that day and our tops matched too. Our bright green Frisbee tops! Our job was to "bring up the rear" to make sure no one was lagging behind!

The hill behind the camp site!

We were nearly at our first check point. We had walked through a few fields, across the hill, down a track shaded by trees, through a bit of a village and then on a main road. We wrote on our check point cards. On day 2 we decide to write something about each member of the group, we had: Hannah's gone native; Lucy dropped a pancake in cow poo and ate it anyway; Monique... We lost her way back; Kirsty's dead; Nata's stuck in a gate somewhere; Felicity's got a dirty bottom and finally Jo's (me) ploughing through! To be honest I had a pretty gone statement considering some of the others! Anyway we left our check point card on a table and we were off again.

Lucy looks happy enough!

Shortly after stopping we reached a muddy up hill bit of the walk. I'm still surprised that no one fell face first in to the mud. However we did have a few slips and slides and they were mainly from Nata. We walked up through the ankle deep mud to the top... Well when I say top I mean the top of that section of the hill before climbing up the next big hill! We could see another group on top of another hill who shouted down at us to ask what group we were. So I shouted everyone's name and our group number and they replied with a "Harry's group" which didn't help us identify them because there were two groups with a Harry in! They carried on walking so we decided to do the same. The next hill we walked up hurt the most. You could feel it in your legs this time. It was what I call a nightmare! I marched up in front to get to the top of the hill. It seemed like ages before finally reaching the top. but in time we all made it. We had a longer break then. The fog was still over some of the hills in the distance and all you could hear was the odd car driving past us.

Me and Lucy's original tops!

Our new tops! BRINGING UP THE REAR 2012!

Fliss having a little nap!

Our group didn't really stop for lunch, we just got out our snacks whenever we felt the need. Plus it saved us time. We were now on the main hill, again a popular route that people walk. Kirsty, Hannah and Nata in front followed by Fliss, then Monique and then Me and Lucy (bringing up the rear) I would day 3 was the best day for probably because I knew I would be home that night but also because me and Lucy did have a few laughs together, which kept us going through out the day. In the distance we could a about 5 groups from our school sitting together. The problem was they were sitting at the bottom on a hill and it was rather awkward so we decided to quick march up the hill. Before we knew it Tom, Molly and Chris were walking behind us so me and Lucy decided to walk with them for a bit. We walked quite a bit with them, they went up a hill which was rocky and had a steep edge whilst we debating which way to go. In the end we followed them up. We met them at the top before two men told Tom that his group said he went the wrong way. We said our goodbye as we watched Tom, Molly and Chris walk all away back down the hill to re-join their group.

Tom on top of the hill he had to walk back down!
(He doesn't know I've taken a pic of him!)

The next bit of the walk was like a roller-coaster. We went up then down then back up again then back down. We had quite a bit to walk down, we started off all in our walking order then me and Lucy over took Monique as we went down hill. We past a couple of cows a long the way but they didn't bother us. Me and Lucy thought it was time to acted out some lines of Miranda... Such fun! We decided to act out the part were Miranda's mum did the laugh of the season which was based on the song poker face by Lady gaga. I said the words: Can't read my, can't read my poker face! and Lucy did the laugh: Hahahaa hahahaa HAAAA hahaaa! I think the laughing hurt more than our feet from walking but hey ho it kept us ploughing through the last bit of the day.

The end bit of the hill we walked down!
Monique's in the picture somewhere so
have a go at playing "Where's Monique!"

I think this is how some of the group were feeling by the last day!

The end bit of the day seemed to go on. All I was thinking was as long as were back for half 2 then that's fine. We were on the main road for a bit until a Arthur Terry van pulled up beside us. My heart stopped as I thought they were going to pick us up. Luckily they didn't they were just checking we were on the right track (which we weren't) and if we were all ok. They sent us back up the  round then they said to talk a right. I suddenly realised we were on the route we did on day 2. (Where Lucy dropped her pancake in cow poo) I knew where we then and we only had half an hour, give or take, to go.

I liked these pumpkins so I took a picture of them!

We walked along the fields and my feet were starting to hurt. Even when we stopped they hurt more than when we walked so I was glad that we were nearly back. We were in Castleton and we finally made it to the car park. It was exactly half two! The first thing I did was chucked my rucksack on the floor and ran to the toilets. We were the last group back but we didn't make any short cuts and we were back in time. When I came out  of the toilets the teachers said there was cake on the side if I wanted some. Cake... what a perfect thing to a wait you after a long day of walking and it was carrot cake which was even better. All I need then was a nice cuppa tea from my mum and it would of been even better. We were also the first group on coach which annoyed the other groups because we were the last back but because we were group 1 we got called on the coach first!  It felt good to sit down on comfy sits. We had done it though. The dream team had conquered the silver practise expedition. What fun we had during it too. We just need to do the same for the real thing and then it will be fine. But now we've got a long rest before facing the real expedition in June, but I'm sure we'll get through it. Why? Because we are the dream team!

The dream team!

Oh and the dream team again!

DofE Silver practise expedition: The Peak District Day 2

It's a bit foggy!

So day 1 was completed... and now it was time to conquer day 2! We had to conquer 17.5km of walking that day!  I have to admit I slept well that night, considering I had a headache, all I could remember was Miss coming into our tent to give us our check point cards. I didn't even turn around to see her, I just stayed where I was and listened to Hannah, Lucy and Miss talking about day 2. When we woke it was foggy and it was slightly chilly. I hoped the sun would come out just to lift the fog so we could actually see where we were going, however the first bit of the walk we managed to do it the fog. We were off earlier than the other groups, we plodded along and met a man out on his early morning walk. He had a cocker spaniel which made me think of my dog and how he would of loved to come on DofE with me. Anyway we said a cheerful "morning" and he replied with a "morning" too but he also said there were cows in the field we were approaching and that there was a bull near the top. I looked at Hannah and thought you better come up with something to distract them if we get attacked again. We literally ran up the field away from the cows and then into another field. I was ahead at this point, I managed to get through the thick mud into the next field. It was still foggy but the sun was trying to get through. We carried on along the edge of the field and in the distance we could just make out a shape standing right in the middle of our tracks. The one shape was actually two shapes and it was more cows. Great... more cows. Somehow we had to go round them without them noticing us. Eventually we got to the other side of the field, with the sun trying to come out even more. You could see the fog moving it looked like it was raining. We stopped so we could look at the map and so everyone could sort themselves out before heading off again. We got to a gate that was pad locked so the only way was to go over it. One by one we climbed over the gate, trying not to slip (like I did) as we attempted to get over.

Lucy getting over the gate!

Time went by. We crossed a train track and then we were in more fields again. We were nearly at Castleton which was our first check point and we were doing well for time. The thing about the group we didn't stop if we wanted a drink or a snack we just walked and then asked someone to grab it for us. So there I was, getting Lucy her pancake out her rucksack as we were waiting for everyone to get through the gaps in the walls before our go. I got it for her and she took one bite out of it and then dropped it. 7 second rule I was thinking but I realised she dropped it in some cow pat! Way to go Lucy... Bless her she was really looking forward to that pancake as well. We made it to Castleton and left our route card on a stone wall. And the dream team were off again...

Hannah and Lucy on the train line! 

The landscape: The fog is slowly going!

The hills we were surrounded by for sometime!

We walked through a bit of Castleton and turned off up this footpath. Well it was again like a mini stream: It was rocky and water was running down it. This part of the walked took a while. We were surrounded by hills and we couldn't see what was in front of us because we were in the middle of them. I gathered that this part of the walk was popular with other walkers and locals because we saw quite a lot of people. On my DofE bronze expedition post , you might remember Hannah who made friends a cat friend, well we stopped and Felicity made a sheep friend that she named Baaarbara. She wasn't the only one to make a friend. When we headed off again a dog called Sky seemed to like my company. It was like a grey and white sheep dog with one eye blue and one eye brown. To be fair it was a nice dog. We made it to the top and a man came up to me, Lucy and Hannah. He was wondering what school we were from and what we were doing. So we told him, Arthur Terry and DofE. In the end the conversation was about some guy called Shane, who later we discovered was actually Mr Walsh (one of our maths teachers) and the man and him were friends. After a conversation with him, we started walking and then stopped again to talk to the owners of the dog who liked me. Then finally after talking to the couple we were off again.

Me and my little friend!

The group resting! (I don't know what Hannah, far left, is doing
but she looks comfy enough!)

The motor bike and me!

After a while it was just the group. We were walking up a track of mainly puddles. Me and Hannah were slightly behind the group as we decided to entertain ourselves by walking through the puddles not around them. Such fun it was! When the others saw the teachers walking we were still behind walking through the puddles. We caught up with the group said a quick hello and goodbye to the teachers and carried on. It was between 1 and half 1 so we decided to stop for what I call Lunch! Everyone got out their lunch and happily sat there eating. Everyone sat on the grass and I sat on the edge of the track. We could see a road from where we were but I could hear, what sounded like, a motorbike. And it was! It was a mountain motorbike thingy which came whizzing past me. I mean I wasn't slap bang in the middle of the track, I was on the edge but the guy on the bike decided to drive as close as me as possible. So there I was thinking "Excuse me, Mr mountain motor biker you're what I call nightmare!" And then about 6 other bikers came past me. I thought one of them was going to run me over! After that scary situation with the bikes me and Nata did some yoga. It was a perfect place to do yoga and it was nice to stretch out too.

The dream team at lunch time!

Nata, Kirsty and Fliss having a little nap! 

We had lunch and started walking again. We went through more fields, we saw more sheep and we saw llamas... Yes llamas in the peak district! I'm not a big fan on llamas but they didn't do any harm. We were a bit lost after lunch, I think we might of took a wrong turn somewhere but a lady at this house helped us out. We carried on until we got to another house where this other lady filled up everyone's drinks. So we carried on up a country lane and then over a road. We found the another groups route card and it was the gold groups so then we knew we were in the right place. The rest of the walk was down hill and all we had to do was to follow the path which we did. We got to the end/bottom of the hill and we were close to our second camp-site. Everyone sat down on a bench bar from me and Lucy who walked up this drive to see if we could see the camp-site. We shouted everyone to come up and we where there. We saw a girl by the toilets (toilets meaning two little shed like things with no sink!) she said to carry on, across the bridge, take a left and you're there. We did that and we were there. A few of the other groups were there but there were no teachers.

This cow looked friendly and cute so I took a
pic of it!

The camp-site was somewhere down  the hill in the valley!

Some of the teachers arrived and told us to start getting set up. The thing about this "camp-site" was it was literally a hill/field, it was by a train line with loud fast trains going by, it was by a river which made us need the loo but the "toilets" were what seemed like a mile away and it was cold that night because we were on a hill. We set up our tent and had our food and got settled. Me and Lucy made one trip to the toilet and took our washing up to this little tap at the bottom of the hill. It was getting dark and some groups weren't back yet. Two boy groups typical. We saw the mini bus finally pull up with the groups in them. I felt sorry for the groups that had to pitch up their tent and have tea in the dark. It was certainly colder that night. Nata and Lucy were shivering as we waited by the mini bus to do our check point cards for the last day. It was time for me to give out my hugs! To be honest my hugs are pretty amazing. Lucy slept in the middle that night because her sleeping bag was the thinnest so it was only fair to put her in the middle. I slept without my roll mat that night because the weather had said it was going to rain the next day and I thought I don't want to be messing around deflating my roll mat in the rain. Me, Lucy and Hannah were settled in our tent, all relaxed and chilled. We heard Kirsty giggling/shouting our names from her and Felicity's tent. All she wanted us to do was to listen to Felicity's turkey/chicken noise she made which was actually really good. I had to contain my laughter after a while which didn't work because Lucy and Hannah joined in with other animal noises. It was a highlight of the day for me, all I was thinking was this time tomorrow I would be in a nice warm bed with a hot cup of tea and I only had one day left to complete!

The dream team! 

DofE silver practise expedition: The peak distinct Day 1

So I managed to conquer the bronze award and then it was time to conquer the silver "practise" award. I had a brilliant group with a few original members and a few members. The original members: Lucy and Hannah and the new members: Nata, Kirsty, and felicity and one other Monique who was part of out bronze practise group but not the real thing group! Anyway we were, as some of the teachers called us, "the dream team" and we were ready to set off. We got to our drop off point, we got our heavy rucksacks on and we were gone. 5 seconds after leaving the coach we were already marching up a hill and then we knew that this wasn't going to be the last one.

The View on the top of the hill!

The peak distinct is full of stunning views. Anywhere you stand there's hills that surround you or forests of tall "twilight" trees as I like to call them. The weather too was great, perfect for DofE. It was cloudy with a cool breeze especially on top the hills with the sun occasionally coming out to say hi. It was boggy in places so our boots turned brown as we slipped, slid and sunk in the mud. It wasn't that boggy in the morning but as the day went by our boots added a layer of thick mud. In the afternoon we were walking uphill, ankle deep in mud with the sound of squelching and a few squeals here and there with Miss following my footprints so she didn't sink into the mud! I have to say it was an amusing part of the afternoon!

Another view!

On the first day it was weird getting use to the new group but the "dream team" was great and quick! We were making good time and we didn't stop much only to check the map and for lunch.The first part of the walk we saw one group which was Tom's group who were, by the looks of it, debating on what way to go. So we carried down these rocks and me, Nata, Kirsty and Felicity decided it was time for a sing-song. The four of us started singing old primary school songs which took us by surprise that we actually remembered the words whilst Monique was in front and Lucy, Hannah and Miss at the back taking photos of insects. (Insects was our groups "focus") We were walking through, what I call twilight trees and me and Nata changed the song to Bella's Lullaby hoping someone would turn into a Vampire and whisk us away up the trees. No one came along to do that. It was a bit disappointing! Only a couple of mountain bikers pasted us. One of them nearly fell off his bike. Me and Nata exchanged a hold-in-the-laugh look until he was out of sight. We got to the road where two other teachers were waiting and said our group were by far the happiest they have seen. Well you have to stay happy during these things or you'll get no where. We said a quick hi and goodbye to the teachers and carried on down a hill then over a river. 

The river we went over!

We were all doing well, all cheerful and happy which was good because by the third day I knew that we would all be tired and we would be all achy. We walked mostly a gradual uphill until lunch. We walked through what seemed to be a stream. It was rocky and we were going up so we could feel it in our legs. We were still surrounded by twilight trees so when we saw light from the top of the hill it was like the heavens had opened and we could actually see. We stopped for lunch and saw about 4 other groups. Lucy needed the loo so I ran down the hill with her and tried to climb a barbed wire fence into the forest again, which Lucy managed to get over all right but when it came to me it was just a total disaster as I was trying not to touch the barbed wire and at the same time trying to reach a bucket, which was on the other side, for me to to step on. It seemed darker and it seemed like the trees had tripled in size. It was a bit creepy and it was oddly silent considering that there was 4 groups making a noise on the top of the hill. I managed to get back over the fence, I have to admit I was quite elegant getting back over the fence, any who we ran back up the hill and headed off again...

Hannah and Lucy. My wonderful original group members! Nice face
there Lucy!

Time went by and I was beginning to get a headache. One of those headaches that makes it difficult to look at any bright light. I didn't moan or complain I just carried on thinking I can eat and sleep when I get to the camp-site. After a bit we ended up in fields and we had to try and fit through the gaps in the walls. This was pretty funny watching everyone try and fit through with their rucksacks on and then getting wedged in between the gap. After getting everyone through the gaps we walked on and before we knew it we met a friendly face. Hello cows... Yes if you read DofE bronze expedition the real thing, you will remember the man eating cows that chased everyone and then Hannah, yes Hannah, running down the hill like a headless chicken leaving me on the top of the hill whilst dragging her bag to safety. Well luckily Miss has a cow obsession so we were safe with her and these cows didn't seem to bother with us which was a shame because I would of liked to see Hannah run towards the cows like some crazy man!

Felicity getting stuck in the gap. It's Lucy nice facial
expression again!

Hello cows!

The sun was turning a nice orange colour as we walked. Me and Nata decided it was time for another sing-song, this time we were going duo. We were singing the sound of music and I was considering on running up the hill like Maria does in the film but I contained my urge to do that and saved my energy for when it was needed most. The peak distinct is a great place to sing, I do love a good sing-song it just keeps you going a bit.You can't beat it! It gives you that extra bit of POW to get through the day.We finally made it back to the camp site. Relieved that we could rest, sleep and eat. We did pretty well on the first day. We had a good pace and good time and we did have a few good laughs along the way.  But we still had two more days to get through by ourselves and we could do it. We were the "dream team!" 

The sun setting! Red night... shepherds delight! 

 







 

The City of York!

York historic tower

York. A old historic city with a unique character. This is a perfect place for those who love their history. The building, streets and the famous city wall which date back a long time ago have a story behind them. The cobbled streets and the stone building really gives York the charming character. York is a perfect place to go for a mini city break. Theres so much to do, the time will fly by! My first day in York: The sun was beaming with no cloud in the sky. I was plugged into my Ipod for the drive up to York with summery music playing. It was great. So far so good! I was going up there with my family, bar from two of my sisters who one was on camp for the week and the other had work, so this meant it was my turn to play the "big sister" role. Lucky me. When got there we decided to go into the city of York for the afternoon to have a look around and to see where everything was. We had a open top bus tour of York which went around the city telling us the history of it. I pretended to listen to the guide person but I had no clue what so ever on what he was on about. So I put on my "I'm interested" face and which made me look like I knew alot about history (which I don't) but it seemed to work. Anyway the tour was good, we knew where we were so that was the main thing. The aftrenoon went quick and the night took over the sun and day 1 of our mini city break was done.




Goathland station! Recognise it yet?!

Day 2 of our mini city break was different. The sun was shining and it was hot. We didn't go into York that day because the streets are quite crowded and we would all just get too hot and bothered. So we decided to go on a train ride to a place called Whitby which is a town by the seaside. I loved the train ride because it wasn't a normal modern train, it was a steam train, it was nice to do something different. This day reminded me of my holiday in Scotland 4 years ago, it was the Beijing Olympics and one of our days out was a ride on THE Harry Potter train, which had the carriage where Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson sat for the Harry Potter films. We even went over the viaduct that they did in the fims! What an amazing holiday that was. Anyway looking at the where the train was stopping one stop was called Goathland and speaking of Harry Potter this was THE Hogsmeade station they used in the first film. It also appeared in the television series Heartbeat. So that made my day. We pasted rolling hills, the beautiful countryside and lots of sheep. We made it to Whitby and it was busy. Our first stop was the fish and chip shop. You can't beat fish and chips at a traditional British seaside. The seaside was very British indeed. A pier, little fair ground rides for little children and donkey rides. (The donkeys did not look impressed that day!) It wasn't my cup of tea at all. When someone says beach or seaside, I usually think bright yellow sands, blue clear sea with waves that are worth going in the sea for. However this beach was slightly different. The sand was grey/brown, the sea matched the greyness of the sand and the waves were hardly waves even though the lifeguards were out still. It was a typical British seaside. The donkey rides were by the pier end of the beach with everyone sitting that side of the beach, but for me I wanted to walk all the way down the beach (it was a big long beach) where there were no people at all. We didn't didn't stay on the beach we walked up it then we walked back down. I decided that no where can beat Cornwall if you're talking about beaches! Now theres two sides of Whitby the town side which was made for tourists, with the bucket-and-spade kind of shops and then across a bridge the older town side with cobbled streets with teashops. Teashops meaning cake! Yes cake you can't beat a piece of cake and a cuppa in the afternoon. It was delightful! Apiece of cake was what we needed before the journey back. We got back on the train, we past the rolling hills, the stunning countryside and the sheep again and we were back at the first station we started off at. It was a lovely day, the train ride was by far the best (and the cake) and that was day 2 over.



Goathland Station! The view from the bridge!

The steam train!

















Two days gone and two days left of our mini trip to York. We went into the city of York on the 3rd day. It was cloudy and cooler so it was all good. My dad and younger sister decided to go and look around a viking museum which meant me and mum were left to look around. Me and my mum headed off to look around York by foot. We went to Shambles which is a small pretty street with over hanging buildings, some date back to the 14th century. After that we managed to find another teashop for a cup of tea. We had to resist the cake this time beacuse we were going to try this hog-roast sandwich shop thing. They did pork sandwiches with stuffing and apple saurce and some crackling. It was heaven, we went to a park and had them and they were so good words can't explain how nice they were! We walked all of the city wall to burn of lunch which was good, you could see the city of York in the middle, it was a lovely last day in York. So the last day flew by like the rest of the days and tomorrow we were heading back home. However we had a stop on the way which made everyones holiday, especially my mums!










Shambles!

The famous street, Shamles!






















Day 4: By far the best day. We headed off into the countryside. Yorkshire. We discovered the beauty of Yorkshire when we stayed last time years ago. We all prefered the country to the city. The sun was shining with a cool breeze blowing. We followed a river pretty much until lunch where we found a cafe. So we stopped to have a homemade sandwich with homemade cake too with a hot cup of tea. Yes more tea, we are a tea-loving family. We even brought a cake to have on the way home. We headed back to the car and at the very end we had to walk through a field full of cows, which made me laugh because I could just picture Hannah on DofE running down the field trying to get the cows attention. (I still can't get over that) It was a shame that we didn't have our dog with us, he would of loved it there. Before our journey home we stopped to have another cup of tea, and off we went back home. We said a goodbye to the busy city to York and then we said goodbye to beautiful, quiet countryside that we loved and we were back home again.









The river in open space!

The view of the river, take
 from within the trees!