One Night in York - Afternoon Tea, Motown and River Cruises

So mid March, my mum hit the big 6-0. Because it was a special birthday, I decided to go all out and treat her to a birthday she'd remember. She loves Motown music so I managed to bag 2 tickets to see The Magic of Motown who were in York for just 1 night.

Fast forward to last weekend, and the day finally arrived. We got off to a rocky start, hitting the Humber Bridge to find someone threatening to commit suicide - We were stuck on the bridge for 1.5hrs to eventually have to make a U turn on the bridge (instructed by the Police!) to then find another route. My sat nav wasn't playing ball and would insist on de-routing me back to the bridge. I finally had to follow any sign that I could find that wasn't go back home before I could get out of the area. We finally arrived in York, almost 2 hours later than anticipated.

We began our day by having afternoon tea at The Principal Hotel. The interior of this hotel is beautiful. We had a great view with the cathedral in the background, I could have sat and chatted all afternoon, but we needed to make the most of our time, so off we went wandering around all the shops, without forgetting a trip to The Shambles. I love that street, it's so quaint and full of character. I'd go in and out of every shop down there if I had time!

We headed back to the hotel at tea time and freshened up. The hotel was kind enough to give us a free drinks voucher and chocolates for my mums birthday, so we were sure to make use of this! We had a glass of wine and mum insisted that I took photos of her (which she secretly posed to whilst no-one was looking!). The wine went straight to my head (such a lightweight!) and before I knew it we were jumping in a taxi to the theatre.

Obviously Motown was more my mums era, however I knew a fair few of the songs. We clapped and bopped in our chairs to Jackson 5 and Diana Ross, it was good.

After a rough nights sleep (first night in hotels always kills me) we headed back out for breakfast, settling on a place called Baileys Tea room. We both had a traditional English breakfast before hitting The Shambles again and getting some perfect (people-free) shots - the joys of early morning starts! We then took a quick trip to get the obligatory Cathedral shot..

We then went on a river cruise, which I thought was over-priced and not as informative as I'd have hoped, but what the hell, we tried it and will know for next time! We shopped some more, then at lunch time left York centre and headed to York Designer Outlets, somewhere were I've never been before but was so glad I did. I love a good bargain as well as the next person and this place didn't fail. I managed to pick up a few clothing items, although had to restrain myself with an upcoming holiday looming.. booo! After doing a full circle of the outlets, I had plans on going out that night for drinks back home, so it was time to leave.

I love York, I've only been a handful of times, but every time I do go, I find yet another area to explore. There are so many nooks and crannies, contemporary and quaint, that keep me coming back for more!

Have you ever been to York?