After that amazing lunch, well-fed and tummies bulging to show for it, we traipsed through town toward York Minster – the utterly beautiful cathedral which we had made a mission to climb this very afternoon!
In retrospect, it would probably have made sense to climb it the day before as the sun was shining but a little grey cloud means nothing to us English folk. If we let a spot of bad weather stop us from doing things (and the weather wasn’t even that bad), we’d never do anything at all! 😄
After a quick look to take in how amazing the cathedral is inside (and it truly is), we headed to the entrance of the tower and started the 275 stairs climb to the top.
275 stairs sounds like a lot (well maybe not to some people) but it’s surprisingly easy to climb, especially as halfway through, you get to walk out of one tower, over the roof and connect to another tower – all of which is actually flat and, all of which you will probably end up spending enough time to catch your breath as you marvel at the beauty of the cathedral from an angle you otherwise wouldn’t get to see.
Once you get to the top, you get to see York in all it’s glory and can perhaps even spot all the places you’ve visited so far!
From up here, I could see some bits with high fences and beautiful gardens that left me wondering what was inside as well as a higgledy-piggledy pattern of houses that made up York’s quaint streets.
We also got to spot a fascinating little spot – St Mary’s Abbey- which we immediately made plans to go check out the very next day.
And with that, we decided it was high time to head back down to explore the Cathedral properly.
Back down, you truly start to understand why York Minster is one of the most iconic and prized pieces of Gothic Architecture, not just in England or The UK or even in Europe but across the world.
Again, our trip was all about discovering/uncovering old English history and it’s safe to say, York Minster – which dates back to centuries ago (almost 600 years ago, to be more precise) was one of the very best spots to do so!
York Minster is also one of the largest Cathedrals in Northern Europe and is an absolute beauty.
It’s definitely one of those spots in the city worth taking the time to properly explore and enjoy!
Oh, and if you arrive on the right day, you can attend a service here all for free and while we were there, you could hear the organist getting all ready for the evening’s mass, which made exploring the church all that more special.
At least an hour later than we’d initially intended, we left York Minster and decided to call it an evening. The other places I’d wanted to visit were shut and it was almost time for dinner anyway.
If you do find yourself in York though – you HAVE to visit York Minster! It’s absolutely incredible and one of the most important and most amazing spots to visit in the city!
When we told someone in town where we would be going for dinner, their faces lit up with an unmissable look of envy, followed by a lot of gushing about how amazing the restaurant in question – Skosh – was!
Suffice to say, I was more than a little excited once dinner time rolled around.
At Skosh, the concept is essentially international cuisine with locally sourced ingredients. The chef is very well travelled and has brought all his travel experiences with him to the menu.
Servings wise, it’s a lot like a tapas menu where you order about 3 – 4 plates per person and share them!
After getting drinks in, Lloyd went for a beer from a local brewery (can’t remember the name now but I do remember it smelt amazing) while I went for the Vodka, Rhubarb and Black Pepper cocktail (that’s actually the name, I think) which tasted absolutely amazing!
We started off with the ‘Hen’s egg’ (St Andrew’s cheddar, mushroom and px cherry) and the smoked haddock with potato puris and pickled lime, both of which were absolutely delicious and delightful starts to the evening’s meal!
Next up, we had the skosh fried chicken, served with the lightest, fluffiest, brown butter hollandaise. This was the one thing on the menu that we decided that we both wanted our own portions of – no sharing! – and I’m so pleased that we did! It’s was fried chicken make the way fried chicken should be, light, crispy and utterly delicious! 😋
By this point, the cocktail and beer had ‘dried up’ 😉 and we decided to switch over to the red wine, memories of an amazing Tuscan red we had recently still at the back of our minds, we plumped for a delicious Chianti Riserva, Bonacchi from Tuscany.
Following the fried chicken delight was the Lamb belly fritters with lemon kosho aioli…
…and the Pork Loin ‘hoi-sin’ with rhubarb, sprouting broccoli, Sichuan chilli and crushed peanuts.
Again, both were absolutely delicious though by this point, I guess this probably comes as no surprise to you. 😁
Next up was the salt baked celeriac glazed in Teriyaki with leeks and furikake. This was Lloyd’s choice and to be honest, I was initially sceptical as I’ve never actively ordered celeriac off a menu before.
Turns out, the reason why that is is because I’ve never had celeriac cooked like this! It totally took me by surprise and was another one (like yesterday) that had me seriously considering adding celeriac to my home cooking list/menu. 😁
With the celeriac, came the Braised beef shin with cauliflower porridge and green herb chutney which was a no-brainer and rightfully so as it disappeared into our tummies in what must have been record-time! 😄
And with that, we were done with the main affair and, despite our full tummies, we decided that we had to give dessert a go (in large part because dessert was actually the first thing I decided on as soon as I saw the menu).
For dessert, I got the warm whisky spiced milk with a kumquat jam doughnut and Lloyd, who was originally leaning toward the Gingerbread parfait, at the last minute decided to get the doughnut as well!
The doughnut turned out to be another brilliant way to finish off the meal (I gave myself a pat on the back for choosing well – hehehe! 😄) and with that, we were done with dinner and well and truly ready to hit the sack!
York has been absolutely amazing today (again) and further re-affirmed why I was so eager to move here years ago! It’s a city with a heart – a big city that somehow feels quaint and intimate and is surprisingly quite walkable. If you’re still on the fence about visiting York, let me save you precious time spent deliberating – DO IT!
You can thank me later… 😁
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