Weekend in Durham - Day 1

On the 21st of March we headed off to Durham for the weekend. It's where Lee is from originally so we do go and visit his family there, but we hadn't been into the city centre for literally twenty years. Maybe longer! Then I read Cuddy by Benjamin Myers for my book club in January which is about St Cuthbert and Durham cathedral and I wanted to visit the cathedral and his shrine, so we made plans to go. 

We set off from home around 10am and easily made it up the A1 to Belmont Park and Ride. We got on the bus which only takes a few minutes into the city centre, and got off by the market place. There was an outdoor market on as well as the indoor one, so we looked at that before heading into the indoor market. I had read that there's a queer bookshop there so I obviously had to buy some books from there, and then we looked at everything else. There's a ton of cute stalls! There's a record stall and a really cool place selling upcycled jewellery - I bought some earrings. We went back outside and got an ice cream from a van in the market place. The sun was out so although it was a bit cool, it was lovely to be in the sunshine.

We walked up Saddler Street and up the very very steep bit to where the cathedral and castle are. We looked at the castle but had decided to not go in, so we just headed to the cathedral. We looked round that, which you can do for free, and which includes St Cuthbert's shrine behind the altar. That's really cool, but you can also see his treasures in the museum, which is £7.50 each which I felt was reasonable. The person who sold us the ticket told us that the cathedral was closing at 3pm for a service at 4pm so we looked round it first and then went up to the museum. 

By the time we had finished it was about 3.30 and we had walked a long way and were tired, so we decided to go for a drink in a place called Tango on Saddler Street. I had a peach melba cocktail which was nice, and Lee had a hot chocolate. 

When we had finished that we went across to Turkish Kitchen where we had decided to eat. Turkish food is always good for vegetarian so I was happy to go there. I had cheese filled filo pastry things, and then falafel with hummus, and Kir Royale. It was all so good and arrived in double quick time so we were done by about 5pm! We walked back to the bus stop and got back to the car and then went to Lee's dad's house where we were staying for the night.

Lee's dad was in but his stepmam was out, she had been in Sunderland at the theatre, so Lee's dad went to pick her up. Everyone was back by 8pm so we just sat and chatted which was nice! 

I walked bloody miles and up really steep hills too, so I was impressed with myself. Here's ten thousand photos: 

Sitting in the sunshine in the market place while Lee went to get ice creams

Lee has a sundae but I had a traditional cornet

And here we are, aren't we cute

We went into a pop up museum thing and there was an old sign, which I love

And some information about Cuthbert

And a scale model of the cathedral! 

And Durham bricks

This sign was on The People's Bookshop which was also a really cool bookshop, although I didn't buy anything in there

And then, the cathedral! Looking stunning in the sunshine

Looking towards the castle

This is a replica of the sanctuary knocker which is really old, it was cool to see this one anyway! But then the original turned out to be in the Treasures of St Cuthbert exhibit which was amazing to see

One of the shrines, I liked the sculpture

And there was info about the Venerable Bede too. His head is in St Cuthbert's shrine, because of course it is

Looking up into the tower

And I thought this embroidered hanging of the gospel writers was cool too 

The rose window, which is amazing but hard to photograph 

The shrine of St Cuthbert himself! I loved seeing this

I also loved this rainbow window, of course

And I can never resist a mining banner...

And loved this memorial to the miners, which had a book full of miners names, too 

Looking out on to the cathedral lawn 

And out over the River Wear

This is the St Cuthbert exhibit, the first part was in what had been the monks' dormitory and is now a library. It had a lot on the history of Durham which was interesting too

This is an effigy of Cuthbert himself

Love a bit of bookkeeping

We went downstairs into a special archival airlocked room which has what is left of Cuthbert's coffin, and his necklace which is a cross of gold with garnets in, which was so cool to see. But you can't take photos in there, so I didn't

This embroidery was SO cool though, made by a local artist. It was amazing in person! 

Back out now on the cathedral green

Drinks in Tango

And a Kir Royale, which was delicious

My food

And here are the books I bought in the queer bookshop!

Weekend with Rachael

In the middle of March my friend Rachael came down for just about 24 hours. I had invited her to see the new house and she had managed to get cheap train tickets so she said she'd come overnight. She was arriving into Wakefield just before 1pm so Lee and I went off to collect her. Lee went into a couple of shops to get some stuff we needed, and then we got Rachael. We got back here and had some lunch, just toast and stuff. 

Lee went off to band practice and Rachael and I sat and watching old music TV. She has chronic illnesses too and had warned me that she wasn't feeling great, and neither was I because I was still recovering from my work weekend away. So it was fine, of course, I understand. So we did nothing. I was doing some of my cross stitch and we chatted a lot, so it was fun. Usually when we meet up we're either about to go to a gig or it's just after a gig, so we're always rushing off somewhere else. She's a Libertines fan too; I met her through the fandom over twenty years ago. She was at uni at the time and we spent ages chatting on the phone! It was good fun to have this time to chat too. 

Lee got back from band practice and we headed off to the Waggon and Horses in Oxspring for tea. It's a decent, traditional pub and it's tiny, so booking is advised. I had carrot and coriander soup which was nice, and then halloumi 'burger' which wasn't really a burger. Never mind, it was nice.

We got back about 8pm and Rachael and I watched some Death in Paradise as it turns out we both like it, so we went way back to Series 1. It seems so old and quaint now, cute! 

We weren't late to bed which I definitely needed. In the morning we went to Holme Coffee House for brunch. They have moved across the road in Penistone to a bigger premises, which is good as it's always busy. We had to wait for a table but it was less than fifteen minutes so not to worry. They've changed the menu slightly but still got my favourites. They also now have an alcohol licence so one of these days I will have to go and try one of their cocktails! We did have to wait a bit of time for food but it was good when it came.

I had avocado, cheese and fried egg sandwich. Rachael had the same and Lee had poached eggs on toast. We had cake for afters too - millionaire shortbread for me! By this time we were worrying a bit about getting Rachael to the train on time so we went off quickly to Wakefield. 

It was lovely to see her, nice to just sit around and not be rushing off!

I got these ridiculous mini egg earrings because Sam I think shared them in a group chat and I liked them so much. I think she and Jac got some too

Carrot and coriander soup in the pub

Halloumi burger - I think this has changed since last time I had it, and I wouldn't order it again

I got this dress off Vinted a couple of weeks ago so wore it out for the first time. It's a bit gapey on the bust but it's fine

My nails on Sunday morning - it was a Barry M metallic polish and I liked it, but it peeled badly at the ends

Smashed avocado, fried eggs, and cheese, in a ciabatta

And dessert

And here's a picture Rachael took of the three of us in Holme Coffee House's new home!

Busy Day!

On the 13th of March I had a very busy day! First of all I went to Wakefield to see my friend Stacey and her little girl, E, who has just turned three. She's in her Frozen era so was dressed like Elsa, with sparkly shoes and everything. We played a bit but she had a nap so Stacey and I had the chance to catch up, which was well overdue and really nice. 

I left about 1.15 and drove to Leeds, parked in Trinity car park, and then went round to Bundobust to meet Sam. I had seen that they had brought back some of their Indo Chinese dishes and I wanted to try them, so I asked if anyone wanted to meet me there and Sam said yes. So we ordered two of those dishes, and a bunch of others, and shared them all. They were all nice, but I think I liked the chaat best of all, as usual. I had a mango lassi along side it. 

We considered going to the Corn Exchange but I had mentioned going to Hotel Chocolat and I also needed to get home before rush hour, so Sam decided she would go to the Corn Exchange after I had gone and we went for a drink instead. I had a mint hot chocolate which was nice, as always. I didn't mind not shopping as I didn't want to be spending money anyway! 

I got home before 5pm which was perfect, that last thing I wanted was to get stuck in traffic. I rested for a bit before getting dressed in different clothes to go to a get together with my book club. It had been Jane's birthday and she invited us all over for nibbles and a book swap. It was a lot of fun! I think there were around ten of us all together, out of the fifteen of us in the club. I just had some dips and fruit as I was still full from lunch. I took about 8 books I think and managed to only bring four back with me! 

I left there about 10pm I guess; Lee came to pick me up. Jane only lives at the top of our hill really, that's one of the good things about living in Penistone because my book club and my craft club are here! 

Nice lassi as usual, but I'm not too keen on the little sweetie things they put in because they taste of aniseed! I should have asked for it without them but I forgot

Bread, curry, chaat, veggie 'prawn' toasts, bel puri, and more

Hot chocolates in Hotel Chocolat, the only problem is that the cocoa whip acts like an iceberg and makes all the hot chocolate spill over the top

And these are the books I came home with!