Mulled Wine Find

When we got home from York, there was a Sainsburys grocery advertisement with a recipe for Mulled Wine. Gotta start making this at home! How perfect!

And then we found Mulled Wine in bottles (just £3 and £4.25) at Sainsburys as well! We heated some on the stove with mandarin slices. Mmm...

Nymans Gardens and Estate and Journey Back

We had to leave around 6am to get Katrina to Gatwick airport by 10:30am. We made it, right on schedule and reluctantly said goodbye to Katrina.

After that, we ventured to this National Trust gardens and estate called Nymans. The parking lot was quite full and it appeared to be a popular place to go on a Saturday.

This neat building was apparently damaged in a fire and due to wartime construction restrictions, it could not be repaired and so the family moved and built a house elsewhere.

Fort under the circle of Rhodies:

Hailey's new nightgown that her Grandma Terry made and sent for her birthday:

York Christmas Market, Wall Walk, Formal Tea and Railroad Museum

The next day we walked along the wall over to the York Minster. York is a walled town so this wall that you can walk on goes around the center of the city. It's a neat way to see things and different view of the Minster, University and other buildings.

Getting up there (and carrying the stroller up all of these steep steps) was something else.

Lovely York Minster:

After walking into York Minster and just looking from the back, we decided not to shell out £9 each to tour the grounds. The overview and walking around outside was good enough. 

Main shopping street by the Minster. Do you see the sign across the street for the oldest pub (arguably) in England?

Chris' kind of Christmas tree: a beer tree:

She was really studying this guy. They are about the same size-too cute:

Minion mania. Ethan wanted this, of course:

The line for Betty's Tea House was out the door and around the block so we made our way back near the Minster to this cafe called The Red House Cafe (we remarked how cute it was earlier). It was it crowded and was just perfect for lunch and our little tea experience.

Ethan wanted his picture next to the red house teapot:

Check out those cute little sandwiches and cake pieces. Perfect for sampling and for kids!

The Minster up close with a sun break!

From here, we split up for a few hours so Chris could do some Christmas shopping for his secret Santa and I and so he could take Ethan to the National Railway Museum. I don't know much about what they saw (and will just post these pics) since I wasn't along but both of them raved about this amazing free museum:

And Katrina and I did some shopping at the markets and some of the regular stores. 

I think they should have added "The Grand Old" to the beginning of the name of this pub:

Look how close those building overhangs are in the background!

Hailey took a long nap and was sleeping peacefully most of the time, I had a warm amaretto mulled wine in hand, there was live Christmas music in the background and we perused the markets unhurried. My kind of Black Friday shopping! :)

York-Shambles, Night Market and Amaretto Mulled Wine

After a 6hr. drive (a few quick bathroom stops and a little traffic made it 6 instead of 5), we reached our B&B: Heworth House. I had to sit in the back wedged between the car seats and I was so glad when we finally got there. The car seat clips in this car are closer than normal which means there is less than the usual amount of room between the car seats. So, we stacked a bunch of pillows behind my back and I had to sit really far forward, and my hips had to be tucked under the edges of both car seats. Not comfortable but I made due.

After dropping off our things and looking at the map and York brochures we walked a mile into town. First up was the famous Shambles Street, a picturesque street with neat old buildings with big overhangs. Apparently this street was full of butchers at one time but eventually turned into this cute little street full of cool gift shops.

Watching the chocolate being made:

And then we made our way to one of the Markets (it goes until 9pm On Thursdays!) and located the mulled wine. Although it was £6 (£2 more than the regular), we felt it necessary to try the mulled wine with a shot of Amaretto. SO GOOD! Ha, we couldn't go back to the regular after trying the other one.

Checking out the chestnuts roasting on an open fire:

Mmmm, so good. Warms the hands and the body.

Lots of handicrafts for sale:

This town has more chocolate and sweets shops than any town I've ever seen (it seems like they appear every couple of stores)!

Live Christmas music playing:

And a different band at another nearby market. Ha- titled "The Grand Old Uke of York": 

The kids loved these steam powered boats (they WERE pretty cool). After marvelling at them for quite some time, Chris and I caved and let them each pick out a boat that we bought for them. And the vendor wrote their names on them with a paint pen as well. 

Chris and I also bought a nice multi-colored merino wool chevron weave blanket for the end of our bed at home. Love the Christmas markets-what a cool experience!