Half Term

Sunday was a slow day.  Tom and Matt were tired after their busy day on Saturday. We had a day of tidying, laundry, went to Goat Gap for lunch, watched a film (Johnny English Reborn - really quite good) and had a game of Wingspan.

Monday I took Tom to Kendal on the bus.  Mainly to give him the opportunity to do the same by himself / with friends in the future.  It is very expensive.  First of all we have to drive to Kirkby Lonsdale and then it is £8.60 for me and £6 for Tom for a 30 minute journey.  It only costs £1 for him to go to Lancaster!!!!!  Anyway, most of his new friends live in / near Kendal so we think that is going to be where they hang out.  I made him do everything - find the bus stops, ask for his ticket, work out timings etc etc.  He said he didn't know where the bus station was, but once we got there he suddenly remembered.  We had a good shopping session.  I bought lots of bits and bobs for work that I've been needing for a while, Tom got some books with his book token, put his birthday cash in the bank using his paying in book for the first time ever, and he bought a set of lego. We then had a quiet night in.  Matt was playing badminton, so Tom and I played Wingspan - he got the Raven right at the start and got a massive 94 points - way more than either me or Matt have managed!!!!  I spent the rest of the night sulking!

Tuesday we headed to Archers for lunch and then (of course) to Hest Bank to watch trains.  What else? 

Wednesday we took Tom to Pat and Bob's for a 2 night visit including lunch with Auntie Jude at Parboiled.  We took full advantage and decided to head to Leeds for the night.  

We had to drive as we were in the middle of a run of storms which was cancelling trains.  After parking at the park and ride and busing it in, we dropped our bags off at our favourite adult only hotel (The Quebecs) and hit the city.  Last time I went to Leeds was with Janine in February 2020!  We had a small lunch at Bao Boy - one of our favourites and then we went shopping.  We did quite a bit of shopping (for us anyway) I guess because we didn't have a plan, we just wondered and found 'stuff' we needed - including a new all singing all dancing apple watch for Matt.  We had a good look around the indoor market too - have only rushed through it in the past - it is enormous and sells just about anything and everything.  Would love to shop at the fishmongers and butchers - their stuff looks amazing.  Went to Bravissimo and stocked up on new bras which was ace - my old ones were only just holding together after 2 years of lockdown.

We then had a lazy afternoon in the hotel before heading out for tea. We went to Bundobust - he had to. We sat outside in their heated couryard, was very lovely.  As we got our meal, suddenly I saw a familiar profile - could it be Janine?  Surely not!  I said to Matt it looked like Janine, he was also in denial - then she turned around - it was her?!!!!!!  What were the chances?  She was meeting with a friend that she hadn't seen for years and years, so we left them to it, but we couldn't quite believe it.  We on purpose didn't eat large, so we went for a walk around the city centre looking for a pudding and found a crepe store open and so indulged.  We were back at the hotel for 9pm - a bit early some might say, but the hotel is lovely, the bed huge and well, it is just nice to relax for a while with no chores / work hanging over you.  So relaxing.

Thursday we did a bit more shopping and then headed back to the car and home.  Felt like we had been away more than 24 hours.

Friday we packed up for 2 nights away, headed to Pat and Bobs to pick up Tom and then drove over to York.  Tom's Christmas present this year was a 2 night stay in a train carriage hotel.  It was right in the middle of those storms we were having - so it was wild and windy on the trip over.  We found the hotel and got settled in our room.  We had about 2/3rds of a railway carriage to ourselves, in it was a huge and comfy kind sized bed and a single one for Tom.  We also had a shower, toilet and basin, but mainly we had windows which were looking straight out onto the mainline, we were just meters away from it, so the carriage shook as trains passed.  This satisfied the boys very much!  Only problem was that the carriages were old - the windows weren't particularly well fitted and well...it was freezing in them!  If the sun was out it wasn't too bad, but as soon as the sun went down it was so cold that we huddled under our bed clothes for warmth.  Just as well the beds were lovely and comfy and had huge thick duvets on them.  

The hotel itself was run by a Greek family.  There was a restaurant attached where most of the food was Greek which was fab because I can't remember ever visiting a Greek restaurant.  Also the hotel was in the middle of no-where and as the weather was so horrible, the thought of leaving to find somewhere else to eat and drink was too much.  Also we got to eat in restaurant car train cubicles which was all part of the experience, so we stayed and ate in.  The food to be fair was pretty good and the wine pretty reasonable too.  However, in the middle of the night Tom suddenly said "I'm going to be sick" and brought up his Spagehetti Carbonara - almost intact.  

It was proper carbonara - so very rich and I think that mixed with lemonade (something he doesn't normally have) it was just too much for his system.  We cleared it up as much as we could, luckily he missed most of his bed!  Typical, he is never ill - in fact we couldn't remember last time he was sick - probably 3 or 4 years ago!

Saturday we had tickets to go to the National Railway Museum.  We weren't due there until 1pm, so we had a lazy morning, watching trains and playing Wingspan.  We then headed into York.  It was heaving, so much so that it wasn't pleasant at all.   We needed somewhere for lunch and ended up in M&S cafe - just seemed easier than trying to find space in a cafe.  We then headed to the museum...in the snow.  Oh yes, it was snowing - big fat flakes and it was settling!  We had a good look around, I tried to understand exactly how a steam engine works - think I have a better if not perfect understanding now.  Was disappointed at the model railway (we have been spoiled by Japanese railway museums!) and enjoyed looking at the posh royal carriages and learning about the railways through the ages (always love a bit of social history!)

We headed home in the snow via the park and ride and then as it was still freezing cold, decided to stay for tea at the hotel again.  We had a chill in our rooms (another game of Wingspan of course) and then had tea in the restaurant car - no Carbonara for Tom this time, he was on as plain food as we could find for him: homemade meatballs which were very nice and didn't have any 'effect' on him!

We went back to our room afterwards, it was freezing, so we all went to bed, just to keep warm.  I actually got to read a book, something I haven't done in ages.  Then at 10pm an employee of the hotel comes by to say that the gas heating had failed and that they were getting us all electric heaters.  Fantastic news.  They delivered the heaters - they were much better than the radiators, they certainly took the chill off the room and made it much more pleasant.

Sunday we had a lazy morning and then headed back home.  It was a really quirky hotel, the boys certainly enjoyed it and to be fair I did too.  If it hadn't been so stormy, it wouldn't have been so cold.  Certainly one to try again in the summer.  They have a lovely outdoor area, could see a very pleasant time to be had in the sunshine outside watching the trains.