A week I'd like to rewind (2)

Continuing from the previous post..

Tuesday, 3rd February 2014

This time, York was the destination. York is a beautiful little city, with plenty of narrow streets and independent shops. You can have a walk along its wall that goes around the city centre. Like Lincoln, its cathedral, the York Minster, is one of the largest. It also has some bridges over the scenic river. You will almost always be looking at something charming in York. After strolling around the city centre for a bit, me and my friends decided to have fish and chips for lunch, simply because we were craving it. Afterwards we went around some more before going to The Shambles, aka the alleyway that inspired Diagon Alley in Harry Potter. We then visited the York Castle, which I find rather strange. Most castles are grand, but this one is a little castle sitting on top of a (rather cute) hill. I'm guessing it was used as a watch tower (don't take my word for that, I'm probably completely wrong, I've no history knowledge at all). The day was ended with an afternoon tea at Betty's, where I ordered cheese scone with clotted cream and jam, which made the waiter asked twice. That's just me, always mix and matching my food which taste wonderful in my mouth but other people can't quite understand it.

Wednesday, 4th February 2014

Since my friend told me all about Nottingham, I was quite curious of the city. I have been to Nottingham quite a few times, but mostly only to the University (which is located away from the city centre). I've been around the city centre once, but I only went to the usual high street stores. Hence I decided to visit Nottingham, determined to discover more about the city. As usual I went with some friends (when I was planning for these getaways, I was actually gonna go by myself but ended up with a group of 3-4 friends coming, which made the trip even more memorable), and we first went to Wollaton Hall, aka Wayne Manor from The Dark Knight Rises. Unlucky for us the house was closed, but we still went around the park and garden, which was quite beautiful. Our stomach was rumbling by the end of it, so we went back to the city centre and by my friend's recommendation, we went to Annie's Burger Shack. Oh my goodness, I've never seen so many varieties of burgers before. All the burgers were also available in the vegetarian option. Being my good old adventurous self, I ordered "The Elvis" which was peanut butter and raspberry jam burger. I've tasted peanut butter and banana burger before so I knew this one wasn't gonna be too weird. The portion was pretty big, and they put A LOT of peanut butter in it so I couldn't finish it. But it was definitely a good place to eat, if only I can try all of their burgers! We then finished the day by going to Nottingham Castle (which was again, closed) and Ye Old Trip to Jerusalem, which was the oldest inn in England. To my surprise, there was a little shop that sold quite a few Tintin goodies (although, as a Tintin fan, I was a little disappointed by the seller, as he said he was OK with Tintin, but he was ultimately there for money).

Sunday, 8th February 2014
This was one of the trip that I was looking most forward to. Me and one of my flatmate have already planned it since before Christmas, and the main purpose of our trip was...to eat. We wanted to try Burger and Lobster, since we've heard a lot of hype about it. We also booked a place in Sketch to have an afternoon tea. We went to Covent Garden first to check out the Tintin shop, unfortunately it wasn't opened yet since it was only 11 am and everything opens at 12 on Sundays. So by the time we arrived at Burger and Lobster, we still had to wait a bit until it was opened. Burger and Lobster has only 3 meals in their menu: a burger, a lobster roll, and a whole lobster. Before coming there we actually searched up the place in Instagram, as we wanted to have an idea of the portion (since it was £20 per meal, a little high for students). My option was between a whole lobster and lobster roll, but looking at the whole lobster pictures, it doesn't seem like I would be filled up. Therefore we both ordered lobster roll, hoping that we would be full by the end of the meal. The food came quite quickly after we ordered, but to our surprise, the lobster roll was rather small! So of course, our first thought was that we won't be completely satisfied by the end of it. But as we started eating, our assumptions were gone, and I really, fully enjoyed my first ever lobster roll. I was really able to taste the lobster, the toasted/grilled bread was perfect, the salad was on of the best I had in a restaurant, and the fries were well seasoned. And guess what? I was full before I finished the roll. People nearby who ordered the whole lobster finished eating before we did. So, don't underestimate the seemingly small lobster roll!

After being satisfied from cholesterol intake, we head down to Oxford Street for some shopping. We went to Selfridges and that was my first time going up and down Selfridges in Oxford Street. The journey then continued to Zara and H&M, where my debit card suffered some damages, ouch. Around 4 pm we tried to find Sketch, thinking that the place would be noticeable. As we went down the street that it was in, we nearly missed the building, as the sign couldn't have been more simplistic. However, as we went in, the place was completely different from the sign. We were directed to the Gallery to have the afternoon tea, which was this big room with pink shade everywhere. Pink sofa, pink wall, you name it. I immediately fell in love with the place. As we ordered, the lovely waitress told us that with what we ordered we can try out different teas and have more scones free of charge. It was then that I fell in love with the place even more (typical students, loving anything free). We didn't forget to visit their famous capsule toilet of course. Sketch was a perfect place to have catch ups with friends over a delicious afternoon tea. After being satisfied with sugar intake, we hurriedly make our way back to St. Pancras station, hoping we'd be able to catch the train on time. And we did!

I can't wait for my next visit to some other UK's hidden gems. Every city is different, each has their own unique things waiting for me to discover. That week was one I really enjoyed, not forgetting a near perfect weather too. It really was a week I'd like to rewind.