A Mini Break in Harrogate Part 1

I'm not sure whether my Dad has been reading my blog or whether he has the powers of the character in 'What Women Want' but on Friday morning my Dad surprised us with a trip to Harrogate for the weekend. He'd booked a last minute deal on an apartment just out of the centre of Harrogate so needless to say there was a lot of excitement in my house! We set off on the 3 hour journey and soon arrived at a beautifully decorated and furnished apartment in a perfect location - overlooking the lovely Valley Gardens and just a 5 minute walk from the centre of Harrogate.

We went out for a lovely meal to Prezzo on the Friday evening and then went for a little walk around Harrogate before we collapsed into our beds for a much awaited long nights rest. We slept for a good 12 hours.

When we woke in the morning me and my dad went for a lovely run around the Valley Gardens. The sun was shining and we went and explored the beautiful park on our doorstep. We then all headed out to York for the day which is about a 30 minute drive from Harrogate. York really was beautiful. When we left we all found ourselves longing to go back and promising that we would visit York again soon. It is a stunning city and we were so lucky with the weather that we could just wander around all the little streets and along the river and city walls all day.

We started down by the river. It had burst it's banks on the opposite bank due to the amount of rainfall they had so riverboat cruises had been cancelled which was a bit of a shame but we still had a walk along the side of the river and over the bridges. 

Who knew they had a big wheel in York as well? I didn't go on of course, I have a major fear of heights!

We then sat down in the lovely gardens in York to eat our picnic and engage in a bit of people watching - definitely the best sport. For the rest of the afternoon we explored York on foot, visiting the Minster and all the little streets in and around the centre of York.

We had a walk down the Shambles, went into lots of little cute boutique shops as well as some well-known stores. I managed to stumble upon the Mulberry factory shop but it was still too expensive so we all stared through the window in awe making a mental dream list of which bags we would love to buy!

We also went in Cath Kidston and bought some ice cream from a lovely little parlour. We found time to walk part of the city walls and have a stroll through the various lovely gardens and parks that are dotted all over the city of York. After a very tiring day we collapsed back into the car to head home, picking up a Chinese on the way!