A Mini Break in Harrogate Part 2

On Sunday, we decided to have a look around Harrogate itself. In the Valley Gardens across the road from the apartment they were having the 'Big Picnic' so we had a look around the various stalls and activities that were going on. One thing that all my family commented on was how friendly the people from Yorkshire seemed to be. Everyone was really willing to have a little chat with you and were very helpful with directions or advice on places to go and see. The picnic had such a lovely family atmosphere and we really enjoyed spending the morning walking the gardens and soaking up the sun!

We then walked further into Harrogate centre and all around the town. It wasn't as big as York and there wasn't so much to see or do but it was still a really pretty place.

We then went back to the apartment for bacon and brie sandwiches and to get all patriotic and support Andy Murray in the Wimbledon final! My mum and sister aren't such a big fan of sport though and they soon got bored so during the rain break in the tennis we went for a walk to Betty's tea rooms at Harlow Carr. It was the third Betty's we had stopped at during the weekend but the only one we had purchased cakes from! It was about a 3 mile round trip walk through the pine woods to Harlow Carr and was lovely. Along the way we got some really great views across Harrogate and the surrounding areas because we were so high up.

We stopped for ice cream on the way back because we were so tired and needed an energy boost! We are so glad we did though because we found the most incredible ice cream parlour called Vanilli's. It was just at the end of our road and we had seen it the evening before but it was all closed up. The ice cream was AMAZING and came in the most incredible flavours. It was all homemade on the premises and I sampled a few different flavours before landing on a scoop of Cookies and Cream and a scoop of Jammie Dodger. Both were so good and made me want to go back for more! My sister had honeycomb and Cherry pie and my mum had Mint Choc Chip.

We had a great few days away and loved our first taste of Yorkshire. Now time to get back into work mode and finish the last 6 weeks of my internship before I jet off to the sun for a couple of holidays! I can't wait.

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!

Graze

I've been really impressed with the Graze box that was posted through my letterbox on Thursday morning. Much more impressed than the one I received last year full of nuts and seeds. You can probably tell that I'm not naturally a healthy eater, I love food too much! I have been trying really hard to be healthy though but let's see how long that will last. So Graze has been a god send really, providing me with healthy snacks in perfectly sized little containers that I can pop in my bag before work each day and that satisfy my 3 o'clock afternoon cravings.

I forgot to take a picture of my box when it first arrived (whoops!) so here it is with one of the snacks missing.

The My Thai snack was my favourite one which contains corn snacks with a thai flavouring on them as well as a dipping pot of sweet chilli sauce. It tasted so good!

The other three snacks were all really nice as well though. The summer berry flapjacks were really scrummy. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with flapjacks. I enjoy them if they are moist and full of flavour but I find that if you get a really dry flapjack then it can be really horrible. Although the jaffa cake had hazelnuts in, the orange sultanas and chocolate buttons made them actually taste nice as they complemented each other really well. And finally the Garden of England was really nice. I don't normally like dried fruits but my favourite were the baby strawberries.

They were all really nice and I will definitely keep ordering the box for the forseeable future. Sometimes when I snack on fruit I feel really unsatifisfied after and want to have a biscuit or something but with these snacks I felt really contented :).

Pros of Graze-

• Comes with a really great little book telling you about the nutritional content of each of your snacks (and to help you remember what you have had when you've thrown the packet away)
• Encourages you to go on and rate your snacks - Bin, Try, Like and Love - as well as a 'Send Soon' option so you never have to be sent snacks you don't like
• Fits perfectly through your letterbox so you don't have to worry about being in to receive it
• It is really easy to change which day your box is delivered, how frequent it is and you can easily delay it if you go on holiday
• It can be cancelled at any time so you aren't tied into a contract with Graze
• There are often deals available such as getting your first box free and second and third half price.
• And when you sign up you get vouchers to give to friends so that they get their first box free too and if any of your friends sign up then you get money off your boxes
• It is relatively inexpensive even when you have used up all your discounts. I think it is £3.49 per box which for 4 different snacks I don't think is too bad.

Cons of Graze -

• There are still probably too many nuts or seeds for my liking so hopefully they will continue to extend their range further in to different snacks
• The 'Send Soon' option isn't available on many of my favourite snacks, maybe because they are too popular, which is annoying as it means I may never get to try them
• I would imagine that if they have run out of all the foods that you have marked as 'Like' or 'Love' or 'Try' (which is very rare) then you might get sent something you marked as 'Bin'

Rating - 8/10
Reason - I haven't find a similar service to Graze out there and it takes the hassle out of healthy snacking, increasing the variety of foods that you eat. It is great for busy parents or workers who are health conscious but don't have the time to search around for healthy snacks.