Weekend Recap

It was a lovely slow weekend, with indecisive weather making things much more interesting!

One minute the soggy world kept us cooped up indoors

and the next we were heading out in short shorts and t-shirts to locate a sunny pub garden: it was HOT! (or, maybe 24C, which is too hot for my fair skin!)

On Friday evening we visited a favourite pub, where old men gather around the bar and play dominoes in the corner. We drank, chatted and laughed the evening away, until the bartender politely tidied around us as he prepared the pub for closing.

Despite not drinking much, I awoke on Saturday with the now unfamiliar pounding cider hangover. Urgh. Luckily, I was well looked-after...

Eggy crumpets and beans - yummm!


We hid away from the rain with newspapers and tea, until the sun returned in all it's glory. Sometimes the best walks have no destination - we explored the city's backstreets, finding secret gardens, traditional pubs and craft fairs, hidden away from the tourist's swollen wallet!

The evening meal was eaten al fresco, in quite a surreal setting! We sat on a bench crafted by a heroin addict on floor of mud and rubble, with a christmas tree stopping to our right; Kafka himself couldn't have invented anything more surreal. We then lazed in front of Up In The Air, munching greedily on a pack of cookies. Perfect.

Me and Daniel are both keen on folk music, and in fact we first met at a folk session in a local pub! This weekend was York's Folk Festival, and we were intending to attend on Saturday for some Morris dancing, folk songs and a pints and poetry session. Sadly, I was in no state to attend after Friday's over-indulgence, but we did stop over for an hour on Sunday. I love the atmosphere at these places; such a mix of people, colours, styles, tastes. Music sung out from all corners of the pub, from airy flute arias to plodding tuba ostinatos. Accordian melodies danced in counterpoint with cheery fiddles, and gorgeous ulian pipes sang so subtly along to a bodhran beat. I'm still disappointed to have missed out on a sunny day spent there, but we left with more intent to carry on our folking than ever.