Lovely York

York is a pretty special place. 

People always go on about old world charm, and with York, it's true. Nothing quite like wandering around cobbled streets and narrow alleyways, feeling like maybe this is what it's like to live in the fourteenth century. York is a very walkable city, and if you get tired there is no shortage of food stops. I brought my polaroid the day that we went, the pictures turned out pretty well - maybe I will post them in a future update :) 

The Shambles are enchanting - little shops all lined on a higgledy-piggledy street full of knick-knacks, sweets and chocolate wonderlands. There's always something mysterious about the old.

BIG LUNCH at Oscar's, we got a nice seat by a big french window with the sun shining through :) I ordered their Oscar's Special Burger (an onslaught of beef, bacon, mushrooms and cheese) and Dan got their Mexican Bean Burger. The food was quite good, although I felt that Dan's bean burger was a bit tastier than mine. Both were massive and impossible to finish, and that's coming from me, with my empty pit of a stomach that wants to devour the contents of the universe. 

We got a 99 with TWO flakes! WOO! Highlight of my day. 

Handmade chocolate! What more can I say. A little bit pricey, but worth every penny.

Another usual stop we make is at The Old White Swan. It's just a nice pub, especially in the winter because it's pretty cosy indoors. We sat outside that day though, with some ale and a pork pie with apple sauce. Just a nice place for a chilled out meal, I think.

York train station is also really nice. However, this is not a picture of the nice bit haha. Imagine a big, old fashioned steel clock and steel arches that go across the roof of the station. Think: what England looks like if you opened an old photo album, except with newer trains. Just lovely.

Tempura Evening

Matt came round to Dan's and we had a great time cooking up a storm :) Stomachs full, we went out into the garden and enjoyed the hazy summer evening before returning to the comfort of the front room to veg out in front of the telly, and fall asleep on the couch. 

The fading summer light is something special.

Dinner was experimental asparagus and aubergine tempura, mushrooms stuffed with peppers, onions, and parmesan, leek-y mash, and pan-fried chicken with peppers.

Hello Matt!

Dan with the flower pot basket that is (rather disturbingly) in the shape of a small dog.

The plaque on the shed that belonged to Dan's grandparents'.

Fig + Prickly Pear Tart

Dan's parents returned from a holiday in Malta last week with a bag full of Maltese foods, including this fig and prickly pear tart. 'What is a prickly pear?' I hear you say. Well, it's one of these - a kind of cacti that grows little red fruits. It was zingy and the pastry was crumbly - I had mine with ice-cream, and it was perfect. 

We've been quite lucky with the weather lately, this week has been gloriously sunny.

Summer

Hello again :)

It's been a month-ish. In that time, I have travelled to faraway places and eaten lots of food, glorious food. There may be posts about those trips soon. Maybe. But for now, we have the easy comfort of brunch in an English town.

Middlesbrough gets a bad rep for being a little rough around the edges, which is kind of not so nice for Dan because it's where he grew up. It annoys him to no end when Middlesbrough gets called a terrible place.

And yeah, I won't deny that there are some really scruffy bits near the town centre, but the area where Dan grew up is lovely - it's all quiet suburbs, leafy lanes, family homes and big back gardens.

I always enjoy the walk to and from Dan's place just because it's a nice change of scenery.

Starting the day with brunch is always a good idea... even though I burnt the toast a little :/

Dan's new Lavazza coffee machine arrived today - which meant we got to use the nice coffee cups and pretend we were in Italy.

I always feel like daisies shouldn't be considered weeds. They're rather pretty, especially when you see them spread across an open field or sprouting on a curb. I will consider writing a poem about that. 

The walk home from Dan's - I was a little afraid someone would come out and yell at me because I was taking a picture of their house heh. This house has a really nice garden which you can see from a hole in the fence - just like the ones I imagined were in those Enid Blyton books that I used to read when I was a kid. 

Giant houses.

Another English summer day - a little grey but always good for a walk.