York

 What a fabulous day in York! York is about an hour and a half from Manchester. It is an incredibly picturesque city. We started our day at York Minster. Such a magnificent cathedral. It is huge. The stain glass is incredible and the memorials to York's leaders are sculpted in the most amazing detail. We all took the Tower Challenge and walked up 270 very narrow stone steps to see York from the top of York Minster.

After York Minster, we wandered through the beautiful and quaint shopping streets of York. Clare and Ian were suitably surprised when we walked into the Shambles. If this street wasn't JK Rowling's inspiration for Diagon Alley, it must have been in the mind of the set designer for Harry Potter. Clare loved it. She was even more excited when she realised she could buy a wand from The Shop That Must Not Be Named. She chose Gellert Grindelwald's wand but it turns out that Albus Dumbledore's wand is the same design but a little cheaper so we went for that.

We had Greek takeaway for lunch in the cool atmosphere of The Shambles Market. The weather was great and there was music playing. Such a cool city.

After lunch, we walked around the City Walls. York was built as a walled city and the walls are still largely intact. Aside from the fun of walking on the walls of a medieval fortress, we also had the most amazing views of the gardens of York.

We had a really enjoyable day. If we had another day there are so many other things we would have liked to see. If you ever get the chance to visit York, don't miss the opportunity.