York for the weekend

The city of York was one place we never saw while living in London. Our only attempt to visit in the winter of 2008 was thwarted by a storm bringing icy Arctic conditions to the northeast. At the time we’d been on vacation in Scotland and Edinburgh and had planned to return home via York and the eastern seaboard. However, as the weather deteriorated, Garry and I didn’t fancy wandering York in a blizzard or driving through drifting snow and black ice.

I’m delighted to report that 15 years later we’ve finally made it to York. After spending a week in London on business we had a weekend to fill before flying to Germany for another week of work. We decided to catch an express train from Kings Cross to York and spend a couple of days exploring this historic city. We were also swayed by the fact that the train journey from London took less than two hours, making it easy to maximise our time on the ground.

We checked out of our serviced apartment in Kensington shortly after 7:00am. By 10:30am we were disembarking in York. Our hotel, The Grand York, kindly checked us in early. This establishment certainly lived up to its name. This Edwardian building originally opened in 1906, as the headquarters of the North Eastern Railway (then one of the richest organisations in Britain), before being converted to a luxury boutique hotel in 2010.

Once we’d settled in, we made our way into town walking along the crest of the city’s lovingly restored medieval stone walls. Our first tourist destination for the day was the ruins of St Mary’s Abbey. Construction of this impressive complex began in 1089. 

In its heyday, the grounds featured stables, granaries, a bakery, and a brewery. However, it was a magnificent abbey church, cloister, and chapter house that dominated the York landscape here until it was forcibly closed by Henry VIII as part of the Reformation.

Nearby lie the remnants of a Roman-era defensive wall. We were quickly learning that York’s history stretches back almost two millennia. At various times, the Romans, the Vikings, and the Saxons have all made their home here. I had no idea York had such a rich and varied heritage.

Our next stop was York Minister. Without a doubt, this is the “modern” city’s claim to fame. This imposing cathedral dominates the city skyline. The Minster is 160 metres long with a central tower soaring 72 metres. It took more than two centuries to build, before being completed and consecrated in 1472. We joined an informative guided tour that brought to life many of the building’s extraordinary features. 

We were surprised to learn that sections of the Nave's dramatic stained glass window are original, dating back to the Middle Ages. Apparently the older the glass, the more lead trim it contains. Stained glass windows are under constant repair. These are often made by slicing existing glass segments into smaller pieces. As a result, over time, the same window progressively accumulates more and more lead framing.  Our guides pointed out the darkest sections of the window, an indication of their advanced age.  You can see some of these sections in the image above.

The Minster's Undercroft Museum built underneath the Nave floor was equally impressive. A survey in 1967 survey revealed that the building's central tower was close to collapse. Repairs were undertaken over five years to reinforce and strengthen its foundations. These works uncovered the remains of the Roman Principia (headquarters of the Roman fort of Eboracum) under the south transept, along with remains of an earlier Norman cathedral. Today you can tour a series of underfloor caverns where these foundations and artifacts have been carefully preserved.

You can also climb the central tower to enjoy some stirling views of York.  However, tickets were sold out by the time we arrived. We weren't too upset as the tower climb involved 275 steps.

The remainder of our day was spent wandering The Shambles, a series of medieval laneways in the heart of the old city. It’s said that these cobblestone streets were the inspiration for some of the defining scenes in the Harry Potter series of books. We finished our wandering at the foot of Clifford’s Tower, the restored keep of a former Norman castle.

Dinner on Saturday was a lavish affair. Months earlier I’d reserved a table in the hotel's formal restaurant. The Legacy seats less than 30 people and offers an impressive tasting menu focused on produce from the local area. The chef even came out of the kitchen to personally greet us. We only saw him do this one other table.

Garry and I enjoyed a memorable meal that included delicacies like hand-dived Orkney scallops, Venison with blackberry and lapsang smoked haunch, and Spice Plum with Gingerbread and Earl Grey syrup. We retired for the evening feeling well and truly wined and dined.

After breakfast on Sunday morning, we made our way back into town to explore more of the city’s sights. We booked tickets for two popular tourist attractions: the Jovik Viking Centre and the York Dungeons. Without a doubt, the Jovik Centre was a real highlight.

It sits on the site of one of the most astounding discoveries of modern archaeology. In 1976, during excavations for a new shopping centre, archaeologists unexpectedly uncovered artifacts and building foundations from the Viking city of Jorvik. An interactive museum was built to preserve its ruins. It now exhibits what was uncovered, alongside a clever reconstruction of the daily world its people inhabited almost 1,000 years ago.

We’d started our day walking the southern wall of the old city. Hence, we decided to finish our time in York by walking the remaining perimeter as it wound its way past York Minister back towards our hotel. Then, as the sun began setting, we collected our luggage and caught the 4:30pm train to London. We were back in our Covent Garden hotel shortly after 7:00pm. Martin, a local friend, then joined us for dinner at Balans in Soho.

Singapore postcard

Here are a few more highlights from our weekend stopover in Singapore. With a little planning we we got to visit most of Singapore’s top attractions, many of which didn’t exist when Garry and I last visited the island nation.

We ultimately got to explore its impressive metallic Supertree structures at Gardens By The Bay, wander the giant glass-enclosed Flower Dome and Cloud Forest Conservatories also at Gardens By The Bay, get up close with sharks at Singapore's enormous aquarium, and enjoy a sumptuous seafood buffet at the Casino.

The Gardens by the Bay is a nature park and botanical garden spanning 101 hectares on the coast of Singapore. It was created as part of the nation's plans to further enhance its burgeoning “Garden City" reputation. Since opening in 2012, its become the city's premier urban outdoor recreation space and a national icon.  

The parklands' iconic attractions include a series of Supertree scaffold towers and two enormous climate-controlled conservatories. The largest of these is the Flower Dome. At 1.2 hectares (3.0 acres), it’s recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest greenhouse in the world.

The neighbouring Cloud Forest is a higher, but slightly smaller, conservatory at 0.8 hectares (2.0 acres). It replicates the cool moist conditions found in tropical mountain regions between 1,000 metres and 3,000 metres above sea level. The interior is dominated by a bridal veil waterfall cascading from a 42-metre-high "Cloud Mountain". A clever irrigation system regularly envelopes the entire structure in a hazy shroud of artificial mist.

The Supertrees are an equally fascinating attraction. They're part sculpture, part observatory tower and part vertical garden. The Supertree "grove" contains 18 tree-like structures that dominate the surrounding landscape with heights ranging from 25 metres to 50 metres.  The largest of these also houses a rooftop observatory offering unrivalled views of the Singapore skyline.

We spent a full afternoon exploring Gardens by the Bay, as well as experiencing the Supertree grove at night as part of the city's Chinese New Year festivities. I hope you enjoy this feast of Singaporean visual delights.

High tea at Raffles

Garry and I decided to do the classic tourist thing while in Singapore. We caught the MTR subway to the iconic Raffles Hotel to enjoy a drink at its famous Long Bar. However, upon arrival, we discovered a highly touristed venue with an entry queue snaking out the door. We both agreed such a clique affair wasn’t worth the wait.

However, Raffles redeemed itself on our final day in town. We had time to kill after checking out of our hotel and heading to the airport for a midnight flight to London. I booked us in for a late afternoon high tea in the Raffles Grand Lobby. I’m delighted to say that this proved well worth the experience. We enjoyed a relaxing afternoon in its marble-clad surrounds while being entertained by a talented pianist.

On our way to Raffles, we also took a quick detour to soak up another classic Singaporean sight. It’s been decades since I’ve visited the city’s renowned Merlion fountain. This mythical beast, half mermaid and half lion, is the city’s mascot. 

When I last visited the fountain (probably in the 1990s) it sat on the coastal fringe of Singapore. Today, it looks over an entirely new district reclaimed from the surrounding harbour. However, despite the change, the fountain is still an iconic tourist destination. During our visit, we found it surrounded by an Instagram-friendly, selfie stick-wielding crowd.

Xīn nián kuài lè

Every year since 2016 Garry and I have travelled to Europe for business in late January. We fly to London and Germany to attend two major toy industry tradeshows. Over two intense weeks we reconnect with existing suppliers, keep abreast of emerging industry trends, and secure new products for the year ahead.

Thanks to the COVID pandemic, it’s been three years since our last trip to Europe. Hence, this year’s journey was strategically important. While we’ve worked hard to remain connected remotely, nothing beats quality time face-to-face. With so much riding on this trip Garry and I wanted to ensure that we arrived fresh and ready to hit the ground running. This objective became even more important when we agreed to a breakfast meeting hours after landing at Heathrow.

Garry suggested we break our flight to Europe with an extended weekend in Singapore. It’s been 20 years since we last spent any time in the city. Since then, much has changed. It didn’t take much convincing for me to agree. By chance, we later discovered that our stopover coincided with the Chinese New Year. This meant that beyond the usual sights and sounds, we’d get to experience a few festive activities.

Our recent vacation in Fiji bumped my loyalty status with Accor Hotels up to Platinum level. We took advantage of this and booked ourselves into an expansive suite at the Sofitel in central Singapore. Our specially discounted room was impressive. Each morning we were greeted by to floor to ceiling views of Singapore’s colonial red-roof Chinatown district.

While in town we took time out to visit the River Hongbao Festival. This was a special Chinese New Year art installation event hosted in venues throughout the city. Along with thousands of others, Garry and I joined bunny mascots Prosperity (福儿) and Longevity (寿儿) for (and I quote the brochure), “an amazing Chinese New Year experience at Gardens by the Bay.” It certainly was something different.

We also spent an evening wandering around the colourful night market in Chinatown where all manner of festive paraphernalia was on offer. Definitely not a great time of year for those suffering from Leporiphobia.

However, the most eclectic experience we had was probably sitting among giant teddy bears scattered around the lobby of our hotel. I suspect it’s an Instagram draw card for the locals. No doubt you can drink with them, hug them and, after a few beers, potentially get a little fresh with them.