As you may know, I’m a mum of 3, full time nurse, the other half to the most antisocial human ever to exist which suits me quite well. Being a mum and a nurse puts on a lot of pressure and I know myself I feel like I go to work and Im needed and relied upon and when I come home it’s the same. I rarely get time to be just me! The only times I feel like I am me is when myself and the other half spend a day or 2 together alone, no kids, no job, no house to run! Just block it all out (while they have the best time ever with their grandma!) and enjoy each others company. Obviously having 3 kids this doesn’t happen half as much as we’d like but we know very well this is time for our kids and once again we will get our time as 2 and enjoy or holidays and trips like before (not for a very long time I hope). Our most recent overnight stay was to York! A personal favourite of mine, we had just over 24 hours together no kids just us and it was great. We walked the walls of the city, took a trip on The Ghost Bus (fully recommend especially with Fran Stein) visited The Merchant Adventurers Hall and of course stopped by the Shambles to visit the York Ghost Merchants and add a ghost or 2 to my collection.
York is a beautiful city and definitely should be on everyone’s list to visit and I’m assuming if you’re reading my blog it’s because you’re an introvert like me so I thought I’d share my thoughts on the best time to visit. We’ve made the mistake once and ended up in York during half term week during the Viking Festival which as fun as it looked was too much for us. It was exceptionally overcrowded, most places were fully booked which meant we didn’t get to do much touristy wise or anything other than walk around. Honestly you couldn’t even walk up the Shambles never mind get in the York Ghost Merchants! In my opinion the best time to visit is midweek (not Wednesday if you’re planning on visiting The York Ghost Merchants as they’re closed) during school term. We visited on a Monday and Tuesday about 2 weeks before our kids were due to finish for half term just incase other areas finished earlier! It was still reasonably busy but not enough to put us off. The Ghost Bus was fabulous, highly entertaining and very funny thanks to Frank Stein! Obviously with it being midweek there wasn’t many of us on The Ghost Bus Tour which meant we got to sit comfortably and had a lot more interaction with Frank Stein and bus driver Bob. We arrived pretty late on the Monday so chose to go the the York Ghost Merchants the following morning first thing. We arrived at the Shambles at around 10am when they open and there was already a queue waiting to go in, this is to be expected. I only queued for about 40 minutes whilst my other half had a coffee near by and when I got in the Merchants could not have been more welcoming and helpful. Mr Appleyard welcomed me at the door gave me information on pricing and where to look etc, there’s a few nooks and crannies hiding some surprises. After a few minutes trying to get to the smaller ghosts he noticed I was struggling (it’s a tiny shop and there are only about 6-8 people in at a time, I was unfortunate to be in with a group of people who didn’t seem to be aware I was in there too 🤣 this is where me being the quiet introvert causes me issues as I just stood back an waited for much too long) now I’m sure he would do this for any customer but I couldn’t be more thankful, he asked me specifically what I was looking for (a small ghost for my daughters birthday either blue, purple or pink) and he offered to go into the back and fine some which may be suitable, what an absolute angel is all I can say! He came back moments later with a selection for me to choose from, I chose a blue swirly boo which she was so happy with! And this turned out to be crazy special to us, when I got home an looked at it properly it had what appears to be words on the side saying ‘Love A’ formed by the patten, which is the initial of my child who it was for, what a coincidence. I left with a couple of new ghosts to add to my ghost house, one which I’d be wanting for a while (a black phantom) and another that I just loved the look of. I can’t wait to visit again and have already promised a day trip with my eldest as a mum and daughter day so she can choose another ghost for herself, don’t tell anyone but I’ll 100% be keeping her off school one day for this 👻.
Overall I’d definitely suggest a trip to York, as a couple of as a family there’s so much to see and do for everyone not just the alternative spooky inclined. At the right times it doesn’t use up much of your social battery and is a beautiful place.
