A TRIP TO YORK

A couple of months ago, Josh and I went on a fairly impromptu trip to York. I've not actually seen much of England outside London, so it was nice to play tourist for a couple of days. It only takes a couple of hours on the train from Edinburgh, so after a fairly stressful week at work (we went just before the Festival started!) I packed my bags and headed off on a sunny day.

Here's what we got up to...

WHERE WE STAYED...

I'd been invited to stay with a well-known hotel chain (hence the impromptu trip), so I confirmed everything, booked my (non-refundable!) train tickets and time off work. Then it turned out just a few days before we went (!) that we couldn't actually get booked into a York hotel. And everywhere in York was booked. And expensive. Like the non-refundable train tickets I had booked. Thanks PR!

So, after a fairly stressful day of trying to work out what to do, we decided to reclaim our holiday from being just a blogging trip, and booked a room at the very beautiful Hotel du Vin. This hotel was gorgeous - it's tucked away just down from the walls of the city, in a Grade II-listed mansion house.

My favourite bit was the absolutely massive bath - I even took some lush bathbombs for the occasion (I don't have a bath in my flat, so this was a total treat). It was expensive (particularly as I had not budgeted for a holiday, aaaargh), but it was an absolutely lovely place to stay and I'd definitely recommend it if you are feeling flush!

WHAT WE DID...

York is a beautiful city, so it was nice just to wander around its cobbled streets. We made a beeline straight for The Shamble, Europe's best preserved Medieval street, which is lined with 15th century buildings that lean over and almost touch in the middle. We also explored around the walls of the city (which has such nice views!) and took a look at York Castle and York Minster (although were too cheap to actually pay to enter them!

We did pay to go to the Jorvik Viking Centre, which is built on the site of the Viking-age city, Jorvik, and packed full of cool archaeology things (and a fairly hilarious/terrifying animatronic ride through a Viking village), and to visit the Treasurer's House, a house very close to York Minster with a 2,000 year history. The owner (a rich bachelor with an eye for pretty things) packed it with the most amazing antique furniture, ceramics and art, then gave it up to the National Trust, who have looked after it ever since. He has a mirror that is held up by a GIANT GOLD EAGLE. Definitely worth a visit!

Finally, we went to the (free!) National Railway Museum to look at giant trains. I wouldn't say I was the most enthusiastic person about rail transport, but it was actually really fascinating, and we got to have drinks in a fancy 19th century railway carriage, and watch a massive train spin round.

WHAT WE ATE...

If I'm honest, the majority of our trip revolved around food and drink. My favourite place was the House of Trembling Madness, an incredibly atmospheric medieval bar with stuffed animal heads lining the walls. It's in the Shambles and could easily be missed - you enter through a shop that is packed with different types of beer, wine and spirits, and go up a tiny set of stairs. We ordered Shambles sausages and mash and a platter board, and it was cheap and tasty.

York is full of amazing-looking restaurants, but they were all booked in advance! If you're planning a trip, it's definitely worth getting yourself a reservation early... I reckon we had to phone about six places before we booked in for dinner at the Walmgate Ale House, which was nice traditional food, but nothing particularly special. We lucked out with an amazing brunch at a traditional cafe near York Minster (I'm pretty sure it was Betty's Tea Rooms), and found loads of nice little pubs to stop at for a sunny beer garden pint or a Sunday roast.

And that was York! The accommodation was pricey (but so good), and there were more loud students than I expected, but it's a beautiful place and well worth a weekend visit. Now I think Brighton's next on my list... I want to see the Pier!

DINOSAUR WISHLIST

I was seven when the first Jurassic Park film came out, and I remember it being the most exciting thing in the world. I was on holiday in Orlando with my family, so we got to watch it in America a month before it was released in the UK, and I was TERRIFIED of the raptors, but I absolutely loved it. Since then I've been to the theme park, read all of the books, visited the valley where it was filmed in Hawaii (and hid behind this log!), and studied archaeology for two years at uni. I'm a bit of a dinosaur fan.

Now, twenty-two years after the first film came out (whaaat), I am still that excitable kid. I've already prebooked my tickets for Jurassic World, and my hopes are high!

Turns out I'm also not the only one with a dinosaur obsession - the shops are full of lovely dino things. Here's a few items I have my eye on (or own already!). How amazing is that dino holographic clutch?!

Top row

Tatty Devine necklace | Holographic clutch | Triceratops brooch

Middle row

Pterodactyl necklace | Dino tea towel | Metallic mini skirt

Bottom row

Make-up bag | Dinosaur planter DIY | Over the knee tights

Here's hoping that the film isn't terrible...

THE MAGNUM, EDINBURGH

The Magnum is a beautiful little place tucked on the corner of Albany Street in Edinburgh, just down from the busy thoroughfare of Princes St. Part restaurant and part bar, it's super cosy, feels suitably Scottish, but manages to find a happy balance and not be too twee or intimidating.

I've been here for drinks a few times before, but had never had the chance to try their food, so I was delighted to be invited along to sample the menu.

Scallops and black pudding

The Magnum works with local producers, so the menu changes daily to guarantee the freshest and finest Scottish dishes, served with a creative twist. To start, I couldn't resist the scallops and black pudding - the flavours worked really well together, and the scallops were melt-in-your-mouth perfect! 

Crisp prosciutto salad

Joshua went for a crisp prosciutto salad that came with a savoury panna cotta (I wish I had written down the name of the dish, but the ever-changing menus means it's escaped my memory - bad blogger!). Had my starter not been so tasty, I'd have been pretty jealous of this - it was an unusual but super tasty take on a traditional dish. 

Lamp chops

For my main I had lamb - beautifully cooked chops with a wild garlic and pine nut crust, served with tarragon gnocchi and broccoli. I could happily eat this every night and not get sick of it, the lamb was tender and the gnocchi was totally moreish!

Josh had seared duck breast, which was served with mushrooms, shallots, broad beans and smoked bacon lardons - it was a fairly massive portion, which meant we were both happy to share!

Chocolate trio

By the end of the meal we were both stuffed with good food and good wine (The Magnum also has a pretty excellent wine list), but we had to try out the puddings to see if they lived up to the rest of the menu! 

Josh went for the plum tarte tatin, topped with clotted cream, and I tried to slog my way through the chocolate trio of crème brûlée, chocolate brownie and chocolate sorbet. My god. I was definitely defeated, but felt like I could die happy. 

The Magnum - book online here

Service was relaxed and friendly, and we spent a few happy hours here, sitting in the twinkling glow of the fairy lights that line each window. The food's also not as expensive as it looks - three courses cost between £25 - £35, which is super reasonable, given how good quality it is. 

If you're visiting Edinburgh, then this is the perfect place to try out some Scottish food that is traditional with a twist (plus they have haggis on the menu, if you really want to tick some Scottish boxes!). It also would be a perfect parent dining spot - fancy enough to impress, but kind on your wallet!

MAY CATCH UP

I can't believe another month has been and gone, what happened to May? Here's what last month looked like for me...

Instagram username: @eversojuliet

1. I started the month with a really fun cocktail party with a few of my nearest and dearest. It was really fun (if a bit surreal to have a professional bartender in my house!), and exactly what I needed after the madness of April.

2. You've hopefully had a chance to read up about Soba, my pet hedgehog! Most of my spare time is now spent gazing at how adorable he is (SO adorable), even if he continues to be pretty grumpy!

3. My clever pal Sian launched Book Club for Drunks at Edinburgh's Paradise Palms, a proper book club held on the third Tuesday of each month, where you chat novels and drink along with the book (what a good combination). I crashed the first meeting, and got to feel like I was in uni again, where I tried to talk intelligently about a book I hadn't read. It was lots of fun though!

4. Edinburgh's pop-up art festival, Hidden Door, appeared in May, taking over an abandoned section of the city and filling it with art, theatre, music, and cinema for the week. I had such a lovely time exploring this year's festival, and my favourite part was this piece - beautiful rainbow paper planes.

5. My pal Niki & I also had our portrait sketched by a pencil artist (which I loved, even though I was wearing the world's most boring outfit).

6. I was treated to the most amazing afternoon tea at the newly renovated Colonnades at the Signet Library (which opens tomorrow to the public!). This was just the most delightful food in a beautiful place - I will blog about this properly very soon!

7. The 69th Edinburgh International Film Festival launched their programme and it looks a bit exciting (you can watch their festival trailer here!). I'm currently working my way through what they have on, highlighter in hand, and I'll share my picks soon.

8. My mane was getting a bit unruly, so I went back to Dean Jones for a chop and to get my ends lightened up, and I feel so much better. I love my hairdresser - they are great at doing exactly what I want, and they leave me in peace to read my book when I'm there. Perfect!

9. Edinburgh is still temperamental, as always (Scottish summers can't be trusted), but I still love my city, and I love my neighbourhood. This spot is about two minutes from my flat. I walk by it every day, and it makes me so happy on sunny mornings.

10. I can't resist beautiful stationery, and this journal from Anthropologie was no exception (even if it was FAR TOO PRICEY for a notebook). But I couldn't resist! It was in my favourite colour and everything!

11. It's been absolutely ages since I blogged about what books I'm reading, but I'm thinking about starting it up again. I've just finished The Beautiful Land and I really enjoyed it - it's an end of the world dystopian sci-fi thriller, with a lot of angst, and a lot of love.

12. Aaaand my most exciting achievement this month - I'm still running! I'm not sure how I managed it, but I ran 9k (!!!) last week, which feels like such a huge achievement, considering two months ago I couldn't run more than two minutes at a stretch without getting winded. My 10k race is in a week and a half and I still feel nervous, but I also feel strong. It's exciting!

OUTFIT: SUNSHINE & FLOWERS

I was thinking the other day about how much I love reading outfit posts. Not high fashion styled-completely-out-of-my-league outfit posts, but normal people wearing pretty clothes that don't look TOO scary to try and style (I particularly love Wardrobe Conversations, A Rosie Outlook and Miss West End Girl for this kind of post!).

So I'm going to try and up my meagre efforts at my own outfit posts, and start sharing what I'm wearing a little more regularly.

Top - H&M
Skirt - H&M
Floral crowns (I only wore one, promise!) - Crown & Glory
Necklace - H&M

Last week I was treated to a blogger morning at Spa in the City (more about that here!), and as it was held in one of Edinburgh's parks, it felt like a good excuse to wear a flowery outfit.

I didn't intentionally pick an all-H&M outfit, but I am really loving their stuff at the moment! There's an H&M about five minutes from my office, which it means I pass it every lunchtime, and it's just too good to resist. This top is from their basics range (so was only £6!) and it is great - the cropped sleeves are perfect for sunny but breezy days.

Floral headband - Crown & Glory
Shoes - New Look

I'm quite curvy, so I'm a fan of outfit silhouettes like this, that nip in at the waist and kick out to a skater skirt shape. I also seem to be OBSESSED with turquoise, I don't mean to, but practically everything I've bought recently has been in the same shade (I'm also wearing turquoise nail polish with this outfit). At least it makes colour coordinating easy! 

Now I just need to learn how to get my photo taken in public without nervously freezing in an awkward grin... will I ever be cool? (Thanks to Amy from Scotcampus for taking my photos!).