The First Kid Free Weekend In York That Didn’t Quite Happen

Having 2 beautiful boys its fair to say that Ollie and I think time is precious and family life with two crazy boys and 4 manic schedules to balance does tend to get in the way of being a couple and in the midst of the stresses we have realised recently we need to spend more time as a couple and not just as a family.

Over the last 8/9 years we have had very limited couple time away from the kids on our own. We have had the odd night kid free each year but these occasional outings have with our friends and not totally on our own. We have never had any nights away visiting a new place and with both of us desperate to visit York this year we got the opportunity when a forgotten experience voucher turned up in my office when I cleaned it out and we realised it was going to expire before Christmas. 

After a phone call to my parents in law a weekend was booked in for both boys to stay there and we got to planning our first weekend exploring the beautiful city of York. Thankfully there was only a few weeks to wait and not this weekend but the weekend before we finally headed off for our much needed break. 

The beginning of the trip didn’t start well with a massive downpour on the way up the A1. However with wine gums one tap and no kids to share them even the rain showers didn’t put us off. When we finally got to York and the beautiful Churchill Hotel we were off to a great start. Did I mention however I had started with a really irritating cough about 2 weeks prior to going? Well, I guess I need to mention that as it features heavily in this story. 

After a lovely stroll round the cobble streets of the Shambles with Ollie buying fudge and my buying cough medicine we headed off to find a restaurant that I had visited years before with my best friends Stacey. Lucia’s is a beautiful Italian that has outdoor seating with canopies, heaters, lap blankets and cocktails and although Ollie was dubious about eating outside in late October he admitted it was the most amazing meal he had eaten in a very long time. 

We drank cocktails, ate well and laughed. It was fabulous but I was flagging. The persistent cough was not my friend and I was totally frazzled so we went on to walk in-between rain showers and took cover in an old pub on one of the side streets and squeezed in another drink but sat next to the open fire the cold and illness got the better of me and I felt utterly dreadful and so we headed back to the hotel. 

After climbing into bed I pretty much went from unconscious to coughing up my lungs and spent the entire afternoon and evening like this. Poor Ollie stayed with me and missed his tea and the rest of York but I will be honest I was totally out of it. Although my fitbit says I didn’t sleep that well I did feel slightly better when I woke and we headed for breakfast both starving.

Breakfast was utterly delicious and we decided that we should just head home. I still felt quite weak and tired but I had enjoyed what time we had together in York. Although we have both agreed we will be doing it again so we can go back and really explore and next time I am hoping I am not ill!