OOH YORK!

We're back! From York. Only the third time I've been there, but we loved the place. Would've stayed another night if we could have.

We somehow managed to get a lot of down time, some lovely family time with the boys, AND film one video, one short, one Writer's Club video, and an epic car chat for the upper tiers (somehow encompassing Alien Romulus, Digitiser review scores, and America in the 1980s). Oh yeah - and the return of Corner Shop Corner, which turned out to be one of the most unexpectedly chaotic things we've ever done, due to the arrival of an unscheduled guest star... which left Sanja in tears. Literally. Gift from The Universe.

All of this will start rolling out this coming week.

We only filmed a tiny bit of it for a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment in the next video, but we also visited the Jorvik Centre. If you've not been, it's basically a museum built on the site of a Viking village that was discovered back in the late-1970s. Literally on top; it has a glass floor so you can see some of the original dig site. It also has a dark ride that takes you through a recreation of the village.

I've been there before - when my kids were little - but I've kind of been fascinated by the place since I saw Blue Peter cover it back in the 80s. Specifically, the fact they pump smells into the village to recreate the stench of Viking days.

The previous time I visited York was on a day trip with my parents and two of their friends when I was 10 or 11. That visit I mainly remember for my dad blocking the train toilet with a massive steamer, and the kid who went in after him bursting out of the loo to go and get his friend to see it, because he couldn't believe the size. My mum made my dad go and get rid of it. To this day, I still don't know how he managed it. Coincidentally, there's a massive fossilised Viking turd on display in the Jorvik Centre. Must be a York thing.

We filmed in a few of the touristy areas, which presented its own challenges - as you'll see - but we also managed to get to some fascinating places that aren't necessarily on the tourist map. Also, if you happen to visit York and decide to use the Park & Ride, don't go via Rawcliffe Bar. It's right next to a sewerage treatment plant, and I ended up retching on the walk from the car to the bus.

Wasn't great that our Airbnb was downwind of it either, so we had to have the windows closed.

Oh, York!