From the Lake District to Harrogate.

Harrogate is a town where my family and I really enjoyed our daily life　when we lived in England. The first place I wanted to visit was our house. But another family lives there now, so we just sneaked a look from outside. I did sneak a picture, too

While I was quietly taking pictures, a neighbor spotted us. I was so happy that we could meet them and have tea, even though we had not told them that we were coming to the U.K. I was so happy that we could talk so much that I did not feel like I had not seen them for 9 years.

After that, we went to my favorite supermarket, Morrisons.

In Morrisons, the fish is beautiful and delicious. Since that time, they have sold squid and octopus and I used to buy sea bream, sea bass, rainbow trout, etc. When I bought octopus at the cash register, I was often asked how I would eat it. But now, all I see are unmanned cash registers; there are only two registers with cashiers, and I can shop without having to talk to them. I didn’t buy any fish this time, but the fish still looked delicious. I bought some Yorkshire tea and sweets there. There were various kinds of Yorkshire teas, including gold, hard water, and decaf, and they have two sizes each. Naturally, there were tea leaves and also tea bags.

After that, we went to Mother Shipton’s Cave, one of the oldest tourist attractions in England. We used to be able to park the car and enter the cave right away

But now, we enjoyed the attractions (hammering coins into trees, reading a big picture book, etc.) while seeing the nature of the town of Nersborough, and arrived at the cave after about an hour’s walk through the forest. Mother Shipton, a prophetess, was supposedly born in the caves here in 1488. She is said to have made numerous prophecies, including the Great Fire of London and the defeat of the invincible Spanish Armada. The cave has a petrification well, where water rich in minerals such as calcium carbonate and silica petrifies various objects.

Petrified items such as teddy bears, hats, and underwear are on display. Inside the museum, a doll from the Japanese TV program Discover the World  was also petrified.

At the Wishing Well, it is said that you should put your right hand in and say your wish and let that hand dry naturally, so I did that.

It was a very relaxing place. I brought many friends here when I was in the UK, and I think they would enjoy it even more now.

Then we checked into the Hotel Majestic.

We stayed in a very spacious and luxurious room. We had a panoramic view of the city of Harrogate (through the window). We were given freshly baked cookies when we checked in and ate them with Yorkshire tea in our room. It was the English tea time, wasn’t it? I couldn’t stay in the room and decided to walk around the city. First of all, we went to Betty’s Tea Room. It is always crowded there. It always seems to be crowded here. The teas there are very good, so I bought three kinds. It was as nice as I remembered. The streets of Harrogate have not changed at all. All  of the buildings were the same. Unfortunately, all the stores we liked (boutiques, , bookstore, music store, shopping centers…) were gone.

For dinner, we went to our favorite restaurant “Boar’s Head” near Ripley Castle. It looks the same as before. The food was much better than before. However, we could not understand the female waitress’s Yorkshire English at all. But it doesn’t matter. Eating England food made us happy.

On the second day in Harrogate, we started early in the morning with a walk in the park. We were lucky because we could go inside the Harrogate Royal Hall, where my family often went to see the opera and ballet. It was really gorgeous.

After that, we met my English mom, who had taken care of my children in England, for lunch. We enjoyed chatting. After that, we went to York. This town is a tourist town, so it was full of people. Especially the Harry Potter store, the wizard store, and the Yobic Center, where you can learn about the history of the city, had long lines. We walked along the city walls and looked around the city of York, which reminded us of those days.

Dinner was Chinese food. I really wanted to eat crispy duck. My family often ate it, and they loved it. Peking duck is only the skin, but crispy duck is the meat and the skin. The way to eat it is the same as Peking duck-wrapped in a pancake with other fillings. It was still delicious.

I tried to use cash that was 9 years old, because there was a notice that if I paid cash, I would get 10% off, but was surprised to be told that I could not use these bills because they were too old. In Japan, I could use any old bill.

When I asked an AI about it, he told me that old bills are made of only paper, and new bills are made of plastic. Later I asked my friend and she told me that any bank would exchange them. But I decided to keep them because I like Queen Elizabeth more than Charles.

On the third day, we went to Leeds, where we used to live before Harrogate. I also snapped a picture of our old house in Leeds.

Actually, I lived there for 6 months and during that time I was robbed 6 times. So that’s why I moved to Harrogate. (The first Englishman I spoke to when I moved to England was a policeman. The first trouble came on the second day after we moved in).

I drove to my daughter’s private school, Harewood House, Sainsbury supermarket. Tesco supermarket, and so on. (This was my daily route. I would take my daughter to school in Leeds, then take my son to school in Harrogate in circles every day)

Then we arrived in Stoke-on-Trent. It is a pottery town.

I hadn’t been there in 28 years. Everything had changed. There are no factory stores like there used to be. There were fewer factory stores than there used to be, and they sold fewer items than they used to sell. It was very downsized and I could feel the change of the times.

Dinner was at the “Box Tree” in Ilkley where we sometimes went before, which became a three-star Michelin restaurant. The food was delicious, the service was excellent, and the building and decorations were superb! Unfortunately, I could not understand a word the female waitress said. But I will never forget that we were able to have dinner in such a beautiful atmosphere.

So, our few days of reminiscing about our daily life in Harrogate were over in a flash.

Next up is a record of our trip as we head towards the highlights of this trip.

Enjoy.

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