York

      First full day in Leeds and we decided to spend it in a town called York.  However, we didn't get going in the morning until around 10am.  I definitely didn't not get enough sleep as we were up until 1am last night (Craig here, it was closer to 3).  To get to York we took a taxi and the driver spoke maybe 3 sentences to us for the entire 30 minutes.
     By the time we arrived, Emily decided she didn't have enough for breakfast so we went into a restaurant to feed the beast.  Luckily we got there and placed our order (online ordering) just before noon so we could still get the breakfast menu.  I had the best Mango-Apple juice (who knew that was a thing?) which Ryan, Emily and Dad all tried to convince me it had alcohol in it.  Mum wasn't in on it so she ruined the joke (not that I believed them).
     We took the suggestions from the Williams and decided to go to the Shambles and the York Minister Cathedral.  We set off to the Shambles and it was so cool! The streets were narrow and made of cobblestone which dated all the way back to the medieval times. We went into a few shops there and as we got deeper into the streets we saw a huge building over the shops and right there a few streets over was the York Minister Cathedral.  It was huge. Mum loved it and was making sure we got lots of pictures. It really was an amazing building.  Sadly, we didn't have time to tour it.
     Another thing suggested to us was a castle that was in the town and since we hadn't yet seen a castle, off we went to find it.  We were distracted along the way by some more shops, buildings, and a street performer who was on a tight rope playing a fiddle.  Eventually we found the castle.  It wasn't hard to miss considering it was a bit of rubble on top of a hill.  It was really cool but since it was New Year's Day it was closed :(.
     Around 3 we decided it was time to head back but we had a problem.  How were we going to get back in Leeds? Taxi? Too expensive.  Uber? Not allowed .  Our only option left was to take the train back into Leeds which wasn't that bad, just a 30 minute train ride.  We got back into Leeds and got the same Uber guy as yesterday.  I think him and Dad had a repeat of the same conversation as yesterday.
     When we got back to the Williams house, it had a different feel to it.  Everyone left!  We went from 24 people last night to just us.  Graeme took Ryan and I to hit once more in Leeds before heading to Birmingham tomorrow for the tournament. The club was dead so we actually got the class court that wasn't as hot as a sauna. We did a few drills, a game of cut throat(which I won) and Ryan and I were finishing off with a game when the lights went out. Unfortunately Graemes' iPhone flashlight wasn't cutting it.
     Afterwards, our parents ditched us to go to some pub with Graeme (boring!). Craig here.  It wasn't just some pub.  It was the oldest pub in England and I was introduced to a new beer (Timothy Taylor from Keighley) . Hannah back.  We did meet up after for a lovely dinner at an Italian restaurant, where to Dad's surprise they actually hired real Italians!  So tonight is our last night in Leeds before we all travel to Birmingham tomorrow.  Hopefully it won't be a very late night for us.  Pictures of today can be found here. 
Hannah