Long time no post! I will try to do better. To be honest, this York blog was started awhile back, but I got bogged down in trying to describe everything and didn't like what I was writing. Well, change of plan! I will just say that we had a wonderful and fun time in York, and in particular meeting up with our fellow Canadians - Skot, Tammy, Harper, Grace, and Chloe - who helped make our visit just that much more special. As for what we did and what we saw, I will subscribe to the "picture paints a thousand words" theory and just show you all instead. York is one of our most favourite cities anywhere, so I hope you enjoy sharing the sights with us.
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| After our fairly late arrival at our hotel, and after we dined on elk balls (well, meatballs made from elk - what were you thinking??), we headed over to Clifford's Tower, the scene of a horrible massacre, the details of which I will spare you. Still, at night it looks lovely perched on its own little hill. |
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| The view from our hotel room, early the next day. Even though there were clubs below us across the street, the hotel was wonderfully quiet. |
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| What better way to start a day than with a visit to some lovely abbey ruins? Works fine for us! |
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| Traditional cemetary, you might say... |
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| ...or a slightly different take - above ground for the slightly more claustrophobic, I assume. |
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| A beautiful morning indeed. |
The following are just some shots of some of the interesting buildings around town.
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| Your eyes aren't deceiving you - the front of the white building does tend to slope downward. Taken in The Shambles. |
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| Part of TheShambles, one of the few traditional, narrow streets left in the UK. It was a street full of butchers and other trades and, in its day, was one rather stinky place! Much nicer now, particularly if you like sharing space with other tourists. |
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| No lens distortion here - the front really does sag. |
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| For some reason, Rick really likes this place. Perhaps it is because his initials are RAM. This is the Golden Fleece. |
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| Don't have anything to say about this, but felt I should write something, so this is it. |
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| This is a private college building. Last time we were here, you could go inside and into the courtyard, but they are doing some renovations, so no such luck this time. |
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| This is not our hotel, although it looks like a nice place to stay. It is near the railway station, so ha probably served a lot of weary travellers in its time. |
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| See below for a photo. York was inhabited by the Vikings for a period of time, hence the Scandanavian name. |
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| Not looking too bad considering it is almost 700 years old! |
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| When in York, it is always fun to remember that you are within a walled city and that most parts of the wall are still walkable. You can start at one of the original entry gates. |
And now...York Minster!! It is one of the finest cathedrals in existence.
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| Patron saints of headless semaphore senders, ping pong players, or discus throwers. Your choice. |
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| There was a choir rehearsal going on in here. It was lovely. |
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| We are now in the crypt or undercroft. I forget the terminology. |
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| A fox. I'm not sure why, but there it is. |
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| I'm guessing that this is St. Art Garfunkel. Could be wrong. |
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| The cathedral in golden light. Amazing. |
And so, one day ends and another begins...
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| Good night to the happy wanderers. |
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| And good morning to the foggy wanderers. The two photos above are from roughly the same point on a bridge over the River Ouse (we have heard it rhymes with "ooze." Lovely. |
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| On our way to the railway museum via part of the walls around the city. |
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| A demonstration of how a turntable works in a roundhouse. |
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| One of the largest engines ever built in Britain. It was shipped to China and, when it fulfilled its usefulness, was shipped back to the UK. |
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| These two photos show cutaways of parts of the engines in steam trains. We found them rather impressive examples of engineering. |
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| Some of the older cars will just have to accept that they are downright cute. |
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| No photo can begin to convey the impressive size of this museum. |
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| Gotta love an Art Deco engine! |
People! Here are some photos of our motley crew.
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| A pub lunch in always good. Food did arrive. Honest. |
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| When in England, it is always time for tea. |
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| The three exchangees - Skot, Rick, and Grace. |
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| You must be this tall to board this train. Harper misjudges. |
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| Lunch underground. Our group on the left. |
And finally, the leftovers.
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| We are being watched. |
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| We could have provided a real dog to do this job. |
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| Lovely strawberries at the open air market. |
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| At an outdoor cafe. |
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| No engine left behind at the train museum. |
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| Baaaaa! |
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| We are being watched, part two. Rick discovered strange eyes staring at him from this tabletop. |
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| Be sure to stock up so you will be healthy, bright-eyed and slim! |
