York

Yesterday we returned from a weekend in York. It's in northern England, and is a common halfway stop between London and Edinburgh. It's east and a little to the north of Manchester and Liverpool. York was high on Margo's list of places to visit. It has a large medieval town center, and a unique history of both Roman and Viking occupation. (I later saw a statue of the emperor Constantine outside the cathedral; he was made Emperor while in York, such a far place from Rome.) And it's partial inspiration for New York.

Margo took her Friday off, and she and Sarah started driving in the early afternoon. I took a train from London. Starting from Kings Cross station, I passed Emirates Stadium, home of the Arsenal football club, and later passed through Stevanage, Grantham, Newark, and Doncaster.

I arrived not long after Margo and Sarah - they had to endure long waits in traffic due to construction. We met at our bed and breakfast and then walked into town, getting dinner at a Pizza Express in an old building with high ceilings, and with a hen party in front and a group of teen girls in the rear, the acoustics meant we were nearly shouting to hear each other.

Most of our exploring took place on Saturday. After full English breakfasts for Margo and myself and porridge for Sarah, we walked into town to see our first destination, the York Minster Cathedral which dominates the city, and is the largest Gothic cathedral in northern Europe.



We toured the inside, and then split off. Margo and Sarah went downstairs to tour the undercroft, but it's boring and I'm sure you'd much rather read about my climb up to the top of the central tower. The climb was up 275 steps spiralling up narrow stone columns. Unlike other cathedrals we've climbed, this used the same route up and down, so visitors were staged in half hour intervals as it was too narrow for people to pass.



Outside the cathedral, we split up again, Margo choosing to wander the shops in town, and Sarah and I going to visit the National Railway Museum. I got this shot along the way, looking back.



Also along the way, we were able to follow some of the remaining Roman wall. Here Sarah is drawing her bow against attackers.



Inside the museum, we quickly made our way to The Yorkshire Wheel, a large enclosed carousel on the grounds. I thought it would be good to ride this earlier before it got busy as the morning progressed. Sarah didn't like her picture taken,



but I did manage to capture other aerial views.



Then we toured the museum. The Great Hall included many trains from English rail history as well as some modern ones like the Eurostar and a bullet train from Japan. There is also a functioning roundhouse, and an exhibit of model railroading.



Adjacent is "The Works", an area where you can see trains being restored.



We phoned Margo and met her at the tea room she was ensconced in, then we wandered to find some lunch. We ended up in a pub at the Guy Fawkes Inn, housed in the building in which Fawkes was born. The real ales on tap were quite tasty, and we enjoyed a relaxing time with a newspaper next to a smouldering fireplace.



Sarah wanted to take some pictures and asked me to sit in the throne-like chair next to our table, so I obliged.



By now it was early afternoon and, with full bellies, we walked back to our room and had monster naps. I remember snoring loudly enough to wake me up, and thinking, "Wow, that was really loud", so for a joke I remember saying "Wow, that was really loud", and then rolling over and falling back asleep.

We woke up late afternoon and split up. Margo and Sarah went to the cathedral to take in an evensong service, and I went exploring. I started by walking the Museum Gardens, a large park of meandering paths among more pieces of Roman wall.



The park borders the River Ouse, and I walked back to town along Dame Judi Dench Way (the actress was born in York).



I took some time to explore the high streets, and then met Margo and Sarah outside the cathedral. We crossed the street to have dinner in a family-friendly pub, which unfortunately also meant blander food and drink. Afterward, the others headed back while I popped a few doors down to another pub owned by York Brewery, where I sampled a much tastier Centurion's Ghost dark ale, and left with a sampler pack of bottles to try later.

In the morning, we enjoyed another full breakfast, checked out, and took in one more attraction: the Jorvik Viking Centre, an interactive exhibition exploring York's Viking history. Most of the exhibit was a "time machine" ride, where our little suspended cars were slowly shuttled past robotic Vikings curing leather, making thatched huts, processing food, and a squinting, grunting man using the outhouse, with appropriate sound effects.

And then it was time for the long drive home. Unfortunately it was a grey, rainy day, so we opted not to look for a side road through the Yorkshire countryside (James_Herriot territory). Instead we got on the A1 south, soon passing the Sherwood Forest and Nottingham before reaching the more familiar areas of Peterborough, Cambridge, Bury St Edmunds and finally Ipswich in the late afternoon.