Argh

So it's been a week since I went to York and I have yet to write a summary of the trip. So this is going to be quick and dirty. I'll add pictures when I get back to my room (I am working a beast of 8 hours in the library at school today - a pretty low key job).

But here it goes...YORK!

Friday - My travel buddy, a girl named Safire, and I catch the early (8:10) shuttle into Grantham. I should mention that on Friday, I had been sick for two days. I was feeling a little better, but I definitely sounded like a man. So Safire and I hit up Boots (CVS/Walgreens to all those States-side). I buy cough syrup and "black lozenges of death" - black cough drops that are AMAZING. We head back to the train station and get some coffee and sit and wait for our train. I decide that this would be a good time to take my cough syrup. Note: If in the UK, buy kid's medicine. The cough syrup tasted like liquefied black licorice - a flavor I do not enjoy at all. So I manage to get what I think is a dose down into my stomach...but man, it was difficult. The train comes, we hop on board. Now, Safire and I bought our tickets through the train website pretty much back to back, but we were at opposite ends of the car. That's cool. I sit at a table facing two people. No one sits next to me! We ride for about 30 minutes and get off at Doncaster. We find the next platform and stand for the next train. At this point, a cute little old lady kind of stands awkwardly close to us. A man (assuming, her son) stands next to her. She turns and asks something about going to York. I say something because her accent was ridiculously strong, and Safire and I had to ask her about 3 times what she says. But yes, we answer, we're going to York too. She goes "Americans!" excitedly and ask us if this our first visit about. We say yes, and she just gets really excited! Too cute. The man/son with her mumbles sorry and something about her talking to anybody, but we quickly informed him that we didn't mind. She was such a sweetheart.

We get on the train. I locate my seat with some difficulty, but I do manage to find it. I sit down next to the classic example of "the absent-minded professor". He was old (hearing aids old), and he muttered to himself the whole 45 minute train ride and wrote out math notes longhand. I just looked out the window. We arrive in York! The train station has an info station where we pick up a free map, and we set out to walk around the city. It's about 11:30, and we told our hostel that we would check in around 1. So we have some down time to just wander. And wander we do. We walk along the Roman walls, find the ruins of an Anglo-Saxon church that also served as a hospital. We eventually walk the way of our hostel - it's a mile outside the walls of the city. It's not a bad walk.

The hostel staff is super nice, letting us check in early and all. We claim our beds, leave our stuff, and take a different route back to the city. There's a path along the river that's much shorter, and we wind our way past football (read: soccer) and rugby pitches. Lots of people out with dogs. We find the center of the city and a sign for a free walking tour. Being college students, Safire and I are not going to pass up a free tour. The guide is very nice, and our group was very diverse with Australians, Britains, and an Icelandic person. The tour takes us everywhere in the city: the walls, ruins of St. Mary's Abbey destroyed in the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the Shambles (old butcher road still pretty much in the same condition from the middle ages), around the outside of the Minster. It was really good.

We finish the tour and are very hungry. We wander down by the river, figuring there are pubs and places to eat. We are so right. We find one, duck in, and order fish, chips, and two pints of Guinness. A perfect dinner. We sit and enjoy being off our feet for awhile. The sun goes down, time ticks away, and it's time for our only really "planned" event in York: a ghost walk.

The tour guide is perfect: he has a radio voice and has the stories down to a performing art. It's wonderful. Not too creepy, but it was historical based, so I got a little freaked out. It was cool to see the city lit up at night, too. The tour finishes, and we high-tail it back to our hostel. Luckily, the road is well-trafficked and lit so we arrive with no problem.

We sleep. And I crash. I got the top bunk, being taller than Saffire, and the bed is built up around the mattress like a coffin. It is kind of strange, but I am so tired that I pass out quickly. We wake up the next morning, strip down the beds per requested, get dressed (no shower!) and head down for free breakfast. They have REAL coffee (drip coffee) with REAL cream, not the crap that comes out of a machine here at school.

Anyway. We walk along the river again back into the city, and lots of people and dogs are out. It was a beautiful morning; we lucked out with the weather the entire weekend. We go to the Minster and go in. My goodness. What a beautiful church. I love the churches here; we usually spend like four hours in them. We pay to go in, and right in time too: there was a string ensemble giving a free concert. It was amazing to walk around, looking at this breathtaking and historic church, listening to live music. They even played Pachabel's Canon in D, a song that usually drives me nuts, but this time brought tears to my eyes. In the Minster, there are huge panels of stained glass. The Rose Window is there, as is the Heart of Yorkshire. The giant East Window that tells the story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation was being restored, but they had some panels in boxes scattered around the Minster.

We also paid to go into the undercroft and tombs under the Minster. Underneath was a Roman road and well and walls to the original Roman military base built in York, the foundations of the Anglo-Saxon church, and other various artifacts. The tombs have various archbishops' memorials and tombs and also have the base of Roman columns. It was mindblowing to think that some of these artifacts and building traces were seen by Constantine when he came to York. Wow!

After spending a solid three hours in the Minster, our stomachs were grumbling at us. We head off to find some lunch. We manage to find a parish hall that served light lunch and tea items, with tables out underneath the trees. Did I mention this was still in the middle of York? Safire and I arethe only Americans - it was so cool. I get scones and tea for 1.50. It isfilling and so relaxing just to sit with the "locals" and enjoy some food. We walk around a bit more, just looking and enjoying York. We find the Viking church, a tiny little stone building nestled down near the river. We make it back down to the river and delightfully discover that there is a regatta! We sit down and watch rowers practicing for the afternoon races. After seeing some adorable children and awesome dogs, we stand to leave. As we walk back to the train station, ice cream catches our eye - Magnum Bars are a must if ever in the UK! We board the train, this time changing in Leeds. We catch the last shuttle from Grantham back to school.

It was a perfect weekend trip, and I really enjoyed the city. It's small enough to walk around easily, but there was so much to do! And it was nice just to wander around and see what York has to offer.

Yesterday, I went on a school-organized trip to Coventry and Stratford, but my hands grow tired of typing. So I promise to update before my next big trip on Wednesday: five days in Ireland!

Until then!