York

June 1 Day 25

We're staying at a bed and breakfast in the town of York. This is the first time since the very beginning of our trip that we haven't been in a home, so we feel pretty cramped. The rooms here are pretty small, so there's not much room for anything else beyond the bed. I definitely recommend the self-catering homes when travelling in Europe. The ones that we have stayed in are about the same price of these bed and breakfasts, so it's not any more expensive.

Our Accommodations

York is a very interesting city. It was a fortress in Roman, Anglo-Saxon and Norman times, and continued to be an important town in Medieval times. There was a castle here and a wall built around the city. All that remains of the castle is a tower, but the walls of the city are mostly intact. The walls encircle the old part of the city, which is really quite charming. Some of the streets are really narrow with a hodge-podge of old buildings lining either side of the street. There's no shortage of things to see and do for tourists, and we seem to have hit the city in the middle of England's late midterm break, so there were tons of families here with their kids.

The Castle Tower

These streets of York were certainly an inspiration for Diagon Alley

The gates to the city and walking on the wall

One of the most remarkable sites in the city is the York Minster, which is a giant cathedral, the largest gothic cathedral in northern Europe. Each of the cathedrals that we have seen are quite remarkable, and this is no exceptions. THere are some 100,000 pieces of glass combined to make up the stained-glass windows, more than all of the cathedrals in England combined. The choir was practicing for their evensong while we were at the cathedral, and it really added to the atmosphere.

York Minster

We went to a fun museum that featured English life through the ages, but focused on the Victorian era. There was an actual mock up of a street with shops during the 1800's, complete with horse drawn taxis, gas lamps, the whole works. It felt like we were in the middle of a Sherlock Holmes story.

A nineteenth century taxi

Yorkshire pudding. This is esentially a fluffy pastry covered with gravy. Goes well with roast beef. I believe this completes my list of must-eat things while in Britain.

We are now headed back to the London area for the final 4 days or our trip. It looks like the weather is going to be nice for our last few days in Great Britain.