Three Days in York

Arriving on Tuesday afternoon, my family dropped our bags at the hotel and walked the mile and a half to the main city of York. Entering at Micklegate Bar--the southern entry gate of the walled city--we wandered around the old city for a bit before stepping up and walking atop the city's stone wall.

Sort of in the middle of York is a large grassy hill arising from the paved streets, and on top of the hill stands Clifford's Tower, the ancient stone keep of York Castle (which, itself, is long gone). The original dates back to 1068. My mother, brother, and I paid a few pounds to get into Clifford's Tower, which was quite small, but held quite a bit of history and offered a great view of the city once we climbed to the top balcony.

Clifford's Tower

Around 6pm, we headed back to the hotel to meet up with my nana and granddad for dinner and to hear about their time at the Yorkshire Museum's Richard III exhibition.

Wednesday was another unusually gorgeous day. Everyone spent the morning relaxing and reading after breakfast, but near noon we headed off into York once more.

Winding up many of the small, cobblestone backstreets--many of which are too narrow for cars--my family headed to York Minster, the beautiful cathedral whose towers loom above the rest of the city. Inside, we walked around the cathedral quietly, admiring the decorative architecture and the enormous stained glass windows (one of which dates back to the year 1408!). Personally, the huge organ was the most impressive to me: it must have stood about 80 feet high. At the base of the organ, the architects had carved 15 English kings into the stone, starting with William the conqueror.

Happily, we also climbed one of the towers of York Minster. To get to the top, though, required clambering up 275 spiral staircase steps. Those corkscrew staircases are actually a bit scary, as the stairs are a little worn and quite small. It definitely wasn't a climb for anyone who was claustrophobic. By the end, my mom was quite dizzy with all the spiraling up.

The view from the top of the cathedral, however, was totally worth it. You could see completely across the city in all directions.

By the time we had descended those windy spiral steps, it had started to rain. We scurried across the city to Jorvik Viking Center, an exhibit detailing the  1976-1981 archeological dig throughout the city that revealed well-preserved evidence of Vikings. They discovered coins, skeletons, wells, pottery, and woodwork among other various things.

For dinner, we all walked through the drizzle to a local pub.

Thursday was slightly less touristy than the previous two days: we didn't really visit any attractions, but just walked around exploring.

Lunch was so good that I have to mention it. We went to Lucia's on a local's recommendation. It's tucked into a corner side street, only accessible by walking. I had a fantastic chicken-and-mushroom risotto and shared a caesar salad with my mom. I also had a delicious raspberry cocktail (why not? I'm legal here in England!).

Our next stop was to wander around the Shambles, a cute little ancient street that was actually rebuilt in the early 1400s (imagine something being rebuilt in the 1400s! In the U.S., I don't think there is anything that was built the first time in the 1400s!). There, we bought some fudge in a little shop after watching some of the shop workers starting to make another batch of fudge. There were also little jewelry shops, tea shops, and picture shops on the Shambles.

 

 

Later, my mother and I met my nana for a cream tea near York Minster. It's a tradition now that the three of us have a cream tea while on holiday. It's lovely--a warm scone with clotted cream and strawberry jam, complimented with a pot of earl grey.

Dinner was again at the local pub. Afterwards, my mom and I walked down to the horse racing track behind our hotel and took a nice stroll by the setting sun.

And this morning, we left York.

We're staying in Windsor now, just a few minutes drive from the airport. Tomorrow morning, I am flying to France!!

I really can't believe it. Someone pinch me?