York for the day!

Well I did it, I finally travelled somewhere on my own, just me, myself and I.  I went to York on Saturday morning to walk around the town for the day.  Traveling by myself definitely had its ups and downs.  One the one hand, I could do WHATEVER I wanted and didn’t make anyone wait for me when I wanted to go shopping.  But it would have been nice to have the occasional conversation with someone especially when I saw something funny.  O well, it was definitely a fun day! 

Morning started out a little rough.  Friday night I had met up with some of Davids friends for dinner and drinks.  We joked that it was a United Nations dinner because of the 12 of us at dinner, we were from 10 different countries.  There was only 3 guys at the table so it was so wonderful to have female interaction.  I had a great time meeting all of the girls.  I just hope I get to see them again soon.  They took me to a bar afterwards that was right on the canal and it was pretty cool.  Thank goodness I didn’t get too drunk or I may have fallen in the river when trying to walk on the cobblestone.  J  I went home around midnight since I knew I had to be up for my 8am train. 

Saturday morning was a bit hectic because I felt like I was going to miss my train.  Luckily I made it on time after a short sprint (and intense speed walk) to the train station.  The train ride was 3 hours so I watched the country side go by.  Its so beautiful, just luscious green grass everywhere.  I tried to take a picture but the glare off the window was no good. 

When I finally made it to York, I went to the cathedral in the city centre.  It’s a pretty famous church and definitely beautiful.  I was told to climb the tower to the top of the church.  I was warned about the number of steps but it was definitely much worse than warned.  It was 275 steps to the middle level and then easily double or triple that to the very top.  I was the first one to start up the steps so I felt I had to go as fast as possibly, bad idea!! 

Middle Level - how did they build these?! 

By the time I made it to the very top I was definitely.  The views from the top were pretty cool but due to the fog you couldn’t see very far.  Once I walked around the top, I had to head back down the stairs.  I don’t know what was worse, walking up or down.  The stairs were so narrow, you couldn’t fit your foot on the step straight on.  By the time I made it down, my legs were shaking and wouldn’t stop!  (My legs still hurt 2 days later!!)

Ahh those stairs!! 

View from the top
 

 

After the tower, I wandered around the city to see what I could find.  I went to the Clifford tower which was part of the Castle (Castle isnt there anymore) and then headed to lunch for a proper British meal.  I had beef rib pie which is shredded beef under a puff pastry.  Oh my goodness, it was so good!!  And the craft beer made it 10 times better.  After lunch, I satisfied my need for some shopping and picked up a few things.  Oh yes, I picked up some chocolate truffles and they are delicious. 

Cool Band Playing in City, love that they all wore kilts

                         Clifford Tower

I ended the day on a brewery tour and picked up a 4 pack of some local beer.  Oh yes and walked around the city walls.  York is similar to Chester in that it has the remains of roman walls around the city.   I probably could have skipped the walls but I felt i should compare the two.  Chester is better!  I headed back to the train station a little early but I was exhausted after 6 hours of walking around and just wanted to sit.  I guess I was pretty tired because I fell asleep on the train and had to be woken up by the guy cleaning the train.  Pretty embarrassing to have to be woken up by a guy my age with my mouth open and possibly drooling.   

That’s it for now but I will have more for you Wednesday.  I am scheduled to go on a walk through the countryside Tuesday night so I will fill you in then.