Day 20 - Saturday 28/09/2013 Clifford's Tower and York Castle Museum

The weather on England, or at least York, has been brilliant. Perfect for walking around and exploring. We had another full day in York - there is so much to do amd see. We had breakfast, and then caught the bus in to York. Our first port of call was Clifford's Tower. It's obviously very old, and the walls have a slight slant on them which seems to have a strange effect on the men in my life.

Clifford's Tower, York

View down inside the tower

First my Dad, in 2008, and now MOH. They seem to think that it's unsafe and could collapse at any moment, and hold on for dear life. My assurances that we wouldn't be allowed to walk around the top of tthe tower if it was unsafe, and suggestion that holding on to the railing wasn't going to help if it did collapse, fell on deaf ears. Needless to say, STS and I had an enjoyable time at MOH's expense. Sorry MOH.

Narrow, spiral staircase inside the Tower

Inside the small chapel, half way up

View of York from the tower

The York Castle Museum, across the way was great. Lots of interactive displays, and I particularly enjoyed the Victorian street, with it's various shops. There are shop keepers who interact with you, and now you can walk in behind the shops, to see and hear life as it was in the 1800's.

The Victorian street

One of the shop windows

The experience changes as night falls, and the upstairs candle lights come on, and then it rains - or at least it sounds like it is. We learnt more about dick Turpin, who was a notorious character, and spent time in the original jail which houses the museum now.

One of the characters telling her story in the jail

By this time we are hungry, so we walk around the wall to the Fish and Chip Shop that I went to last time with my Dad. He had also been there on a previous visit. We walked around the wall further until we found somewhere to sit and enjoy our meal. In fact my STS is enjoying his fish and chips nearly every day so far, in York.

View from the Fish and Chip shop

We walked off some of our lunch with some more brousing of shops, the market, and of course the Shambles again. I found an interesting button shop. We caught the bus back to our accommodation for a meal and some down time. I also had an opportunity to catch up on some clothes washing.

The Shambles, York

 

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Day 19 - Friday 27/09/2013 York

We had a cooked English breakfast, yum, and then caught the bus to York - it's only a 10 minute journey usually, but due to roadworks, we take a different, slightly longer route.

The Shambles, York

So many things to do and see that we don't know where to start. At the moment there is the York Food and Drink Festival, so we wander through the stalls, looking at the local produce. I buy a small pork pie - something I've always wanted to try, and will eat it later. There are lots of tempting foods including Arbroath smokies, Scottish salmon, huge hog roasts, Wensleydale cheese amongst others, Yorkshire sausages (more than a foot long), fudge and cupcakes, wines and beers, etc. etc. etc. lots of tempting aromas.

The York Minster - part thereof

The market led us to my favourite part of York, the Shambles. We scour the shops, looking for a particular duck ornament, without success unfortunately, but enjoyed the shops and atmosphere along he way.

York Minster from Starbuck's

STS enjoys a milkshake at a chocolate shop, and we continue on to the York Minster. Still an impressive structure, but it's difficult to get it all in a photo!

Stonegate, close to the teddy bear shop

A coffee and hot chocolate at Starbuck's gave me a toilet opportunity. There are not many decent public toilets in York - my only grumble.

Interesting buildings, York

Down the road I found a teddy bear shop, and bought a Merrythought teddy - to keep my Steiff company on the way home. I asked if they would be interested in looking at my bears, with a view to selling them in their shop, and they suggested I contact them with more information, and go from there. This could be a good opportunity for me.

On the Roman wall

Our next stop is the sportswear shop, but unfortunately they don't keep any West Ham shirts (for FTS - first teenage son). Apparently we are too far north for London teams, although they did have Chelsea and Arsenal shirts. We'll have to look elsewhere.

Up and down the steps

Sausage rolls for lunch - 4 for a pound - and then to the Yorvik viking centre. It's an interesting display and lots of fascinating information that has been gleaned from the remains that have been unearthed.

We had another look at the markets, and headed to the roman wall for a walk along the top.

View near our bus stop

My feet are playing up again, so we catch the bus back to the hotel, have a nice meal, and a wine or two, at the pub, and then back to our room for some blogging.

MOH sends a message to his brother - GO HAWKS! for Saturday. We're trying to find out how he will be able to watch the game, which will be at about 6:00am local time.

Since writing this post we have found out from MOH's brother, that Hawthorn actually won the AFL Grand Final for 2013!

Bloody Ripper! - from MOH

 

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