Day 11 - York

We had a nice, relaxed day in York. After a great breakfast, we walked into the city to tour the minster. The sun was out and the sky was bright blue; another great day in England. I love York Minster. It's the granddaddy of cathedrals to me. The pillars, ceiling, central tower, and choir screen are still amazing and the chapter house ceiling continues to give me goosebumps when I see it. I loved being able to experience this with a different set of travel companions this trip! A bonus is that the Undercroft and Treasury were open this time. Both are located under the minster where there are exhibits and artifacts. 50 years ago, it was discovered that the central tower was in grave danger of collapsing. The Normans were limited in how deep they could dig when they were first building their church. Bedrock in York is 70 feet down and the Normans could only get down about 30 feet. They had to make due and so they dug, filled the hole with trees and stone, then laid their foundation. After 900 years, the trees had rotted and the tower was collapsing upon itself. New concrete piers and stainless steel nuts and bolts were installed and both can be viewed in the Undercroft. Since their installation, the tower hasn't even moved a millimeter.

After our tour of the minster, we went to Pizza Express for lunch. If we had these in America, I would be a frequent customer, which would probably be detrimental to my waistline. Next up was a stop at Clifford's Towerwhich was part of the York Castle. I affords great views of York and includes tiny spiral staircases to climb and descend.

The rest of the day we wandered through and around the varied shops of the town and ended up getting a pint in a pub I the Shambles. The Shambles is an area where the butchers of York used to work. The buildings are very close to each other and lean out over the street. At 7:30, we took a ghost walking tour which was outstanding, a late dinner, then we hit the bed. A very fun, relaxing day in one of my favorite towns.

 

Day 10 - Whitby and York

*Due to slow Internet speeds in the Lake District and Whitby, this post has been delayed.*

Our lodging in Whitby is in a haunted lodge, but unfortunately no one reported seeing any specters overnight. Whitby is a harbor village that's hilly and easy to get around. We walked into the city centre then across a bridge to where the streets narrow and many unique stores can be found. After walking a bit, we reached the famous steps up to the abbey. One of Whitby's most famous, but brief, residents was Braum Stoker; the Abbey and these steps play into the Dracula story. The village has embraced this connection and it's become somewhat of a Gothic/horror haven, especially during their annual festival. Due to time restrictions, we weren't able to climb the steps, but we did enjoy our morning walk!

After checking out, we headed over to Whitby Abbey. It's perched high on a hill above the village and is a ruin. This is one of my favorite abbeys. I love the different color stone that can be seen, the view out over the North Sea, and I marvel that this much has survived for so long, especially having been targeted by the Germans in WWII.

We skipped lunch today in order to get to York, a favorite highlight of any trip to England. After getting into town and parking the car, we headed to Betty's for afternoon tea. Betty's serves the tea in silver (stainless) pots with white china plates and cups, and the scones are served on a three tier serving trolley/tower. All very proper.

After tea, we head to York Minster, the crowning English cathedral in my opinion, for choral Evensong. This was a special service three years ago and I'm happy to say it was just as magical today. The choir was made up of men and boys ranging from 6 or 7 to 50+. There are about 20 members of the choir and when they open up, they hit notes and volumes that make the hair on my hairs stand up. I loved the fact that we sang a closing hymn along with the choir and for a brief moment, I too was a York choir member...ha! After checking into our B&B we walked back into town to get dinner at Cafe Rouge. Unfortunately after a 40 minute walk, we discovered that it was closed for remodeling! However, we found a French restaurant across the street and ended up having one of the beat meals ever! A perfect way to wrap up a perfect day in England. Tomorrow our schedule is open as we tour York and pretty much do whatever we want in this great town.