Day 4 in the UK!

DAY 4-March 10

So, the next morning, we checked out of our hotel around 8:30 and walked to the train station to catch the 9:45 train to York.  You know, for being an English-speaking country, there were still some confusing things to figure out.  Like we got our tickets that said 9:45 to York on them, but the departure screen at the platform said "9:45 Moreton-in-Marsh."  This caused me some alarm since I had no idea where that was and hadn't read anything about that town.  So I sprinted back to the ticket window to clarify--yes, they went to both, but Moreton was the first stop.  I ran back up just in time to jump on the train with Jordan and our baggage.  Whew.  

"Anything from the trolley?"--They just had normal snacks--but if they had had chocolate frogs I would have been ALL over that.

The train ride was lengthy at about 5 hours, but when we got to York we got a blast of pretty frigid air to wake us up.  Brrrr!!!  We found our hotel pretty quickly--it was right on the River Ouse and then we decided to wander through the city up to York Minster, the city's grand cathedral.  On the way, we saw some very charming things, and had to stop for our trip's very first fish and chips!!!!!

Our humble abode- The Queens Hotel

I was kinda cold....our hotel was just to the right of this picture.

This is The Shambles--the street that used to be where the butchers would sell their wares.  Now it looks like Diagon Alley to me.  We came home through this street every time because we loved it so much.  

This place came recommended by Rick Steves and he was NOT wrong.  It was, indeed, delicious.

That's our destination in the distance- the towers of York Minster.

We made it to the cathedral and it was truly a sight to see.  We arrived during Evensong so we were able to listen to a beautiful boys choir sing while we admired the gorgeous architecture and the most medieval stained glass anywhere in one place.

This is the largest Gothic church north of the Alps--540 feet long and 200 feet tall and it seats 2000 comfortably and 4000 pack in on Christmas and Easter.

The front doors.  As I was looking up for the picture, I noticed the ornate carvings around the door....

These depict the story of Adam and Eve and I was particularly captivated by the one in the middle of this picture, with God's hands setting Adam and Eve down in the Garden.  So beautiful and probably overlooked a lot.

From the front doors looking down the nave.

Turning around, the Great West Window contains the nicknamed "Heart of Yorkshire" and it represents the sacred heart of Christ, reminding us of his love for the world.  Can you see it?

These are the female, headless semaphore saints, and are using semaphore flag code to spell  the message: "Christ is here."

This is the choir screen in the center of the church, housing the organ.

Detail of the choir screen- these are the English kings from William the Conqueror to Henry VI and it is slathered in gold leaf.

This is the North Transcept, with "The Five Sisters," the windows dedicated to British women who died in all wars and it was made in 1260.

I thought this painting was beautiful.

Dragon sconces.  Cool.

I enjoyed this door on the way to the Chapter House.

Doors were not built for tall people back then.

This is the ceiling in the Chapter House, where the Parilament met in 1295--the large room has no interior support, which is pretty amazing.

The Minster was amazing and I was so glad we got to go on a Sunday, even though it wasn't a church of our faith.  The music was beautiful.  After that, we started to do a self-guided walk recommended by Rick Steves in our guidebook.  It was great!!

We started in the Museum Gardens Gate to see some beautiful ruins.

These are the ruins of the Abbey Hospital in the 13th century.

This is a 12 sided tower built originally in AD 300 by the Romans.  More on this later.

The ruins of St. Mary's Abbey.  Henry VIII destroyed this an most other Catholic abbeys and took the stones and reused them in other buildings in York.

Then we made our way through our first "snickelway"- a hidden, pedestrian-only, narrow footpath to get somewhere.  Basically secret passages.  And these are ALL OVER York.  My joy was, indeed, full.  We took it to get to Exhibition Square, where it proceeded to snow.  Quite a bit.

A snickelway

Exhibition Square

It's hard to tell how hard it was snowing, but as I can't figure out how to get this video to load properly, you'll have to trust me.  It was seriously snowing.

So we abandoned our walk and went in search of some food.  And found some :)

The Cafe Concerto is literally right across from the York Minster!

Finally getting my first English tea!!

Strawberry and Vanilla-- it was PINK!!! :)

Okay- a few things: first, he's really handsome.  Second, the music on the walls is very cool.  Third, is that woman in the back a literal ghost???!!!!! Holy pale!!

After dinner, we called it a night in the snowy darkness.  We went back to the hotel and slept great-- there is nothing cozier than a snowy night :)