York

Today started out a little cloudy then became sunny and warm, it was a nice change from dreary London. We are staying in a B&B this time and had a lovely breakfast then went out. Sunrise and sunset are much earlier/later here in York so I was awake too early and starving. When we got back to the area around the Minster it was such a relief that it was quieter after the crowds last night, we could actually walk the narrow streets without bumping into people. All the things we are visiting here in York are in a very small area surrounded by the wall we walked last night. The Cathedral or Minster is on one side with small, narrow streets winding half-hazardly towards the river. I love names of the streets: High Petergate, Low Petergate, Swinegate, Goodramgate, Stonegate, Deangate. The York Castle museum is on the other side of the streets, so it is very walkable. No public transportation this time. The first thing we did was visit the Viking museum. There had been a settlement here hundreds of years ago. The museum was a little Disney-ish but good. We went to the York Castle museum next and we all liked it much better. They had created a real Victorian street with shops and sounds of the time period. We then walked through some of the streets we missed. One of them, called the Shambles, was so narrow a car couldn't drive it. We ended up at the Minster to watch Evensong in the afternoon. We were able to sit in the wooden stalls in the choir section. It was very interesting and the choirs voices were beautiful. After resting a bit in our rooms we went for Indian food, which Allen and I had never had. I'm a fan now, it was so good! We all shared but I liked mine the best. I had chicken Tikka Masala. I loved the coconut/sweet flavor.

The Shambles

Clifford Tower, part of the old castle