Yorking, Caving, and Chipping, oh my

Greetings from our UK office! Which I must say, is smaller, but lots brighter than our office at home--many more windows, which I won't expound about how much I envy.

Since last I posted, I did get myself to York. Of course, I missed the first train (they only stop for a minute) but I went through Derby (say it DAR-by)on a train bound for Scotland-- and got there a mere hour later that I was supposed to.

I had a picnic lunch in the very crowded market square, and watched all kinds of people. I'm amazed how many tourists there were. Every set that walked by had a different accent, a few with an entirely different language. It's amazing how international a place that is so English can get.

In the process of finding a nice tree to eat under, I lost the map that I had purchased at the station. So I was a bit lost...so I found the tourist infomation office, admitted that I was a lost tourist, and she gave me a free map, and told me where to go to get the best view from the walls.

So York is an ancient city--so old it has walls around it. And the walls are still intact so the tourists can take a leisurely stroll around most of the city and see the spires and rooftops. It provides a beautiful view and very good exercise. It also provides plenty of stairs to trip over and vast opportunity to go the wrong way. But any way I went, it was very pretty--even when I was on the other side of the city from the train station. But more on that later.

After tripping down the stairs at the far end of the wall (gracefully, of course..)I made my way through the narrow streets in the center of town to locate the Shambles. I love that word.. Shambles--gives you the idea that you should be able to amble along quite nicely. And on a day in March or April you may be able to--but these tiny narrow streets that have a dozen tea rooms and tiny knicknack kind of shops, were quite packed with tourists--all trying to find their way--either that or standing in line to have afternoon tea. I popped into a bookshop (another English phrase that I love) and perused the shelves for a little while. Fun, but I'm still looking for a really good used bookshop to find dusty copies of literature classics--so it wasn't quite what I was looking for.

So I made my way out of the Shambles and the Market squares (not before trying on a hat or two, but alas to no avail) to go to the York Castle Museum. It was on the list of things to see that Mandy had given me, and I was hoping the line was shorter than the one for the Viking museum. It was, and into the castle I went.

Maybe if I had never read a period novel, all the displays in this museum would have been just boring--but the displays of the 18th and 19th century living rooms and gowns and! oh it was fascinating. I could completely imagine the characters from my favorite novels sitting at the pianoforte, or wearing the blue silk wedding gown...or traipsing around in the silk slippers.

The funny thing about this museum is that it already has a head start for future generations. The display on the history of kitchens goes all the way up to modern day kitchens--so museum goers a hundred years from now will see how we lived. I guess I just never think of things that occured in the past 50 years or so as being historic, and museum worthy, you know? There's a whole hallway devoted to the culture of the 1960s--things my parents lived through, I find odd being in a museum. (I guess it should make them happy I don't think of them as being that old)

After the museum, I needed to head to the train station. I had already missed the train that I was supposed to take back--and I wanted to take the next one. So I headed off in search of some more city walls--which I found and made my way onto them. Took a few pictures, thought I was making progress, until I found myself at Walmgate, which when I looked at my map was in the opposite direction of the train station.

By this time, I had wandered all around the city, on the walls, through the castle--all with my backpack. I was weary. And to find that I was probabably two miles from where I needed to be made me even wearier. So I went back up the stairs and stopped in the little coffee shop above the gate below. (what a fascinating place for a coffee shop---actually in the city walls) Had a J20 (which, thanks to Mandy, I knew was a juice drink) and a muffin and got my bearings. I also texted Mandy to let her know that I had missed the train and gone the wrong way, but I would let them know when I knew which train I was going to take. I asked directions and the guys at the coffee bar told me that to cut through the city and make a left at the minster would be my best bet. So after my refreshments, I headed off.

I'm kind of glad they sent me that way--because I got to see lots of things I missed--like the minster. No, not a minister--a minster. I know you yanks have no idea what a minster is---it's a really really really big church. I think there may be a requirement of bells or chimes or a certain number of stain glass windows--but it was massive--and beautiful. I took a few photos.. and marvelled that I had missed it in my travels, and headed on north and west toward the railway station.

The walkways heading out where so crowded (what with tourists and the business crowd getting out of work) that I just took my camera and held it out and snapped a few shots of the river and bridge and gardens (which came out pretty good) I finally arrived at the station, asked someone for which train I should take (through Derby again) and waited.

While on the train, I texted Mandy's husband to let him know which train I was on--and about a minute later, my phone rings. It's Mandy asking me where I was. I told her, she said that Adrian didn't get my text (and neither did she earlier)and was wondering when I was coming back. When I finally got in to Nottingham, I find that Adrian has been waiting for me at the station since 5, and she had been thinking I had been mugged or something. They hid their panic well. Mandy fed us dinner when we got back and we just chilled out for the rest of the evening.

I will have to save my caving and chipping stories until a wee bit later. We're due to "pop out" for lunch in a little while. Til then, Cheers.