Day 14: Lost in York!

I had a slow morning today, didn't get out of my lodgings until about ten, when my host very kindly drove me to the train station. Then I sat on three separate trains before finally arriving in York. I rode through Manchester and Leeds, which both seemed like very nice cities, and eventually got off the last train at about three fifteen. I had decided to walk to my BnB for the next few days, not realizing how far away it actually was: I arrived forty five minutes later much warmer and quite ready to put my pack down. Interestingly enough, another lodger arrived at the same time so that was fun. She's from Reading (pronounced Redding for some reason).

My host offered us tea and some delicious little Belgian biscuits and we chatted a bit before I headed out to the world of York. I took the bus into town and wandered for a couple of hours. I must say, the York city center is the nicest I've seen yet. Lots of beautiful little shopping streets with the most interesting shops. 

The Shambles: York's most famous shopping street was once a butcher street and is mentioned in the Doomsday book. It has only one butcher left, but it does have a yarn shop!

I wandered around and eventually got dinner at the Punch Bowl, which was delicious and possibly the first British pub fare I have really enjoyed (I've been getting a lot of Indian as was recommended to me, and other nationalities as well, so it's not that most British pubs are terrible); I found out later that it was part of a larger organization called Nicholson's Pubs, but oh well it was delicious (although it had no punch...).

I saw the Minster for the first time! The outside of that place is amazing, truly gorgeous. So firm and solid, yet so intricate. 

The Northeast and Northwest towers

After dinner I wandered around for a bit and experienced a sudden great need for a bathroom, and luckily found one not too far away (don't worry, this story is going somewhere). After coming out much more refreshed, I discovered that the little public restroom I had found was right underneath the city walls. York is known for its walls, so I happily tripped up the steps to reach the top of them. I wandered around for quite a while, watched some pigeons fight over territory, and eventually reached Monk Bar (in York, I'm told, the streets are called gates, the gates are called bars, and the bars are called pubs), the tallest gate into the city remaining (I think...). There's a little exhibit on Richard III in there, which was closed when I came through. 

Monk Bar: the little stone figures up at the top are men dropping boulders on any potential enemies

I took the bus home and dropped off to sleep while the sky was still light. These crazy late sunsets are confusing me!