Day 16: Frustrated in York!

Today started out okay, then quickly shifted to being just obnoxious before finishing off wonderfully. One of my favorite days yet in the UK.

I had an unusually late start, and then decided to walk into the city center (which was quite pleasant, at least to start: the weather was nice and the way easy to follow until the very end when I made some foolish turnings). I struggled to find the National Railway Museum, partly because it's down at the end of a rather dingy road so I kept thinking I was going off in completely the wrong direction. I finally did get there, though, and enjoyed the free entry. I was a bit tired and I'm not that interested in trains so I didn't stay long, but there were some neat exhibits, from all of the royal carriages (from Queen Adelaide's simple affair that would be attached to any old passenger train through the magnificent decadence of Edward VII to George VI and family's oddly 60s affair. I suppose it was brand-new and modern at some point...

The other main hall held important engines through the ages: the simple carts and the beginning of flanges up through to the Japanese high-speed Shinkansen exhibit. It was pretty cool to see it all.

ALL THE TRAINS

Then I walked the rest of the way into the city center and visited the Yorkshire Museum, which seemed to be split into two segments: archeology and paleontology. I stuck with the archeology bit, which displayed the history of York from pre-Roman times through its various names to today: Eboracum as a Roman fortress and surrounding town, Eoforwic as an Anglian city, then Jorvik when the Vikings took over and Yorke after the Norman conquest and finally York as it is today. The ruins of St Mary's Abbey, it turns out, continue from the gardens outside to the basement of the museum: there were bits of wall everywhere, as well as some excellent statues of people whose identitites I unfortunately cannot remember.

I think these were the best examples of statues from their time period, but I don't know for certain and I don't even remember what time period that was 

There was a little room in the section about the War of the Roses (when Richard III of the House of York, the last of the Plantagenet kings, was defeated by Henry Tudor who became Henry VII) with some interesting looking books. I sat down to rest my legs and thought I might read one, but the information overload of the last few hours and all the walking I had been doing put me right to sleep as soon as I wasn't moving anymore. I spent about fifteen minutes struggling to read the book (about Richard III's final campaign, it seemed interesting so I took a picture of it to remember it later) before I realized that this was not the way to wake myself back up. I seriously considered just sleeping there, but I didn't think the museum staff would like that very much.

I finally roused myself, wandered for a bit, and spent two hours in a Starbucks wrestling with the wifi connection while I tried to upload yesterday's entry. I was well into writing it when Chrome decided to refresh itself and I lost it all. I grumbled, finished it off, and decided to go find the York Castle Museum. I started at the top of the Shambles (the little street I mentioned before that used to house butchers but now holds lots of little gift shops) and went in what seemed like a good direction, and in about thirty minutes I was at the bottom of the Shambles. This city is impossible to navigate.

I finally did reach the Castle Musuem, but it wasn't really open anymore, so I just walked around Clifford's Tower which is just northwest of it. It was a pretty neat tower; the walls are all leaning outward but apparently they're still sound enough for whoever owns it to allow people up to the top.

Clifford's Tower from below

I got dinner (tried a cottage pie, probably very unhealthy but it tasted great) and took part in the Ghost Hunt. I don't know why there are so many walking tours about hauntings in York, but this was the funny one. I enjoyed it.

I don't know why, but all of my best moments in York have stemmed from trying to find a restroom. This evening I was planning on heading home but thought I would relieve myself before I hopped on the bus, and on the search for a place I could sneak into without being yelled at or feeling guilty I saw a sign for a 1940s Dance Night. It had already started, but I still had a couple of hours left before the end so I hopped in. Best decision I have made in York, possibly in all of the UK.

I sat down next to a nice looking-woman and watched the dancers. I saw an approachable-looking young woman and asked her to dance, leading her in an East Coast Swing. She then introduced me to her friend, who was here with her mother and sister. The whole family took me in for the night and let me teach them what I knew about swing and foxtrot and waltz. The band even threw in a tango number to confuse everyone, and I happily danced with Anna's mother. Apparently nobody else knew much tango, and Paula was actually a great follow for her lack of experience, so we had a great time and apparently were fun to watch. Again, best night in York and a contender for the best ballroom night I've ever had too. How often do you get to make friends with an entire British family through dance?

Me, Beth, Anna, and Anna's mother Paula: I made friends!

I smiled the whole way home.