Day 2: York ho!

Our first morning in England! We woke up bright and early (Mom and I were in a room with six other women, and all but one poor person got up within about 5 minutes of 7:00am) and headed off to find breakfast. Turns out that on a Sunday morning at 7:30 there aren’t many shops open, so we had breakfast at a Starbucks and then headed to King’s Cross via the Oxford Circus tube station. Yes, King’s Cross, where the Hogwarts Express departs. There’s a little monument near platforms 9,10, and 11 with a sign for Platform 9¾. There’s half an old luggage trolley sticking out of the wall and you can get your picture taken with a Gryffindor scarf and a wand. We chose instead to hit up the Waitrose for snacks and drinks. I love foreign grocery stores! I got mini Jaffa cakes in honor of both Stargate (Kree!!) and the Great British Bake Off. For those who don’t know, a Jaffa cake is a three-layer cookie-ish thing composed of a firm sponge, a bit of orange jelly, and a coating of chocolate to top it off. They’re okay, not my favorite but still fun.

Trains!

Arches!

Once our train’s platform was announced, we got out there and boarded. The luggage section was full and there were no overhead racks so we stuffed ourselves into the seats with all of our bags. It was pretty uncomfortable, but I still got more sleep in those two hours than I did on the flight from Calgary.

And then we arrived in York! It’s such a lovely city, the streets are adorable and the Minster is magnificent.

The Minster, east window. They were redoing this last time I was here, it's great to see it all freshened up.

Street! Nice view of the Minster above the shops.

A busker! He juggled fire. Blindfolded. On a really tall unicycle.

York has a Coffee Culture too! I guess it's not that unique of a name.

We caught the Sunday evensong and enjoyed a lovely Bach fugue on the organ, then went up the Tower to see the city. Man, it’s windy up there! Although apparently it’s just really windy this week in general. Not normal for York this time of year.

We climbed the south tower before crossing over to the main one. Got to go along the roof for a bit!

BUTTRESSES!

Looking out west across York

We dined at the No. 8 Bistro, which was lovely, and then retired for the night. Our hotel is just so cozy! It seems like real effort went into decorating, and the bed set has beautiful floral paintings on it. Looking forward to another full day of exploring!