York

Well, I'm safely back from York. It was really beautiful and a nice trip. I'm glad, however, that I came back a day early and spent last night in my own bed.

Let's see, what did I do?

I arrived on Monday afternoon and checked into the hostel. After that I walked to York Minster to have a look around. It is a gorgeous Gothic cathedral with huge amounts of stained glass.

When I left it was snowing outside. I walked until I started getting very wet and very cold, so I ducked into a warm pub for some bangers and mash and a pint of cider. While there I eyed the cute guy behind the bar and wrote postcards.

After this I went back to the hostel because it was getting a bit dark. I read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in the TV room while others watched terrible movies on the video player (28 Days Later and Rollerball don't make for great conversations...).

Tuesday morning I woke at 5:30. Yeah.

I gave up trying to sleep in and got up to shower. This was truly when I realized that I am not cut out for hostel living anymore--dorm rooms and communal bathrooms just aren't my thing. It was clean enough but the trickle of luke-warm water hardly constituted a proper shower!

I finally set off at about 8:30 and walked around taking pictures until the first businesses opened at 9:00. Marks and Spencer (department store) was the first place to open so I ducked in there to get warm for a few minutes. Then I walked to the York Castle area to wait for the Castle Museum to open. I played with the snow and made a little snowman and a snow cat. There wasn't anyone around to witness my wierdness, so I had fun!

At 9:30 the museum opened and I spent 2 hours looking around at the period rooms, costume gallery, old prison, military gallery, etc. It was a fascinating look at life in the last 300 years. Everyone told me to go to Yorks Viking Centre and not one recommended this Castle Museum. It was so fantastic! I could easily go back and spend another two hours.

After this I had a spot of lunch before catching a York Boat tour. The sun was out for the duration of the 1-hour boat tour, and it was a nice way to relax and see the city with a live guide telling anecdotes abut the various buildings.

In the early afternoon I wandered the streets of York. A lot of them are pedestrian-only and very narrow and old. Very charming.

I went to Jorvic, the Viking experience. Ten or so years ago, archeologists found the remains of the Viking settlement of Jorvic (Yor-vick) and excavated over 40,000 artifacts and found the remains of old wooden structures. Today it is a museum and Disney-esque attraction. You pay £7.20 to take a 15-minute ride in a little buggy-type thing suspended from the ceiling. You drift by the woodcutter's cottage where a wax guy saws wood. You smell sawdust. That sort of thing. All very interesting, but that's really all there is to it. I was much more impressed by the huge amounts of artifacts and knowledge that went into the York Castle Museum. I was in and out of the Viking Centre in a half-hour. It was interesting, but a bit less than one would expect for the money.

After this I meandered down to Fairfax House, a lovingly restored Georgian townhouse with exquisite ceilings and moldings and furniture. The ladies' drawing room is done in an almost sinfully red wallpaper--gorgeous! The docents at the house were lovely--full of all kinds of knowledge and so eager to share it with the people coming through.

I kept wandering around and it started to snow again. I was getting cold so I decided something warm was in order. I looked up and saw Betty's Confectioner and Tea Rooms. Perfect!

I ordered a Yorkshire Cream Tea: two scones with clotted cream and strawberry preserves and a pot of house blend tea for one. Sinful! Delicious! It's all served on dainty china and a three-tiered stand for the scones. I drank three cups of tea, ate every crumb of the scones, and managed to keep from licking the remaining clotted cream out of the bowl.

After this I wandered around a few shops. It was getting late in the day and I realized funds were a bit scarce and I couldn't stand the thought of two more nights in the hostel. So I made the decision to check out in the morning and come back to Burnham.

And that's just what I did. You don't need the details on that, so I won't bore you.

It has been snowing in Essex. A little bit of it sticks, especially in the nighttime. During the day there's a lot of flakes but very little sticking. It's very pretty and romantic (until you have to haul a 30-pound backpack through it). It's snowing even now as I am holed up in the school library catching up. I will eventually get to the whole lesson planning thing...

Oh--Happy Anniversary to me. I've been in England six months today. Just a few things I've learned:

1. I love London but wouldn't live there again.

2. I mustn't use the word "pants" because people think I'm talking about my underwear.

3. Snow is prettier than rain but just as wet and much colder.

4. I miss home when I'm here and miss here when I'm home.

5. It really did take a lot of courage for me to do this.

And that's all for now. Give me a few minutes and I'm going to (finally) post some pics.

Cheers,

Meg