York

Next on our list of English towns to visit was York, the medieval walled city in the north. Everyone who has ever been to York has loved it, so we just needed to pick our weekend. Megan and Cousy were driving that way for a birthday on the Saturday night, so over a few drinks the road trip idea was born - all driving to York, spending Friday night in the pubs, with Megs and Cousy heading to their party Saturday night and picking us up again on their way back through York Sunday morning. 

 

Brian and I took a half day on Friday and we all headed up to Yorkshire. 5 hours and the worst traffic later, we checked into our B&Bs and hit York. 

Things we've loved about York:

• Our B&B host Bruce. He is Alaskan, and made us Alaskan waffles for breakfast (incase you're wondering, the 'Alaskan' part is just lots of strawberry and chocolate syrup!) He was so lovely we had to get a photo with him (when we could get him to stop talking for 30 seconds).
• Going out on Friday night and taking hours to walk the 10 minutes home as the boys were chatting and the girls were chatting and no one was paying any attention to where we were going until we were on the wrong side of York after walking circles. 
• All the wonky old cobbled streets and houses. York is ancient (medieval actually!) and the roads are wonky so in time, all the houses and pubs have become wonky too, like in Amsterdam. Gives it a lot character though. 
• There are 365 ale houses in York, one for every day of the year. Two of our favourites were the Golden Fleece (super wonky) and the Guy Fawkes Inn, where Guy actually plotted some of the House ofLords  bombings! Guy was born in York so he features regularly. 
• Doing a tour of the walls, and walking along them. Our guide explained how some sections of the walls were built by Vikings, before being invaded and added to by the Romans, before the English completed and preserved them. You can see clearly where each addition was made, and they've been turned into an amazing walk along the walls looking into York. 
• It was such a beautiful sunny day (though still really cold) that all the squirrels were out! You can't help but be happy when you see a squirrel bouncing through the daffodils. 
• Visiting the York Dungeons to learn about witches being burned, executioners and torture instruments, the plague and Guy Fawkes. Seriously scary!
• It was The Viking Festival Week in York, so there were heaps of people in Jorvik costumes! Our favorite was a little boy with a Viking shield and axe, a skeleton tracksuit and a transformers mask. So medieval!

 

York is as awesome as everyone says, it's a shame we didn't have longer to just wander around. We're about to embark on the drive home, fingers crossed for the traffic!

Love and Yorkshire puddings, 

Kobi & Brian

Xxx

Bruce, our B&B host.

Bruce has met the queen!

 

Our B&B departure gift

Having Alaskan waffles!

The river through York

The walls from a distance

A corner of the medieval walls. The tiny slits in the arches at the top were for bow and arrow shooters to shoot through.

Brian helping our guide, Malcolm

 

The ruins of St Mary's Abbey. 

 

One of the watch towers along the wall

 

The York Minster. 

The walls. In WW2 the thousands if panels of stained glass windows from the Minster were stored in the arches under the wall incase the Minster was bombed. 

 

Walking the walls

 

Wonky old streets

 

Little Shambles street

 

Trafford Castle in the middle of town.

Guy Fawkes Inn, where he plotted with his friends. 

Squirrel!!

Just trying to get a photo of the minster in the background when this pulled in!

 

The walls

 

Typical York pub!