7/13 - The Final Countdown

What I did:

I woke up early to get breakfast. The hotel I got continued to amaze me. The same guy was the only one I saw the whole time this morning, and he was just as friendly. I got a full English breakfast (not the wimpy continental stuff) for no extra cost and it was delicious. He talked with me some asking me about why I was there and where I was from which was nice, especially since my last hotel experience was the huge Holiday Inn in Telford where I knew I was just a number and I was issued an empty promise of someone coming to get me online for which I waited an hour. Not that I am bitter or anything, but lesson learned. Go to York and stay at the Park View Guest House, do not go to Telford and stay at the Holiday Inn (unless you are visiting Safe Space and it is your only option, that might be worth it).

I heard that the weather may turn bad on the tv this morning, so I tried to hurry up and get out to see some of the city while it was still a nice day. As it turned out it did not start raining until I was just getting into the train station at 5:30. So it was a beautiful day to explore York. I started by walking back down to the minster to just see how much it cost to go in, since I did not get many photos last night. It was a little steep, and since I had already looked all around, I just took what pictures I could looking out past the admissions booths and left.

After that, I headed out and found a section of the city wall. I don’t remember when it is from, but there are sections of it still up all around the city. It was interesting and gave me a good view of the rest of the city in some places. After that I walked some more, got a little lost, but got back into the center of town and reoriented myself. From there I walked out to a church that had an interesting art exhibit, the York castle grounds, and then back into the main center area.

I was craving some fish and chips and convinced myself to get some despite not really liking the last batch I got in London. But I found a nice place and this time it was much better. I actually liked it and it did not make me feel too sick. I took it back to the minster area where there is a nice lawn and ate right there. I got up refreshed and headed through some streets (including Blake Street) and then out to the art gallery. It was not that impressive, but it was free and I did find a couple of paintings that I really liked. After that I wandered through the York Museum Gardens were there were lots of ruined buildings, including the ruined St. Mary’s Abbey. I laid down under a tree for a while here and just enjoyed the beautiful day.

But, it was soon time for some ice cream. I had seen a place earlier and made a note to return. I did and was not disappointed. A generous helping of triple chocolate in a crisp waffle cone hit the spot. You can’t tell me that doesn’t look good. I enjoyed it while walking around some more and seeing some interesting (and slightly disturbing) street performers. I walked down to the Ouse River and watched the boats go by.

I walked over the bridge and around on some more of the old city wall and noticed I still had a bit of time. So, I headed over to the National Railway Museum. It claims to be the largest railway museum in the world, and was actually very interesting. They had lots of old trains and artifacts and even an active workshop where you could see trains they were restoring and working on. I figured this would be a nice warm up to the next several hours I would be spending in a train to get back to Fleet.

After the museum, I headed to the rail station and made my way back. No excitement on the return trip. I did get on the wrong tube train in London, but I jumped off quick enough before it flew off and got on the right one. I got back and didn’t do much the rest of the night, except one really exciting thing. I had been hearing about this program called Spotify that allows you to listen to any song for free. So, I downloaded it and have been playing around on it some. It is amazing! Sorry American readers, because it is only in the UK, I think (which makes me just hope that I can still access it when I get back).

What I learned:

There were royal coaches made specifically for the English royalty that travelled by train, but the cool thing (I thought) is that during the war when times were tough, their accommodations were very plain. It looked like a bad hotel room, which I am sure was not too bad for the time, but still it was very modest.

The Flying Scotsman is not a specific engine, but rather a rail line.

I had put this on my Twitter a few days ago, but in case you didn’t see that - What I am most excited about: having a legitimate reason to listen to the Final Countdown all week! I was not joking, and listened to it twice yesterday. But I was not going to listen to it today. Then the hand of God reached down in the form of iPod shuffle setting and on the train tonight the song came on. Haha.

In the past 5 days I have slept in 4 different beds.

York is my favorite city I have visited so far.