On June 6 we woke up in our attic room in York, ate some fruit and bread for breakfast, then walked into town. We had originally planned to visit the Minster first, however we discovered that admission is free if you attend the evensong, so we waited to visit then. We walked over to the Castle Museum which had good reviews according to our guide books. We thought it was a weird, random museum and even a little bit creepy. One part of the museum featured a replica of the old city streets and shops which was really neat. You can walk into the old prisons, textile or candy shops, visit the chemist, and see what kitchens, toys, and homes looked like throughout history. After visiting the museum, we walked to a cafe called El Concerto for lunch before meeting for a free walking tour of York. Lunch was amazing! Cole ordered the toasted club sandwich served with a side salad, and I ordered the toasted grilled veggie, mozzarella and pesto sandwich also served with a side salad, and we both shared a cup of chunky tomato soup with pesto and Parmesan. YUM! Next, we met for our free city walking tour. Our guide was a sweet lady, and it was an excellent tour starting from where York was founded. We saw the only incomplete part of wall, Roman ruins, layers of street from different centuries, and accidentally ran into drug dealers behind some of the Roman ruins. We walked over to the city wall in the sunshine. It was a sunny day, and we enjoyed beautiful views from the city wall. It was even a little hot! We sat in the sun and listened to our guide tell about the history of York, as well as the Kit Kat bar factory behind us, then kept walking along the city wall where we arrived at the city gate. Our guide told us about the history of the city gate, then we walked through various neighborhoods while our guide told us stories about the haunting of Roman soldiers, the designer of the Minster’s windows (who was named Thornton), house taxes and how it shaped the architecture of buildings in York with larger upstairs floor plans, and other stories and sights. We ended our tour near the Shambles and with some last recommendations from our guide. It was a fantastic tour! We then went to Marks & Spencer’s top floor cafe for a city view of the Minster, then attended evensong at no charge. We sat in front row seats in the chapel next to the choir boys. Their voices were amazing, but it was also funny because several of them were yawning and rubbing their eyes trying to stay awake or even making faces to their friends…I guess boys will be boys. We went back to our little attic room for a short break and to put on warmer clothes before our ghost tour of York that evening. We quickly made our way to the Shambles to meet for the “ghost hunt tour” (it was highly recommended). Our guide was a man in a black cape, top hat, carrying a doctor’s bag, and ringing a loud bell. The tour was funny and somewhat interesting but not at all scary and not what we had really hoped for (I wouldn’t really recommend it). After the tour, Cole and I looked for a place to eat. We walked by a McDonald’s and witness a horrible fist fight with one guy hitting his head on the ground hard, leaving him out cold. Some other witnesses called the police for help. It was crazy. After walking around for a while, we finally settled on a place called “Oscar’s” for dinner before heading back to the B&B and going to bed. Good night!
Exploring the random/crazy exhibits at York’s Castle Museum:
The prison exhibit:
Visiting the old mill where a gaggle of geese tried to attack Cole:
The Shambles:
Kit Kat bars – a product of York:
Meeting our walking tour outside the city walls:
The City Gate:
Sights from our walking tour of York:
The spot where York began:
Ancient Roman coffins:
Walking along the city wall:
The Minster:
The second floor of many buildings in York are larger than the ground floor in order to avoid house taxes:
This is the real name of the street:
View of the Minster from the top floor of Marks & Spencer:
We had tea and crumpets for the first time at a cafe just outside the Minster. We asked our waiter what exactly was a “crumpet” but he didn’t know how to explain it.
I’d say they’re kind of like what we call an English muffin:
Visiting the Minster for evensong:
The ghost hunt tour:
