It’s currently the 23rd, around 3 o’clock. I just arrived at my hostel in London and am taking a bit to update things before heading off in search of dinner.
Day 8 – Cont. (Evening) – After making my previous post I joined back up with Meagan and her flat mates at which time we headed to the local University pub to watch the soccer game that was on. When the game ended we wandered around and explored various destinations before eventually ending up at a fun little pub that consisted of a barge with the side cut out and a building built around it.
Day 9 – Leeds -> York. I woke up around 10, threw everything in my bag and began the trek across old town to get to the train station by 11:00 for my train to York. The weather was nice, with just a very slight drizzle and no wind. I made good time and arrived a good 30 minutes early which allowed me to catch an alternate direct route commuter train. By 1:00 I was in York. Once in York I found the local tourist office, got my hands on a map and made my way to one of the two hostels they suggested. Luckily it was centrally located in the old town and only a 5 minute walk from the rail station.
The hostel itself was definitely C grade. Instead of changing out the complete sheet set each night, they left the bottom sheet, then changed out a sleeping bag like sheet which laid on top of the bottom one. This barely kept the dirty old comforter off of you. The beds were squeaky old metal/wood bunk beds and instead of a common room they had the kitchen or a movie room. The staff was friendly however, and the people I met there were all fantastic. After arriving I dropped off my bag and set off into the city.
The city of York itself is a pretty awesome city. The architecture is great! Most of the interior streets are closed or limited to car traffic and everything is vibrant and fun. York cathedral is fantastic. Not only is it massive, but it is majestic, clean, and had a uniform flavor to it that really makes it special. In addition to the city’s main cathedral it’s dotted with small/medium-sized churches and cathedral’s. During my wanderings I would say I easily saw 8-12 of them. It’s also very easy to see why the city was so popular with the Romans and Vikings. With it’s fantastic location and a decent sized river that flows through the center of the old town it’s no wonder that it’s evolved as it has.
As I wandered I explored the old streets laced with modern retail and eventually found my way to the York Gardens. There I paused for a brief snack before continuing my meandering up past the old Cathedral and then back into the heart of the inner city. The architecture is definitely different from Leeds and Edinburgh, while they had a strong Victorian element. The city of York was dotted with inns and homes that had the classic plaster covered thatch with dark wood boards.
In the inner city I discovered an outdoor market, on – go figure – Market Street of all places. As far as I could tell the market ran every day (at least that I was there) and featured a few outdoor butcher shops, fish mongers, 4 or 5 fruit and veggie stands as well as a number of clothing and odds and ends kiosks. I picked up some fresh meat, a sweet potato and some baked beans.I made my way back to the hostel to cook dinner, converse with the other travelers and grab a quick nap.
After my nap – refreshed and roaring to go-I met up with a few of the others and continued what’s become a hostel ritual… socializing briefly before heading out in a small group to explore the city’s night life.
Day 10 – I awoke to a nasty, rainy day. Eager to explore the city further, I struck out – motivated to brave it. My first stop was the rail station – where I initially planned to book my ticket for the following day to London. As things turned out, all of Saturday’s advanced bookings were sold out, which meant I either had to stay until Sunday and get the discounted rate (more than half the same-day purchase price) or do the same day and pay the 2x rate. I elected to spend an extra day in York, and booked my ticket for Sunday. In the grand scheme of things – it’s a good thing I did.
After booking the ticket and exploring the city a bit more in the rain, I went to the Jorvik Viking center – what I hoped would be an in-depth museum dedicated to the early Viking city and artifacts. It ended up being a big disappointment. On the old excavations they had built a Disneyland type ride – where you sat in little cars that went through a 5-10 minute ride. The ride consisted of slightly animated dummies that had been reconstructed to show what the excavations had found. It was boring, simple minded, and smelled bad. At the end of the ride there was a museum component, but it was limited and consisted of maybe 5 minutes worth of content. Annoyed and wet I wandered around the city a bit longer before finding a cheap place for lunch. I headed back to the hostel to take a nap and watch a movie with some of the others. BTW – English beef/meat sucks.
After the movie and a nap the in-house pub opened up at 10:00, I headed down to see who I’d meet. I connected with another guy from the US, a girl from Finland, and a Canadian. After a drink, as we all got acquainted, we decided to head into the inner city and explore. All in all, it was a pretty standard evening at the pubs – apparently York has a pretty decent night life with something like 300+ pubs within the inner city…it’s a huge destination for Hen and Stag Parties (bachelor/ette). Met a few locals who were all incredibly friendly and fun. Eventually got back to the hostel, then sat around talking until 4:30 in the morning. Ouch.
Day 11 – Woke up and was on the streets by 10:30, meandered around old town a good bit. Explored some back streets, the market, and a huge food and drink festival that the city was having. The weather was significantly better and allowed me to explore a lot more. As I wandered I ended up stumbling into a small furniture/antique/random crap shop. The place was great, full of anything and everything deemed interesting…it was a mess.
York castle is actually just a small tower on the top of a dome, so in that respect I was a bit disappointed. However, the old roman walls which are almost all still intact were awesome. In many ways the day was similar to Day 9 – just checking out odd streets, weird architecture, random stores etc.
On a side note – I’m trying a new travel strategy. As I mentioned previously English meat sucks. They might even inject water into it. While I was in the inner city I passed the equiv. of one of our GNC’s having a sale. In the window they were advertising muscle supplements (protein, amino acids, minerals etc). They had mid-sized powder bottles (it’s for shakes – like creatine supplements but sans the creatine) for a really reasonable price so i picked one up. So far I think it’s been helping. Not only as a tool to offset any dietary failings I might be having as I travel, but also because it’s specifically catered for workout routines. Since I’m walking all over the place – the shoe seemed to fit & so far it seems to have had a positive effect.
After exploring for a good chunk of the morning, I picked up some carrots and stopped at the old merchants hall (think of a banquet hall with thatched/plastered walls etc) and ate them in the garden.
Running out of time – so the evening was spent much like the previous three, but with new people. The Finnish girl again, an extremely tall Aussie over doing security work, and then another American from Florida. Another fun evening, exploring new places and seeing a different side of the city.
Today I woke up – caught a train – and then ran into major delays. Apparently there was an issue with a bridge on the route which delayed our train 40 minutes. After that though it was smooth sailing. I got into London, figured out the metro, and got to my hostel.
Will update soon – ton more photos on facebook as of today!