The Big Trip: York

29th May

We caught the bus from Edinburgh to York. It was a long journey but the bus was comfortable.

We arrived about 2:30pm and walked to our accommodation.

It was a beautiful day so we decided to make the most of it. We walked back into town and through the Monk Bar (gate). Then we walked along a section of the Old City Wall.

After that we wandered around town taking in the sights.

Theatre Royal

Catholic Church of St Wilfrid

York Minster

St Micheal Le Belfrey

Birthplace of Guy Fawkes!

Pedal Power! Sewing souvenirs for the tourists

Lots of fudge shops here

We couldn't believe how busy The Shambles was. It had three Harry Potter shops at one end of it. The houses above the shops are so close together that it is said that you can lean out the window and shake hands with the person living across the road from you.

After that we walked back to our accommodation and cooked dinner for our hosts, Alex and Matthew.

All Saints

30th May

We woke up to rain so started our day later than usual.

The first place we visited was the Railway Museum - seemed a good idea with the dodgy weather. Surprisingly it was really interesting. There were heaps of kids there as it was school holidays. After an hour or two we had run out of steam and left the museum before we'd seen all of it.

We then decided it was time for lunch and bought the famous Yorky Pud Wrap. It was quite nice (have to have Yorkshire pudding in York!)

Next we walked to Clifford's Tower and the nearby Castle Museum. There were some really cute baby geese outside it.

After that we went to the Micklegate Bar (gate) and walked along a different section of the city wall from the previous day.

Then we briefly saw the War Memorial Gardens before spending some time in the Museum Gardens. There was a ruin of St Mary's Abbey which looked nice amongst the setting of flowers.

On the way home we bought food for dinner from the local supermarket.

31st May

York Day 3

We did a day trip to Harrogate. It was a pretty little town. The building for the Royal Baths was impressive.

The tap outside the Royal Pump Room Museum smelled like Rotorua. Very strong sulphur water. To our surprise the water wasn't hot. Apparently this is because the water travels a long way, so it cools before reaching the surface.

Pump Room

Over the road was the Valley Gardens. It was beautiful. The gardens are home to over 30 springs. There used to be pumphouses in use there. All the springs have different minerals in them so they were used for different ailments.

We took a brief look at St Peter's Church.

As we rested and ate some afternoon tea a guide doing a free walking tour of Harrogate turned up. So naturally we decided to join the tour. It was very interesting. Apparently before the springs were discovered Harrogate was a very tiny town.

Later people flocked there hoping to cure their illnesses with the waters. The town grew and hotels were built. There used to be several spas but now there's only the Turkish Baths.

Old hotel

On the tour we also learnt a little about the nearby town of Knaresborough. We'd seen it from the train and thought it looked pretty cute.

So we caught the train there and went directly to Mother Shipton's Petrifying Caves and Wishing Well.

The water there turns objects into stones. It takes several months to turn a little teddy bear into stone. There was even a little museum where famous people had left things to petrify.