A Wonderful Surprise
When my sister and I were planning our trip we knew we wanted to go to Edinburgh and Bath but were unsure where to go in between. We toyed with the idea of Cornwall or Wales but both were a bit out of the way and would require longer journeys than we were hoping for. My friend Millie mentioned York to me as her family was from there and she said it was lovely. We were able to find a neat looking hostel and decided to give it a try!
Boy were we rewarded! York is an old city with its founding dating back to Roman times. But was also occupied by the Vikings at one point and was an important hub during medieval days. This made it a wealth of fascinating buildings and sites and lots to photograph.
One of the interesting things was all the abandoned Abbeys. During the 16th century when Henry VIII fell out with the Catholic Church (they wouldn’t let him divorce his wife so he could marry someone else) so he had all the abbeys closed. This led the countryside to be dotted with abandoned church buildings that eventually fell into disrepair.
Lolo and I got a bit of a leg workout as we climbed up Clifford Tower and the York Minster tower, the latter being 300 steps up an extremely narrow and uneven spiral staircase. But Clifford’s had had live pigeons flying up and down the passage so not sure which was a more harrowing experience. But the views were worth it.
Inside the Minster was also fabulous. Complete with the largest piece of medieval stained glass in the world.
Another highlight was walking the ancient walls around the city. Originally built in Roman times and updated during the 11th century they were a site to truly appreciate.
York also had a fabulous food and beer scene, something we weren’t quite expecting. I also got my first experience in a hostel which I actually quite loved. The energy was pleasant and it was lovely to bring a bottle of wine back each night and unwind on their adorable patio and reflect on the day.
I think York has been my favorite stop yet. So much to see and contemplate. Exactly the place I was hoping to find on our journey through Britain.
Off to Bath next! Cheers!