Whatever happened to me?: U.K. Trip Anniversary Posts (Day 5)

England, Day 5 ... Yakking my way through York! :-)

[Photo of the breathtaking York Minster]

Day five turned out to be quite an adventure for this novice, stay-at-home mom traveler. ;-) It turned out okay in the end but there were some tense moments. I have to say, the weather could not have been more beautiful. I was really grateful we had such lovely conditions and lighting for such a picturesque place. :-)

This first one might have been taken from the coach... or as we first got out. I loved how it looked with the lighting, tree leaves and all... and even a sign so we know where we are! ;-)

The coach parking was at the bottom of a long hill. We had to depart from there and would not have access to our things left behind for the whole day. Our guide equipped us all with a map of the city and talked about the various places we could see in our few hours. They would have the coach come for pickup at two different times... the last being around 4:00 in the afternoon. So, we loaded up our stuff and set off. My roommate had a small backpack with her and said she would carry my water bottle in it since my pockets were pretty packed with other items. As we rounded the bend to walk toward the city center, the first breathtaking view was of the old Roman wall and the minster beyond.

These buildings were really amazing. We're crossing over the River Ouse ("ooz").

We're nearing the entrance of the York Museum Gardens.

After browsing some test gardens beyond the entrance, we saw this ruin of St. Mary's Abbey. Those bright reddish orange things are not flowers but hips of the Eglantine Rose.

That's not a yellow brick road... but some ancient Roman stones. :-)

This squirrel crossed in front of us... looks like there are oak trees nearby.

I can't remember what species of tree this was, but it was a lovely sport

with soft, intricate foliage. Look at the silhouette it creates.

This was in the corner of the grounds and I think it's probably this (from Wikipedia):

In the northeast of Museum Gardens there are remains of the west corner of the fortifications that surrounded the Roman fort of Eboracum. The original defences, consisting of turf ramparts on a green wood foundation, were built by the Ninth Legion between 71 and 74 AD. Later those were replaced by a clay mound with a turf front on a new oak foundation, and eventually wooden battlements were added, which were then replaced by limestone walls and towers.[11] These stone defences are some of the few Roman remains that are visible above ground in York.

The Multangular Tower is the western corner tower of the Roman fortress, and consists of both Roman and medieval architecture. The tower has 10 sides, from which it derives its modern name "multangular", and is 19 feet (5.8 m) high.[12] It was built in its late Roman form during the early 4th century,[13] when it was constructed with three floors to house a catapult.[12] Five Roman stone coffins are in the Multangular Tower, which were brought from graveyards in other areas of York.

We've left the gardens and are proceeding up the hill to the minster. These hydrangeas would be my "friendly guidepost" when I was sprinting back to the coach park in the afternoon. Seeing everyone's backs up ahead was a way of life on this trip... since I really wanted to take pictures. It was all pretty rushed most of the time... and it's hard to get a clear shot when you're in the middle of a crowd.

It's impossible to get it all in! =:o My photo from this stop is the first one at top.

I know... I should have been in the group getting instructions, but I saw an opportunity to go across the street and maybe get more of the minster into one shot. When I looked at these later I could see some folks were a little concerned about where I was... and later it appeared I might have been a topic of discussion... but I don't know for sure. ;-)

I was about to get myself back across the street when I met eyes with this gal and she started to chat. She was such a friendly and interesting person... we ended up talking for a couple of minutes. Before we parted, she gave me a hug and I got her photo and her name... Jenny Simpson, retired school teacher of 40 years. She moved to this area from Surrey and did most of her teaching here. She loved the sense of history of the place.

I've since looked for her on the Internet, but to no avail.

(BTW... that's a famous old Roman column to the right.)

In a twist of fate for this talker (meaning me), she started to chat about friends who lived in the United States and I was enjoying the conversation but felt some urgency to get back to the group. I could see them preparing to cross the street. She finally said I'd better join my friends and I finally turned to follow. I figured I'd be about 30 or 40 feet behind and could catch up.

I started to get worried when I couldn't see any familiar clothing when I should have spotted the back of the pack. How on earth did they move that fast with as crowded as it was? I was confused. I got all the way to the end of the block where it met the main drag and figured if I'd messed up somehow, I'd see them up or down the main road... at one corner or another. Nothing... nada. Hmmm... now what? I finally decided I had totally lost track of them and would double back toward the minster where I at least knew where I was. Maybe someone had stayed back there to go inside (they charge for that now... a couple of people I talked to on the street were upset about that). I wandered around a bit and still saw no one. It wasn't until a few weeks later, when I got a copy of Joe Binetti's photos that I figured it out...

I never saw these flags or this street... I must have taken the one just before it (Stonegate). =:o Not only that. When they walked down a ways, they went underground to the Jorvik Viking Centre exhibit/digs. So... it was as if they vanished into thin air... and my roommate had my water and I think some foodstuffs. I can't really complain too much... I'm sure they were getting tired of keeping track of me dragging behind... and they knew I had a map and instructions of when to meet the coach. My roommate later told me Joe would not let her go grab me. He told her I might enjoy myself more being able to do my own thing and stopping to talk to people... and actually he was right. ;-)

Before I came to that point... I had a private session of freaking out. I was suddenly four years old and separated from my parents (it happened once and I still remember that horrible feeling). I was thousands of miles from home in a major city (I don't like cities all that well) and I knew no one. It felt like a very vulnerable position to be in. After I had my moment and decided I was separated and that was all there was to it, I figured I'd take some photos and hang around the minster for awhile to see if anyone showed up. I caught a couple of photos before making it back up there.

Yumm! :-P I'm coming back for some of this later...

I stopped at the candy store to see if they had Orkney fudge and she'd never heard of it. I didn't know yet that Scottish tablet would have been close to what I was looking for. Here are a few of the candies on the shelf... in particular here was the Edinburgh Rock candy.

The friendly guidepost... with a great view of the minster behind.

I waited what seemed like forever for this guy to move so I could get Constantine by himself, but alas... it was not to be. I didn't notice him scratching his back until after the photo was snapped. It cracks me up now because I can imagine Constantine reaching forward with the tip of his sword to assist. ;-)

Moving toward a school nearby to get another angle on the minster. I'm not

ready to leave its safety yet... I don't have a wonderful sense of direction!

Still thinking someone might come out of the minster, I relax on the steps after taking a side trip at Little Betty's to use their loo (thank you, thank you to the nice young gal on the street that gave me the tip... a lot of the bathrooms there are pay toilets). I would buy something there later, to soothe my guilt. ;-) I'd noticed the gal in the next photo earlier with her little Westie so struck up a conversation with her while clutching my map (it was very windy). She was also waiting for friends and had a very aged doggie... so wanted to let the dog rest as well as herself. She was originally from Liverpool and had actually worked and lived in the U.S. for a number of years. It was comforting to talk to someone for a bit.

Well... I'm in York, after all and there are things to see. I already knew about the Clifford Tower and wanted to work my way there... so off I go with fear and trepidation. These buildings are amazing.

The signs resting outside this alley are for the ghost tour. They have

them all over the U.K. (tours and ghosts).

These touches of red all over really spice things up. I loved how this looked.

Little Betty's... how I loved thee, with your charming back room loo with the low overhead and sticky outer door (I thought it was an occupied single and sat for ten minutes until someone came along and opened it for me!). Notice the angle on the top of the door. The building is very OLD and idiosyncratic.

And mind your manners, while you're at it!

Here's what it looked like from the outside. I took the liberty of grabbing this first photo from the web and might get chased down later. This one was posted at Flickr by unicorn81'sphotostream (what nice photos he or she had!)...

This one was from somewhere else... that little teapot was easy to see for the weary pedestrian.

Back on the street... this is quite the building.

Moving on, I passed a church (St. Martin Coney Street/Church of England) with this neat little courtyard behind an iron fence/gate.

How would you like these little gargoylish things by your church bulletin board? :-)

Let's not forget the commercial aspects of the city. The Brits know how to accent their cityscapes with RED!

I bumped into some nice people who were studying a map as I was working my way down the hill. The gentleman asked me if I had a "mobile" number and he could call my party for me. It took me awhile to understand what he was saying... it was so noisy and breezy out on the street, and I'd not quite gotten used to "mobile" meaning "cell phone." I finally got the drift and thanked him for his generosity but told him I didn't know the number and the phone was probably off anyway. Joe only brought one for emergencies and calling their kids. It had already been nearly two hours since I got separated from our group and right after that, I saw familiar faces. Bill and Ruth A. were crossing the street toward me. They were on their way up from seeing the Clifford Tower and probably gave me directions about three times to get there. ;-) I didn't trust myself to get it right once we parted (jet lag was almost gone, but I was kind of scatterbrained at this point with all that was going on). I continued to follow the signs toward Clifford Tower. Near a nice map/sign of York along the walk, I encountered this sweet couple ... Jim and May from Cumbernauld, Scotland. We chatted for a few minutes and I got their photo before we moved on... and he took one of his wife and myself. This is one of the few photos of me in York... kind of scary looking but all I've got! ;-) I look like a giant next to her... she was a tiny thing.

There it is! Just like it looked in one of my guidebooks... the Clifford Tower... built in the1200's.

I had a short chat with an American gal while taking this photo. It was a plaque at the bottom of the hill. Really tugged at your heart strings to imagine such an event... but I was glad they memorialized it in this way.

After taking that photo, I was approached by this young couple to get their picture in front of the tower. They were sure nice kids and very much in love. :-) If I recall correctly, they met at university and she was from Romania or Russia. It took awhile to get their pictures... he looked at the ones I did with them sitting on the steps and asked if I could make a slight adjustment and do a couple more. He had an idea of exactly how much of the tower he wanted to see behind them. After that, I asked to take a photo on mine.

This is the view from the top of the steps (next two photos):

Looking up the side of the tower...

And down that long flight of steps!

Here are a few photos taken by Joe Binetti when the group went inside. (You have to pay and I didn't know I was entitled to go in... maybe I couldn't have anyway without the guide.)

I got this after coming down... it's time to move on. I wanted to hit a couple of candy shops in the search for Orkney Fudge (don't ask for that in York... they have their own type of fudge).

Heading back up the hill from the tower... this is what you see...

Chatted with this nice couple part way up (in search of a loo). They were from Wales... the same town where Richard Burton was born. They were very proud of that. Before we parted, this fellow gave me a tip to cut over one street and see where the locals do their shopping. The one I came down on was teeming with tourists.

Interesting juxtaposition of the Whisky Shop and the York Minster. :-)

I'm about to bump into the most delightful couple from Cumbernauld, Scotland (almost all of the Scottish people I chatted with on this trip were from there... if they were also traveling).

I'm never likely to see them again but I'm always sad when I see their photo that I didn't even get their names (his might be Tommy). I really loved this couple. They weren't on a coach tour but had a couple of dogs waiting in their car for them. She had already stocked up on goodies at John Bull's candy shop. It turned out she loved to garden and he'd been a good sport about digging up more of the yard for her to plant in flowers. They had some opinions about the lack of friendliness of the native folk in York and I did notice if you were not on the touristy streets, the locals would not even look you in the eye. Maybe they get tired of being accosted by enthused guests. ;-)

I stopped by the used book shop and the clerk was very friendly and chatty about his city and region. When he found out about the group I came with and that we were gardeners, he made the connection with folks who'd stopped in there that afternoon asking for gardening books (it had been kind of an assignment by Marianne Binetti to look for used books by Beverley Nichols). Anyway... we talked for a few minutes. He was originally from Halifax and his accent was a lot like Ben Kingsley's. He was very helpful and even suggested a place where I could get a great Cornish pastie.... and also highly recommended Kew Gardens if we had time when in London.

Some more photos as I walked around looking for a place to sit and eat lunch.

This is in the heart of the Shambles. I found some tables where I could sit and eat what I had with me. I ended up talking to an English couple during "lunch." That was quite interesting. They were there for an outing and trying to keep a low profile because her son was there on a school trip. They didn't want him to think they were stalking him. ;-) This couple had been together for a couple years and he had some kind of sad history from before. I didn't know all the particulars, but could see this man was going through a grief process and had been struggling trying to come to terms with some things in his life and extreme difficulties with former in-laws. The gal with him was laid back, let things just roll off her back and was a rock for him, I'm sure. She had a nice twinkle in her eye and was an avid quilter. I hope they enjoyed the rest of their stay and he got to enjoy some Indian food he was saving himself for later. :-)

I wish I'd gotten the sign in this picture that is just above the frame... "No dogs allowed." This pooch was being so well behaved and waited patiently for his owner to return from shopping.

Of course... I already have to search out another loo before stopping by Betty's to buy something and head back to the coach. I loved these funky stairs.

I got stuck in a line at Betty's. There were some treats I wanted to buy for later and to share with my roommate. She'd been so nice to buy a real macaroon for me at Bourton-on-the-Water. I was thinking I had another half an hour to be back at the coach park and realized as I was at the register that I actually only had ten minutes... and I'd not finished up with the cashier yet. I had nine skinny minutes to get myself down the hill to the coach and there was no room for getting lost. No one was as grateful as I when I came across the lovely bunch of hydrangeas we'd passed a few hours earlier. :-) I was passing people on the sidewalk and moving as fast as I could... just got on the coach on the dot! Whew!

Back at our hotel, the search was on for a pay phone. I'd not been able to contact Kristine since we'd talked from the Edinburgh Jury's Inn. For some reason the phone in our room in England would not work with the phone card and the computer in the lobby was down. :-/ By the next day I was getting a bit frantic to touch base... I was worried about how she was doing. Finally a nice little Russian clerk who had small children, let me come back and use the phone in the back office... off a hallway. The phones off the main desk worked fine. Bless her heart! I called Kristine and tried to call home also (got the machine) while I sat on the floor in their back hallway. It was hot back there but I was sure happy to make contact. :-) That was after dinner though... first there was the trek to the phone booth and abandoning the idea of making that work or being able to hear right next to the busy road. Some of the gals had gone across the street for dinner... so I finally wandered in and joined them after all. :-)

They had an interesting system using numbered spoons to keep track of people. I had to go order at the bar before sitting down with the others.

It made me chuckle every time Jaynie took photos of her food, but she runs a bed and breakfast and this sort of thing would be of more interest to her, I'm sure. In retrospect, it was kind of nice to have a few photos of some of the meals, but the only one that really inspired me to whip out the camera was the bowl of "poop" (chocolates... very tasty). ;-)