York and Jorvik!

After Edinburgh...and after one more 5 a.m. train ride we got to my new favorite city of the English countryside. York. I don't know why I feel such a bond with York but I do. It created probably the best day of Study Abroad yet. We stayed in a sketch hostel and there was nothing extremely important to do in the town...but we found a lot to keep us entertained. York Minster was great, we didn't pay to go inside because we're cheap, but we went to Evensong there. I got a few glares when I didn't say the prayers. Oops. My favorite thing about York though...the entire town smelled like chocolate. No really, it did. From the moment you walked through Monks Gate you could smell chocolate, and pastries. They had such good pastries. Mmmm...it's a good thing I don't live in York.

The best part of the day...is that instead of paying to go to York Minster, which is only the largest cathedral in the northern half of the UK, we paid seven pounds to experience Jorvik! the Viking City. Oh my goodness...it sure created a lot of laughs...and a lot of good memories. There was this little ride-thing-sort of thing that took us through a the sights--and smells--of a typical Viking town. It was like a really bad version of the Haunted Mansion. After we got off the ride, we had the chance to meet a few Vikings and even find out if we were Vikings ourselves. It was so funny. If you ever go to York, don't feel pressed to go to Jorvik, but, if you have a little spare time and money, don't pass it up. Besides that, it's really fun to say.

York also had some pretty awesome little shops. My favorite was a bookshop that was kiddie corner to the minster. It was awesome. Actually there are awesome used book stores all over England. We also made sure to stop by Whip-ma-Whop-ma-Gate, which you just can't miss (it's the shortest street with the longest name) and we did a really cool walk with this cute little old tour guide, on the old walls of the city, and she told us all about the history of York. It was really interesting and York has a lot of history to it. Basically, it was a great place to stop and spend the night in our sketchy hostel before heading home to good ol' Palace Court.The Minster. The coolest stained glass window was behind scaffolding. Sad.
Um...I'm a Viking? And that scary man...he's a Viking too.
Making friends with Vikings. We fit in really well at Jorvik.
They had some great hat shops in York. I wanted to buy one and go to the races. Maybe even cheer for Dover.
Old Roman ruins of the wall surrounding the city. Yes, those stone boxes are coffins, but I'm pretty sure they're empty. I didn't get close enough to find out.