Day 29 - York

What a beautiful day to explore York! The sun actually came out today, there was no rain, and it wasn't freezing so, after breakfast, we walked through the city walls to be met by the magnificent cathedral. It's the biggest medieval cathedral in Northern Europe, and it is stunning. Before we explored it, though, we decided to wander the delightful streets of the city, some of which have remained almost unchanged for nearly a thousand years.

We also saw the devastation wrought by the floods, the river is still inundating some homes and businesses in the city. The floods also ruined the Viking museum we planned to visit, though we stopped by it anyway to buy a ring I liked for the gift shop. We also were lucky to find a Whisky Shop next door which stocked a whisky we'd tried in Edinburgh castle and then hadn't been able to find anywhere, so we snapped one up immediately.

Then we went to church. We decided to break the tour up a little, so we did the tower first, 247 steps to the top of the cathedral tower, and we were rewarded with brilliant views over York and the surrounding countryside. It was a tough climb, so when we got back down we nipped out for afternoon tea at Cafe Concerto on Tina's recommendation, and it was brilliant. I had possibly the best cheesecake of my life, and Andrew had a delicious pork belly and apricot baguette.

Full of tasty food, we went back to the cathedral for a tour. It was a great way to learn about the history of the building, as well as details on how the windows and architecture changed over the period of construction. It really is a stunning building, and we continued to wander around well after the tour finished. Eventually we made our way back the street, and it was time to explore the shambles, a medieval street which is widely believed to be where Diagon Alley was filmed, though that's not confirmed. We shopped and wandered about until it was properly dark, then it was time to find a pub.

We settled on the House of the Trembling Madness, which is apparently haunted, and wins awards for their pork pies. It's situated above the specialty ale store that serves as the shop front, and it was delightful. It's very small, owing to the Tudor building it inhabits, and has over 600 types of ale to try. I actually had a cider, Andrew had a smoked porter, and we enjoyed our cosy evening in the traditional surroundings.

Like every other small town, by the time we finished dinner, everything was shut, the streets were empty, and the temperature was beginning to drop, so we stopped at a Sainsbury's for some milk and drinks, and walked back to our hotel. A brilliant way to spend our second to last day in England.