While in England, I did a quick trip up to Manchester and York (both more in the North, about a 2 hour train ride from London).
In Manchester I met up with a friend, Chloe. She lives in Manchester but I met her when she was working in Jasper, at the riding stables, two summers ago. It was so much fun to see her again – one of my favourite things about travelling is when I get to meet up with old friends all over the world.
We wandered around the Christmas markets, and she showed me a little of Manchester.
Next day I headed off to York. It’s a beautiful town with an old centre that dates back to Roman and even Viking ages.
I started out at the Jorvik Viking Centre. This place was absolutely fab; it took you on a slow “ride” past dioramas of typical Viking life. It had people that moved and looked freakishly lifelike. It also had the authentic smell of a Viking village (which you can probably imagine wasn’t too pleasant).
It finished with Viking artefacts and information about their lives… I’m always amazed at how much can be learned from old objects. For example: they had several skeletons. On one of these skeletons, through testing, they managed to figure out where that person had been born, where they lived, how they died, and their health throughout their life.
Next up was York Minster, one of the most famous and beautiful cathedrals in Europe. I love cathedrals… this one did not disappoint.
I spent over two hours walking around here and marvelling at it all.
It was even more beautiful than Westminster Abbey, but with about 1/100 of the tourists. There was room to wander, and it was much quieter and more peaceful.
I finished my day at the York Roasting Company, which Chloe had recommended. They had wraps (I got one) that had a giant Yorkshire pudding as the pita, blanketing turkey, stuffing, roast veggies, and cranberry sauce…. yum.
At the end of the day I headed back to London, for a few more days in the city.
THE WANDERING YEARS 