Blogs from York, North Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 7

Hey there, Went to York yesterday and this morning. What a cool little town. We got to see a giant cathedral (you can't throw a rock without hitting one here) and take a ghost tour. There is also some awesome shopping to be had here. So we just wandered around the town taking pics, shopping, going to high tea and listening to ghost stories. This morning we got on a train and made our way to Edinburgh, Scotland. So far we haven't seen much because we got in at about 4:30 pm and walked (dragging suitcases for what seemed like 42 miles) to our apartment. We then lugged the suitcases up 3 flights of stairs......but when we finally got up to the apartment it is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!! We are now off to explore a little bit while ... read more

We visited the National Railway Museum on 24 February 2008. The museum has been established in the former railway station building with the original turntable near the actual railway station. The museum offered an insight into the glorious past of the railway industry, and made us feel that we were invited to the real depot rather than the purpose-built museum. We started looking round the Grant Hall. There were different types of the trains which include: Shinkansen, Mallard, Eurostar, diesel trains, freight cars, and horse carriages. The Shinkansen or bullet train, which is used for the permanent exhibition at the National Railway Museum, is an outdated bullet train, Hikari, which was running between 1970 and 2001 in Japan. Yet, that bullet train seems to be "a dream train" in the UK. The description of Shinkansen included ... read more

This morning I pulled my suitcase to the train station and paid £5 (a stiff fee) to store it. Then I walked back to the Minster to spend the morning – except it was almost 11:00! The entry fee was £5.50. A tourled by a volunteer was just about to start. As a retired teacher, the guide was excellent. She was so enamoured with her “job” that she took the training before she retired so she could start without delay after retiring. First we sat in the nave and learned about the Roman HQ and the Norman church, for which the foundations are still under the Minster, although the original warden and stone churches are not – disco... read more

From the Ramsgate station I took the 11:05 train to St Pancras station, where I went to the loo and bought a ham sandwich and juice. The walk to King’s Crossstation was not as remembered, because there is a huge construction site where, according to the hoarding, they are building a new plaza and restoring the original façade of the station. I followed the flow of foot traffic and found the departure information boards. In the hope of getting a reasonable seat on this crowded train with the ultimate destination of Glasgow, I walked right to the front car. This didn’t help much and I sat in a seat with no view that was later claimed by a nice young woman with a reservation. I moved over and continued writing travel notes. In url=http://en.wikip... read more

From Conwy to York Saying goodbye to Conwy, we set out early for York because we wanted to take advantage of early check in at our B&B before noon. It was nearly a 3 hour drive, but this would be the last hurrah for the car as the rest of our trip would be on foot or by train. York is the second most visited city in England (next to London of course) and with good reason. Not only does York still have its castle walls around the town, but it is chock full of old building from the 1600’s which means there are plenty of ghosts and haunted houses. York was founded in 71 AD by the Romans, later invaded by the Vikings before finally becoming English after the Normans invaded. Castles, ghosts, Romans and ... read more