What a nice historical place to visit!

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Geo: 53.9577, -1.08229

July 1, 2010

Stratford upon Avon

6:00-8:15 a.m.

Slept pretty good last night even though I was woken up at 3 am by a phone call from Christine. I didn't answer and turned off my phone. The room was hot due to the air conditioning automatically turning off sometime I the middle of the night. I got up and turned it back on. The wake up call was at 6 with breakfast at 7. I was able to order my breakfast this time and finally got the scrambled eggs made correctly! The day was overcast with a chance of rain later. We boarded the bus for a short ride to Anne Hathaway's cottage for a 5 minute photo op. It was a beautiful thatch roof cottage with one of the best gardens I have ever seen. Although we had to look over the garden gate and through the hedges, it was a wonderful mixture of colors. The fragrance in the morning air was pleasant, too. We then proceeded towards York for our next stop. It will be about a 4 hour drive on the bus with a pit stop along the way.

8:15-10:45

30 minute pitstop halfway to York. Nice rest stop. Reminds me of a cleaner truck stop. However, I did come across a huge brown spider crawling on the floor of the grocery market.

10:45-11:45a.m.

Dylan, the tour guide, began to give a “short” history of England over the speaker system on the bus. Unfortunately, I missed most of it. I zoned out and fell asleep. I caught the last 10 minutes of it. We passed the outskirts of Leeds. Wonder if I will ever hear from my pen pal?

York, Yorkshire, England

12:05-5:00 p.m.

We stopped at a hotel called “The 59” for a restroom break. From there the guide took us on an hour tour that meandered throughout York with us ending up at York's Minster. We passed over the River Foss, made stops to view Cliffords Tower (Sited on top a mound that William the Conqueror built, it dates from thr 13th century), Fairfax House (an example of a Georgian house built in 1762), and the Jorvik Viking Centre. We walked down Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma Gate (the smallest road with the longest name in York) and the Shambles. He then took us to the former red light area. By this time I was tired and wanted to see the Minster, so as he was taking the group off to one more stop, I let him know that I was heading off to the Minister. He seemed put off that I wasn't going to go to one more stop, so when everyone began to follow, I dropped back and left for the Minster. What a gorgeous place! The word ‘minster' usually means a church served by monks, but priests have always served at York. The first minster began at the site as a wooden chapel in 627 AD. The present minster was begun in 1220 and completed in 1470. The 16th century rose window was beautiful. It commemorates the union of the royal houses of York and Lancaster. This place houses the largest collection of medieval stained glass in Britain. I toured the crypt which didn't allow photos, but on the main floor it was permissible. In the crypt there were remains of the Roman fortress, Viking, Norman, and medieval carvings together with treasures and jewels of the archbishops. On the main floor were statues of fifteen kings of England from William I to Henry VI called The Screen. After spending an hour there, I headed down to a Subway restaurant that we had passed to grab a bite to eat and to rest my right leg which was throbbing again. I finally had a decent sandwich! After eating I headed back to the Jorvik Viking Centre. The Centre was built on the site of the original Viking settlement that archaeologists uncovered. It was part museum and part ride. The ride was a narrative trip through scenes. It reminded me of the Haunted Mansion Ride at Disneyland, but without all the ghosts. It's hard to imagine Vikings living in the very spot where I was riding 21st century technology. I picked up some souvenirs and decided to head to the York Castle Museum. Unfortunately, it began to sprinkle so I stopped in a pub called the Mason Arms to wait it out. It took 30 minutes to do so, so I never made it to the museum. I walked a little more way up the road to get back to “The 59”, our pick up spot.

5:00-7:00 p.m.

Once everyone was on board, we headed to our hotel, the Marriott. The room was bigger than the last hotel. I took the desk this time first since it had computer access. She took the space above the teapot since she drinks tea every morning and evening. We kicked back until dinner. Cherry read and piddled around the room while I blogged and logged online.

7:00-8:15 p.m.

We sat in two large groups of long tables and at smaller tables of 4 and 2. I sat at the long table along with some Aussies. Due to the noise level, soft spoken ladies, and the accent of the gentleman, I barely understood their conversations. So, I just smiled a lot and nodded my head. The appetizer was ham and parsley terrine and toast (very good…it had a spicy after taste to it…the ham was minced and then mixed with parsley and served in a block shape…a pickles were supposed to be with it, but I had then leave that off the plate), the main course was Braised Beef Stroganoff with white rice (picked out the mushrooms ick! It tasted great, but it needed a side vegetable to go with it), and for desert I had chocolate brownie served with chocolate sauce (2 good size portions served warm….I ate just one of the portions).

8:15-10:00 p.m.

After dinner I headed off to the heated pool and Jacuzzi. Oh did that feel great!!!! The Jacuzzi relaxed the tired muscles in my leg and back. Then, in the changing area for women, they had the coolest machine I have never seen before! You put your swimsuit in this metal bin that looks like a miniature washer. You close the lid for 10 seconds and when you take the item out, all the water has been sucked out of it! Great gadget! I then headed back to the room and turned in for the night.

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