City of York
20 May 2010, Thursday
We are off to the City of York today. Website – http://www.visityork.org/
I did not get much sleep last night and it showed when I was driving. At times, I was yawning and having trouble concentrating.
We got to York around 1.00 pm and are checked into a two star called “Hedley House Hotel.” Website – http://www.hedleyhouse.com/
The tariff is 80 pounds per night. We have a nice room, very clean and on the ground floor. It is just 5-7 minutes walk from the centre of York and has its own parking at the rear of the hotel (see image to the right).
The dongle works in this hotel. Their wi-fi is confined to their main lounge which does not suit me.
We were directed to two of the finer hotels by a person we met in a car park (turns out he was a former Mayor of York). We checked one of the hotels but they did not have any rooms for 2 nights.
We bought a tour bus ticket (much cheaper than Edinburgh tour buses) and had quite a long tour of the city. It is a pity that they used a Yorkshire man as a voice over because he just did not cut it and was boring. Website – http://www.yorkpullmanbus.co.uk/
We are going to eat in the hotel tonight.
21 May 2010, Friday
We are going to see more of York today – have the whole day out and also travel on the bus ticket we bought yesterday.
In my travel notes I have said that the prices charged by the places we have stayed in are not necessarily commensurate with the service/facilities they offer. It is probably time for the government to regulate the industry and award those stars (as they do now) but on the basis that there is a limit to what you can charge.
21 May 2010, Friday
We are in York looking at the sights. Will stay here overnight and then travel down to Bath.
First stop this morning was the bus which took us to the York Castle Museum. Website – http://www.yorkcastlemuseum.org.uk/Page/Index.aspx
This museum is worth visiting as it gives you an insight into what life was like from a period in York’s history to the 1960’s. It was very well done. You can spend hours in the museum if that takes your fancy. I noticed that there were lots of schoolkids there – good way to keep them interested and amused.
On the bus again and then we visited the York railway station. We had a bite to eat and then walked around the station. It is very impressive and a large place.
On the bus again and we travelled towards York Minster. Website – http://www.yorkminster.org/visiting/what-to-see-and-do/
We spent a very long time here. Sandra went on a stained glass tour while I waited, just sitting and taking in this magnificent cathedral. Take a look at the three videos below of York Minster.
 |
 |
 |
Went shopping afterwards and bought gifts for Linda Martin and Janice’s Dad. I also bought a carryon luggage bag from Sports Direct. I think the bag will be used for all our gifts.
We are dining in tonight at the hotel. We met a couple (they live in Aberdeen, Scotland) who were staying at a bed and breakfast and came to the hotel for an evening meal. I gave them Sandra’s web address because of the lady’s interest in leadlighting.
22 May 2010, Saturday
After breakfast, we left the car in the car park at the back of the hotel and walked into the CBD of the City of York. The purpose – return a bag I bought from Sports Direct – one the zips was stuck and we reasoned that we should return it in case the other zips malfunctioned in exactly the same way. When we got to the store, we looked at another bag and found it also had problems with the zips. We got a refund instead.
Sandra bought a few books for reading. One is never enough just in case the books are awful, she gets to choose. That is the problem with having such excellent choice of reading as members of the City of Mandurah library.
We did not travel to Bath today. Could not see the point in it if we were not going into Wales. I reasoned that I had seen enough Roman stuff and the long drive to Bath and back was not a good option.
We instead travelled in the direction of Leeds.