In York, we stayed outside the city walls. While Lumley Castle was technical a hotel, it did not feel like it. We had been staying mostly at Bed and Breakfast’s and throughly enjoying it. In York though, we decided we would stay in an historic house, the Coach House Hotel. It was supposedly used as a coach house for many years with stables in the back and a smithy just two buildings down. Whether that was true or not is questionable. The food in the restaurant was okay, nothing spectacular. The beds were not nearly as comfortable as the ones from the night before. Time to go out and explore York.
York
York is a historic walled city at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The municipality is the traditional county town of the historic county of Yorkshire to which it gives its name. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events in England throughout much of its two millennia of existence. The city offers a wealth of historic attractions, of which York Minster is the most prominent, and a variety of cultural and sporting activities making it a popular tourist destination.
The city was founded by the Romans as Eboracum in 71 AD. It became the capital of the Roman province of Britannia Inferior, and later of the kingdoms of Northumbria and Jórvík. In the Middle Ages, York grew as a major wool trading centre and became the capital of the northern ecclesiastical province of the Church of England, a role it has retained.
We walked through the narrow city streets and noticed that many of the streets were pedestrian only. It had a real medieval feel to it. We arrived at York’s cathedral and were in awe. It seems to rise from the ground itself and was glittery white (off white), unlike the diary looking stone structures nearby.
We spent serval hours shopping and perusing the markets before we needed to get going. We had to be in London tonight, and get there before the rental place closed. I was told “you do NOT want to drive in London” and they were right.
Once we got there, we navigated to the rental garage, turned in our car and took a cab to Le Meridian at Marble Arch. This was that same hotel Teresa and I stayed at during our first European trip.
