Ramblings Only

York was authentic with not too many tourists, just locals partying on a Saturday. The city was the right size for me to enjoy exploring. It did start drizzling the moment we landed in York but it wasn't too bothersome. It took two and a half hours to get from Edinburgh by Virgin East Coast train. We sat by a mom and two children, and chatted quite a bit with the mom. Schools, weather, US, Chennai, vacations, Scotland. Coincidentally her brother was teaching in Ooty and they were planning a vacation to Tamil Nadu! The daughter was 7 and she ended up coloring for sometime with JSK. JSK is very outspoken, is not afraid to talk to strangers, or speak her mind out. Quite a difference since we started travelling.

York railway station was beautiful. The railway stations remind me a lot of India, it is the same guys that built them I guess, only these have been well maintained and updated compared to Indians stations. The railway system never fails to amaze me. The ticket booking across multiple trains is also great. The trains themselves were a bit older and teeny bit dirtier than the German trains. 

We found the bus to take us to our Airbnb place. The house of at the bus stop! Another thing that made us happy ;--) The place was a large Victorian period house more than a 100 years old but very well maintained with the needed updates while still keeping the period look. Europeans do a great job doing that. And the house was Huge, like we see in movies. It was rooms after rooms after rooms. The bathroom was bigger than our bedroom back in Fremont ;--) with a huge tub in the middle of the room. Very old fashioned but pretty. Wall papers and pictures and artifacts all screamed Victorian. 

We put our bags in the room and went out back to the station to walk into the City. I liked York instantly because it was the right size to explore on foot. Train stations are central to the city which is great. We actually grabbed lunch at the station ;--) it was yummy, they had vegetable samosa too. 

We walked on the City walls, which is very much intact from 13th century and so cool,  we found an entrance and went up. JSK was a little cranky, we forgot her stroller, yes we still have it in case she gets tired and wants to be carried!, it has helped our backs more than it has helped her ;--). I found the whole concept of walls around towns fascinating. I have seen it around Jerusalem as well, and of course the wall between Palestine and Israel. Now the walls are just for tourists to remember the history behind it.

We walked around the Shambles for a bit, watched some street performers, who wanted us to like them in Facebook ;--S, advanced I tell you. The Shambles are remnant of the old times too, it was a meat market of meat hanging from hooks, that are still there. Now they are fancy shops, but as usual a great job preserving some history. 

The York Minster is seen from anywhere near the city center so we just followed the huge towers and reached the Minster. DH wondered why they needed such a huge church. In those days the church was one of the safety buildings in case of siege. And there was so much importance given to grandeur and beauty in those days. Again the architecture and the scale was spellbinding. I could imagine many artisans working diligently on each and every single piece of carving artwork. These structures are so huge it is impossible to get a nice view of the complete church when one is so close to the church itself. 

We skipped the inside tour because we were going to meet a friend from blogdom ;--). Raji and her family travelled an hour just to come see us. It was nice to see some familiar faces if only from pictures and hear familiar Tamil ;--) We first went to famed Betty's tea house under my insistence only to find it too crowded. We then found a quiet little tea shop and settled in for some icecream and tea and some chatting. Frankly it didn't feel like we met for the first ever time. ;--) our families don't even know each other and they all jelled so well. Raji's kids are 9 and 13 but they made 5 year old JSK feel included which was great. 

Raji and her husband are so easy to talk to, it felt like we knew them from before, Coimbatore helped ;--) Kiddos talked such fascinating British English I could have heard them talk all day long ;--)

We then walked to the Museum Garden for a picnic dinner. Even though we barely finished our tea, yummy homemade Peas Pulav and spicy Paneer curry made want to dig in to the food right away. It was heaven! JSK was missing Indian food too, and for a change  she took some rice in a cup with spoon and ate on her own while playing!! We chatted about life in Britain, made plans to meet again in California, and talked about typical British movies until the security lady came by to tell us they will be closing the park soon. She was intrigued with our food And We bribed her with some rice and curry which she said was amazing ;--)

Soon it was time for us to bid good bye. Raji and her family had a long drive ahead. It is not often that meeting virtual friends clicks this well at all levels. We were very happy heading back to our abode for the night.

Our hosts had a dog and since JSK heard him barking she was adament to go see him. The previous hosts have had bunnies and cats and JSK enjoyed petting and playing with them. She wanted to do the same here too! However the house was so big we didn't know behind which door lay what! Finally we decided to knock on one under the pretext to get some water and lo behold we found the kitchen. The couple were extremely nice, within reason, let JSK take Alfie the dog for a walk. The husband was very English funny, with dry humor. ;--) they have 6 children. That justifies the huge house I suppose. They showed parts of the house which were used in olden days like a bell from every room into the kitchen so the servants knew who was calling from which room! Total Downtown Abbey feeling! The servants quarters were in the top floor. Atleast 4 servants were in the house 100 years ago serving the people of the house.

We slept well in a comfortable four poster bed complete with silk sheets.

York is definitely in my list of places to visit again at leisure. We may even stay at the same place ;--))