Old York

"Start spreading the news....I'm leaving today. I want to be a part of it! New York, New"--oh. Dang it.

Why aren't there any songs about old York? If you know any, hook a sister up, would you? Thanks.

Anyway, I arrived in York at about 7:00PM, so it had already been dark for several hours. But York is not a terribly big city--or is it a town?--so my hostel was only a short walk in the dark from the bus--sorry, coach--station. 

It's easily one of the strangest hostels that I've stayed in yet. Which isn't to say that it wasn't nice, because it was. In fact, it's one of the nicer hostels I've stayed in. But strange. Well, you'll see.

There was no reception desk; instead, I had to lug all my bags through the restaurant next door to the bar to check in. Luckily, it wasn't very busy (it was a Monday), so it didn't take long to catch the bartender's attention. She was very friendly, chatting as she walked me up to my room. The room, though, turned out to be more like an apartment. There was a living room (featuring a flat screen TV and a hella comfy couch), a bathroom, and a kitchen in addition to the bunk room I was expecting. And the kitchen had all kinds of goodies in it, including free coffee, tea, and juice. There was even a washing machine in there to do laundry, for free! *gasp* It was such a homey place that there weren't lockers, which are usually a given in hostels. Normally, this would have made me nervous for the safety of my stuff, but my roomies turned out to be pretty nice people, so I felt okay about leaving my stuff out in the open.

Anyway, once I managed to pop my jaw back into place, I cooked some pasta for dinner and headed to bed. I was so exhausted that it didn't take long for me to fall asleep, despite the mattress clearly being made entirely out of springs. Oh well. Can't have everything. 

I finally had the type of English weather that I'd been expecting when I awoke: chilly and foggy. I was thrilled, and headed out to explore York. I'd only given myself two nights there, so I was determined to make the most of it. 

I started with a full English breakfast at a restaurant overlooking the main square.

Black pudding=not my thing. 

After spent most of the day wandering, checking out the mostly-intact city wall, which dates back to Roman times. 

Part of the city wall.

I also stumbled upon the birthplace of Guy Fawkes:

Remember, remember: the fifth of November. 

Once it got dark again, I headed back to the main square, where I had seen the Christmas market setting up earlier that day. Now, it was all lit up, with Christmas carols playing and the smell of mulled wine in the air...Christmas markets are easily one of my favorite things about traveling this time of year. 

Check these guys out!

I spent the rest of the evening relaxing in my hostel, lounging on that supremely comfy couch and chatting with my roomies, before heading to bed. I had a train to catch the next day. 

York was a lovely place to spend a day, but it was only ever a pit stop on my journey north. I was on to the next exciting place.

Scotland!