York - Day One
After mingling with the Roman ruins we have landed in York. We took a brief overview walk in the evening and I am downloading some pictures from the walk with our guide Alfred. I really am liking York, all the history of London, throw in a little Harry Potter and I found a jazz nite! This place has it all.


We are staying in the Radisson Blu on the west bank of the river Ouse. Some of the buildings right across the river.

Some of those same buildings from Mickelgate Bridge later in the evening

Walking from Exhibition Square to Bootham Bar. A gate is called a Bar and a road is called a Gate. Hey I didn't make this up, blame the Vikings.

Walking down Bootham gate or sometimes Row. Man this is getting confusing

York Minster, we will see more of that tomorrow

Statue of Constantine the Great. Apparently he was crowned Emperor here when his dad, Constantine the Not So Great died. All of this history is second hand.

Clifford's Tower by the Castle Museum

Just a random street scene with umbrellas

Had to add this, real old insignia and a real new insignia

Tudor house somewhere in the middle of the city

York - Day Two Morning
Started off with another walk, this time with our Rick Steves guide Jamie. York really is a very fun city to walk around. Here are some more pictures.


Ruins from the Abbey

Bridge and reflection shot

The Shambles, a nice relaxed market with all kinds of things

Front entrance of the Merchant Adventurers Hall. Definitely worth a visit

Inside the Merchant and Adventurers Hall

Chapel in same Hall

Back entrance, which is actually the main ticket entrance today

York - Day Two Afternoon
We had been scheduled to go to York Minster, but then it was off for some reason. While we were taking our initial tour of York I saw Jamie, our Rick Steves guide, talking with someone at the front of the Minster. All of a sudden, it was on again! We had a great lunch at a North African restaurant and then we were in to the Minster. Unfortunately I took a ton of pictures with my camera, but not that many with my phone, which is what I download from. Either way it was quite magnificent, I would highly recommend going. We went back to the York Minster for Evensong and that was also a great experience. I got my jazz fix at Museum Pub, but caught a descending sun on our last day in York. I have to say I loved York the most of all our towns that we visited. I want to come back.


York Minster was spared some of the destruction of the Cromwell era because someone on the inside was from York and he told the Reformists, lay off York.

This is the Charter House attached to the Minster. Another great ceiling. There's also a nice museum detailing the Gothic cathedral that was originally here.

This is the top of the entrance to the King's Manor. A number of Kings visited this site, Henry the 8th being one of the them. We were told this is where he found out that his, 5th wife, Catherine Howard. was cheating on him. Given Henry's disposition I'm guessing that she wasn't the smarted head in the basket. She was executed after 18 months of marriage.

Station Road bridge.

Great detail of the bridge.

Some nice jazz, vibes, bass piano and drums. Lot's of Charlie Parker which was kind of funny with no horn, but the still cooked.

Goodnight York, hope to see you again

Travel Day
We are taking the train to London. As a tour guide myself, doing a two hour Art Deco tour in Los Angeles, I am giving our tour guide, Jamie, huge kudos for wrangling all us kittens on the train!
Last night at Jazz night, I met three young boppers from the University here, into Jazz, God Bless them. I said I heard that the train station here was in Harry Potter and they all said no that's in Kings Cross. The young lady of the three whipped out her phone and said well it says here they used the York station. Probably both locations. Shout out if you know the truth.


Look at that Roof!

The detail in York is everywhere and all of these bright colors.

Oh, oh, gotta go, my ride is here.

London - Will the Circle Be Unbroken
Apparently in this case the Circle is not Unbroken, although plotting it out on a Google map it is more like a long oblong around England. London, Salisbury, Bath, Stow-on-the Wold, detour to Conwy, Wales, Keswick, York and back to London. We have a nice easy train ride from York, although I have to say, London trains have nothing on long haul Mexican buses for comfort! Pull into Kings Cross and load up on another bus for our tour of St. Paul's Cathedral at 2:00PM. Rick's tours are pretty active. We have had a number of cancellations this trip with the Cathedrals, Wells was closed, York Minster, off and then on. Our original itinerary was for Westminster Abbey, but it's closed, so we are going to St. Paul's instead. I've never been inside Westminster Abbey, I've stood outside it and for my money, St. Paul's wins, so I'm Ok with the exchange. A lot of us did want to go to Westminster Abbey because I think it's more famous in the US. After the tour we head to Kensington and our last stay on the tour.


St. Paul's is so big that you can't see the dome if you are walking around the park next to the Cathedral. I'm across the street here.

We were on our own for lunch, lot's of places to choose from and then we are to meet at the statue of Queen Anne, there she is!

Britain is celebrating VE day and there is an outside display about the volunteers that helped save the church during the Blitz, this is a famous photo of St. Paul's standing!

Inside, it's very beautiful, we had a nice tour with Isabel.

Lot's of bling in here.

The font is very different from the modern one in Salisbury, it's there on the right.

We are in the crypt now, there's Florence Nightengale

What's a crypt without Wellington

Hey don't forget Nelson!

London - Last Full Day
We are up and out early for a Tube ride to the London Tower. For many in our group this is the first time riding the Tube, but we are old hands, knowing for instance, that it is the Tube and not the Metro or Subway! Jamie is determined to get in front of the line to see the The Crown Jewels as soon as it opens and he succeeds. I was really impressed with how the Royal Jewels are displayed, they are all in cases of course but there is an ongoing film on the walls around with historical context. You get to see footage of the investiture of Prince Charles as Prince Wales and there is the crown he wore in the case. So many crowns, one for when you are made the king or queen, one for daily use when doing light housework around the castle etc. I thought it was very interesting, Royalist or not. The. Tower stands in the middle of a big palace. Something most of us were surprised to see. We thought the Tower was like the jail in Mayberry with Floyd and Andy chewing the fat. No, it's surrounded by grounds and a lot of other towers outside of the Tower itself. So some prisoners were able to wander around the complex until curfew.




We were greeted by this guy when we crossed under the walkway to the Tower. There is a large part of the original Roman wall that is still preserved from when this was Londonium.

We tourists were delighted to see this sign, in earlier times it was probably not as popular, if you were going to lose your head for instance.

The White Tower, which we think of as Thee Tower, but there is actually a Bloody Tower and a Torturer Tower. I think I saw a Taco Tuesday Tower, but I digress.

Currently there are all of these flowers everywhere on the grounds. This may be for VE day not sure.

Chapel inside the White Tower

There is a big display of horses with armor of the kings. At one time there was a display of each king on a horse?

This is King Henry the 8th on a horse with armor.

Here is a picture of Henry's armor in his "fat" Elvis stage

Not much to say, a. big row of Breast Plates, not sure of there historical significance, but I'm pretty sure they are not from Old Navy

One guy who wasn't happy to see the Welcome to the London Tower sign, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex. He was a favorite of Queen Elizabeth the 1st, until he wasn't. Last person to be beheaded in the Tower, February 25, 1601.

Rollin' on the River
Our last group activity was to get on a boat at Tower Millennium Pier and motor down the Thames to the Westminster Pier. Taking a boat is a great way to see the City and a nice finish to our tour...although, the Missus and I are not done.


Our fearless leader Jamie. He did a great job, always knowledgeable but entertaining as well. A lot of respect for moving us around the country, bus, train, boat and Tube.

Tower Bridge. Didn't get a chance to see it up close, will have to come back

The Old London City Hall. This is what Google calls it. It looks pretty modern to me, but maybe they've moved to a new City Hall.

People walking over the Millienium Bridge

Cleopatra's Needle with Sphinx. This is an ancient Egyptian obelisk, given to the British people for kicking Napoleon in the pants...and out of Egypt. Having been to the British Museum, it looks like a lot of other stuff may have "fallen off the truck" and landed in London

Here's the money shot, Westminster Bridge, the Houses of Parliment and the Elizabeth Tower ( Big Ben for us Americans), and a little bit of Westminster Abbey

Don't Forget the V&A
We have one more stop. When we were in Paddington, like a month ago we didn't get a chance to go to the Victoria and Albert Museum so we head there before our final group dinner. It's really incredible that London has so many fantastic museums. The V&A though differently themed than the British Museum, is chock full of great things. We took a quick one hour tour of Britain 1500 - 1700 with one of the docents. We saw the Music Room of the Duke of York, early bibles and the most intriguing, embroidered panels by Mary Queen of Scots. Something about that really caught my imagination. So that was the last of our sight seeing in London, we are just down Cromwell Road at the Radisson, so now we have to pack.


Entrance into the V & A. Victoria must have really loved this guy is all I can say.

A large hanging Dale Chilhuly in the Rotunda. The V & A is big on decorative arts

All of this stuff is made of plaster. Since the V & A didn't have access to many famous statues, they just made copies out of plaster
They actually call it the Plaster Court.

This is the fig leaf that was applied to the plaster cast of the statue of David by Michelangelo. This was necessary because in Victorian times, the ladies had a hard time looking at David in the eye! Hey eyes up here! This is very funny, I mean Victoria had 9 children so at least someone knew what was behind the fig leaf

This is a staircase from a three story building. They have crazy stuff in here.

28 Glorious Days in England
If someone said in one word describe England, I would say sheep. We saw so many sheep, walking on hikes, through Roman ruins, Stone Circles, they were everywhere. I was so impressed with England, I can not believe it took me 71 years to get there. The people were just the friendliest people, always asking how we were, how did we like it there. The food was really good, even though I had fish and chips a lot, I could eat it all the time, one big long plank of white fish not the two or three little pieces we get in the States. One thing that was unexpected, you can't spend cash there, everything is card only. I brought 300 pounds and ended up with 50 still in my pocket. Another thing that made the trip enjoyable was they all speak English! I know, this should be understood, but after traveling in many countries, trying to communicate in a different language, it was so easy to be able to communicate in...well, English! The history is amazing, the countryside is absolutely gorgeous, and the cities are a treat. Hands down my favorite was York, I wish we had more time. London was fun don't get me wrong, but York was more laid back. I can't wait to go back again!



We took the Picadilly line right to the airport. Are you listening Los Angeles?

Virgin Atlantic, only 10 hours until we are home!

Glad you liked it.

You're right that the Old City Hall isn't very old. It was opened in 2021 to house the Greater London Authority, which was created two years earlier. The Authority covers all of Greater London, which is very roughly the area inside the M25 and has a population of around 9m. It however only has limited powers as most local power is held by the local boroughs (e.g. Southwark, Westminster etc). Its most important role for visitors is probably transport as it manages Transport for London and your tube ride to Heathrow. The building was only ever leased and the current mayor decided to move to a building the Authority owned further east to save money. I remember once attending a reception on the top floor of the building many years ago.

If you enjoyed the V&A be aware that the V&A Storehouse has just opened in Stratford - a huge treasure trove of a building where you can actually ask to see specific items in the V&A collection but not on display. By next Spring a V&A East Museum will open next door to the Storehouse as well.

I like your comment about V&A liking decorative art. You are getting the hang of British understatement

Our Docent told us about this and I thought it was really amazing that you could request and then get to see something not on display. It seems like an interesting process, I wonder if there is any limit to the size of an item you can request? Who pays for all of this? Is the V&A a foundation or a national organization?

A national body based (like the other South Kensington museums) on the foundations provided by the profits from the Great Exhibition of 1851, and run by trustees, but largely funded by government as well as what it makes by commercial operations.

https://www.vam.ac.uk/east/storehouse/visit

LOL, Indeed, if you can call a 20ft Chihuly and an entire music room, decorative!

Many thanks for a very entertaining trip report. You certainly packed a lot in.
Great that you enjoyed York. I am fortunate enough to live in North Yorkshire, in a tiny village with a field of sheep immediately behind my house!
Some of the most beautiful medieval churches in England are known as Wool Churches as they were built many hundreds of years ago on the proceeds of the very lucrative wool trade. Suffolk has some particularly stunning examples, especially in Long Melford and Lavenham. I think you would like Suffolk and you definitely need to explore more of North Yorkshire - I think you would like Whitby too!
I'd love to know more about your thoughts on English food. Fish and chips clearly went down well, but anything else you particularly liked or indeed disliked?
Hope you had a smooth, uneventful trip home.

Have been enjoying your report. Full of good information and great pictures! Glad you had such a nice time.

We definitely would like to come back to York and the area around and explore at a normal pace. I looked up Whitby and the Abbey reminds me of Ireland. Maybe Cashel. Thoughts on English food? That is a very interesting question. There is an old stereo type that English food is boring, but we found the food to be very good. That being said, of what you might call English food, I'm not sure how much we ate. Full English breakfast, yes, not too sure about the blood pudding. I had excellent bangers and mash in Keswick with that Cumberland sausage, delicious. Sticky toffee pudding, more please! Had a couple of fish pies and a Sunday Roast, both very good. One of the things that surprised us was the cleverly disguised chains in England. For example, we had really nice meals in Salisbury at Cote and Cosy Club. Thought they were both unique in their own way. Nope, both are in Bath and saw a Cote in London and I think York. Zizzi which made a very good pizza, they are all around. We had excellent fish in England, not just fish and chips, also salmon, haddock and sea bass. One thing that is interesting is that the fish we had was served skin side up, usually on a bed of rice or potatoes. In the States it's usually served skin side down. It doesn't matter really but we both noticed that. As for other food, we had Egyptian/ Mediterranean at Hayat in Paddington, North African in York, also I had a very tasty steak at Rafael's in Bath. Biggest surprise, I only had one hamburger the whole trip. Looking back after two days home, we ate really well in England and I have the belly to prove it!

Glad you enjoyed the food here. I eat almost anything but I can’t face blood (normally known as black) pudding.
Interesting about how your fish was served. When it comes to fish and chips it tends to be served skin on down south and skin off up north. This is a very general rule though.
My dad (a southerner) always maintained that the skin was the best part!
Whitby has many attractions. The Abbey and its setting is spectacular, the town has Dracula links but it’s also the unofficial fish and chips capital of the country.
It has some superb fish and chips shops and causes endless discussion of which is the best!

Such a fun report! I'd love to take another trip to England - perhaps a walking trip. Your experience with a tour intrigued me as we are beginning to look at tours. Don't know if I could handle being part of a 30 person pack, though. Off to read more of your trip reports. Thanks!