25 Jul 2012:
Four of Five Snorers Approve
York, England, UK/Derby, England, UK
H: 19/24 L: 15/14 Weather: Overcast/Partly Cloudy
Getting to sleep in York was rough; I was in a room of 10 people, so, as you might imagine, it was kind of loud in there. About five different people, I think, were snoring. Then I realized: oh wait, I have earplugs! And, miracle of miracles, four of the snorers were drowned out by the earplugs, while the fifth was reduced from a chainsaw to a gnat. I joined my fellow sleepers quickly thereafter.
Unfortunately, though, the morning came earlier than it should have, because the hostel offered free breakfast... but only from 7 to 9. That meant that Cindy-from-Canada and I had to be up and out that early to explore York some more. While we were leaving the breakfast room, we happened to look at the TV, where the BBC was playing a show that involved detectives who sought the unknown heirs for people who are heirless and die. Some poor woman had died and left £100,000 behind without any will, and her brothers were both childless, so they had to go out into the countryside and find who to give the money to. British telly is weird.
Cindy-from-Canada and I decided to check out the York Minster. Unfortunately for us, admission to the very-impressive-looking cathedral happened to be £14. Alas. Instead, we headed down to the York Castle Museum, which is not a museum about castles; instead, it was a museum about social history, complete with a mockup of a street from the Victorian Era. The scope of it was broad enough, though, that it included an exhibit of the 1960s adjoining a recreation of a early-1800s prison. I was vaguely disappointed by the 1960s exhibit, to be honest; as an American, from what I know of 1960s Britain it was composed 100% of the Beatles.
We also checked out Clifford's Tower, the only remnant of a Medieval castle in the city. It was the site of nasty Anti-Semitic violence made in the Middle Ages, but now it's just a quaint little tower towards the side of York. Small kids were cavorting around as one of the workers in the area dubbed them knights in a super adorable knighting ceremony. The top of the tower afforded some nice views.
I walked her to the train station and we said our goodbyes, then it was time for me to get lunch. I didn't need anything particularly complicated, but Europe in generally is severely lacking in what I'd call "medium-speech food" - things like Panera, Noodles and Company, and so on, where you can get decent food but can be in and out in ten minutes. So I spent quite a bit of time wandering around trying to find somewhere that could give me some. Finally, I was able to get a "breakfast panini" (egg, cheese, sausage, bacon, and tomato) and eat it with some raspberries from the farmers' market... yum.
As a final stop, I went to York's free art gallery, which wasn't anything special but was, importantly, free. There are art galleries everywhere in Europe. It's kind of ridiculous. They had a "draw your own artwork" station for preteens, including a bouquet of flowers and a plastic trout as props. I decided to inspire the teens by putting the trout in with the bouquet.
My next stop was Derby, where my cousin Chelsea lives. It was just a train and a short taxi ride away, and suddenly I was in a real, honest-to-God apartment, that actually had spaces to live in and wasn't full of bunk beds or in a shifty dorm or anything. Woah! Chelsea was nice enough to cook me a delicious meal of chicken kebabs and corn-on-the-cob, which I absolutely demolished because CORN. I was excited to hear that my cousin Garrett and his girlfriend Suzie were planning to be in town the following Saturday! Heading to bed was easy, and I fell asleep right away.
Unfortunately, though, the morning came earlier than it should have, because the hostel offered free breakfast... but only from 7 to 9. That meant that Cindy-from-Canada and I had to be up and out that early to explore York some more. While we were leaving the breakfast room, we happened to look at the TV, where the BBC was playing a show that involved detectives who sought the unknown heirs for people who are heirless and die. Some poor woman had died and left £100,000 behind without any will, and her brothers were both childless, so they had to go out into the countryside and find who to give the money to. British telly is weird.
Cindy-from-Canada and I decided to check out the York Minster. Unfortunately for us, admission to the very-impressive-looking cathedral happened to be £14. Alas. Instead, we headed down to the York Castle Museum, which is not a museum about castles; instead, it was a museum about social history, complete with a mockup of a street from the Victorian Era. The scope of it was broad enough, though, that it included an exhibit of the 1960s adjoining a recreation of a early-1800s prison. I was vaguely disappointed by the 1960s exhibit, to be honest; as an American, from what I know of 1960s Britain it was composed 100% of the Beatles.
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| Additionally, my role as Village Idiot in games of Mafia was confirmed! |
I walked her to the train station and we said our goodbyes, then it was time for me to get lunch. I didn't need anything particularly complicated, but Europe in generally is severely lacking in what I'd call "medium-speech food" - things like Panera, Noodles and Company, and so on, where you can get decent food but can be in and out in ten minutes. So I spent quite a bit of time wandering around trying to find somewhere that could give me some. Finally, I was able to get a "breakfast panini" (egg, cheese, sausage, bacon, and tomato) and eat it with some raspberries from the farmers' market... yum.
As a final stop, I went to York's free art gallery, which wasn't anything special but was, importantly, free. There are art galleries everywhere in Europe. It's kind of ridiculous. They had a "draw your own artwork" station for preteens, including a bouquet of flowers and a plastic trout as props. I decided to inspire the teens by putting the trout in with the bouquet.
My next stop was Derby, where my cousin Chelsea lives. It was just a train and a short taxi ride away, and suddenly I was in a real, honest-to-God apartment, that actually had spaces to live in and wasn't full of bunk beds or in a shifty dorm or anything. Woah! Chelsea was nice enough to cook me a delicious meal of chicken kebabs and corn-on-the-cob, which I absolutely demolished because CORN. I was excited to hear that my cousin Garrett and his girlfriend Suzie were planning to be in town the following Saturday! Heading to bed was easy, and I fell asleep right away.
"I decided to inspire the teens by putting the trout in with the bouquet." < This is great.
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