England Adventure Days 3 & 4

Day 3 of my England adventure began in Harrogate, which was a popular resort/spa town in the Victorian era. Now it's a place with lovely, high-end shops that featured designer dresses and famous chocolates. I tried to take a picture of one of the dresses I saw in a shop and the French shopkeeper stopped me with a "tsk" and a finger shake and a very snooty, "I do not zink ze designer would like zat." Okay, then. On to the free stuff.

I snapped this photo after being shooed out of the store. Can't stop me from taking pictures outside, right?

We toured the Royal Hall, visited some antique shops, and stopped at the Mercer Art Gallery, which was very nice. Then we walked along the Valley Gardens, which made me want to move there. Valley Gardens is a lovely remnant of the Victorian era that is still very popular today. This is where moms take their kids in strollers for their daily outing and old people meet at the outdoor cafe for brunch. I had the yummiest hot chocolate there, and afterward met some friendly older men who were happy to give us advice about what to see next. Biggest local draw? Fountains Abbey. They insisted it was absolutely worth our time, and I believed them.

The best hot chocolate ever. Sipped at a lovely wrought-iron table outside in Valley Gardens.

Fountains Abbey was probably my second favorite place to visit on my entire trip, the first being Chatsworth House. It's an enormous old, ruined abbey that was built in the early 1100s. The scale and fine craftsmanship of it elicited a sense of awe and wonder in me that I could not find an end to. And it felt so nice to be there, as far as ruined old places go. Very friendly ghosts, and all. There were hundreds of acres surrounding the abbey that are part of the monument. There was a manicured Georgian water garden that was lovely. And plenty of trails to walk and fine prospects to enjoy.

Inside Fountains Abbey

Another part of the Abbey, this one with the roof intact

One angle of the Abbey, but the perspective does not do the size of it justice.

Another angle of the Abbey, ditto on size distortion. It's enormous.

After Fountains Abbey, we headed to York, which is a city rich in history. It was dark by the time we got checked in to our hotel, so we found a nearby pub (called The Hole in the Wall) and had some dinner. The burger I ordered looked appealing, in a carnivorous way, but about halfway through, I realized the meat was not quite the same as the meat we eat in burgers here. It seemed to be from a different part of the cow. That realization killed my appetite, and I spent the rest of the evening regretting that burger.

The next morning we set out to explore York. Our first stop was York Minster, an enormous old gothic cathedral with soaring stained glass windows, flying buttresses, and lots of history. We paid to climb the tower, which consisted of 275 uneven and narrow stone steps up a tight, winding tower. The view from the top allowed us to see all of York, which might have looked a little better if it had not been so hazy.

York Minster, from halfway up the tower.

After Minster, we found the Shambles, which is a series of old cobblestone streets which have been blocked off from traffic. The old houses have been preserved and turned into nice shops, and you have a fairly glamorous outdoor shopping experience in the midst of hundreds of years of history. I found it strange, this combination of history and commercialism, and finally had to settle on the idea that history is something Europeans live among, because there is so much to be had of it. In comparison, our historical sites in America (especially here in the west) are so paltry and few that we memorialize them and set them apart, shrine-like. In England, they just keep living in and using the same old buildings and the same ancient walls and streets. It's one of the things I love about England.

Shops in the Shambles.

Oh, finally, some good food! I ate the most decadent chocolate filled croissant, with the chocolate dripping down my chin and the croissant perfectly flaky. It was heavenly.

A perfect chocolate croissant

Walking along the Roman walls.

 And, of course, no trip to York is complete without a walk along the old Roman walls that surround the city. Daffodils were in bloom everywhere! I loved the bright yellows. Highlights of York: the croissants, the hike up the tower, the quaint homes turned into shops, the wonderfully helpful shopkeeper who superglued my broken sunglasses for me, and the croissants. Oh, wait. I already mentioned them.

Next up: Haworth and the moors!