Yorksheer!….said in that classic stereotypical Yorkshire accent

Haven't gotten around to writing up this stay and as expected the details are somewhat vague and probably rather scattered.

I liked York. Is described as a rather affluent city, both of which I didn't really see (the affluence and the "city") but I guess it is all relative. The hostel I stayed at was new and rather flash. Its only drawback was that is also owned the bar underneath and having a heavy rock group start playing at 10pm is not conducive to sleep by its hostel guests. After the first night, my room emptied out and ear plugs where placed on the newly made beds like welcome chocolates. Not sure ear plugs are the solution. What prospective hostel guest wants to book a hostel knowing they may have to use ear plugs?

York is another Roman fortified town (AD 79-83) with cobblestone street winding throughout. You can walk most of the way around the wall and you will walk some of it as part of the free walking tours the city offers each afternoon (no tips are allowed). The food is quite good with many gastro-pubs (plenty of pork as usual) and a better selection of foreign foods as well (much of which looked edible too...not too bad for the English).

The main tourist attraction is York Minster, or just Minster. A rather grand cathedral that had the main tower collapse in the 14th century. One of the key drawcards within the cathedral is the largest medieval stained-glass window in the world - unfortunately it was being restored (and will be for the next 3 years) so all we got to look at was a life-size photo of it on canvas. Not the same.  The explanation as to how the building inherited the title Minster was slightly lost on me. Wikipedia didn't really help me much either...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minster_(church).

Facde inside York Minster

Evening city scape with possibly the Minster in the back??? Don't think it is.

The coolest clock I've seen (inside the Minster). The guards actually move their weapons up and down every 15 minutes striking the bells (which I've accidently cut out of the photo)

York Eye 

Shambles, York. A 14th century street used by butchers. It was previously known as The Great Flesh Shambles, probably from the Anglo-Saxon word fleshammels ("flesh shelves"), the word used for the shelves the butchers would display their meat on. "Shambles" is an obsolete term for an open-air slaughterhouse and meat market. The term "a shambles" is an extension of the scene of disorganisation and mess associated with the slaughterhouses.

A pub with some structural issues. 

 17-18th July, 2012