Days 6-9: (Old) York

On Wednesday morning at 9:50, we were lined up outside our hostel for our private coach bus... which didn't arrive until 11:30. A group of us sang some a capella music, which made it a fun wait, despite the fact that it was slightly chilly and a little rainy. We climbed gratefully aboard the cozy coach and drove to Hadrian's Wall, where we had a tour and some free time before driving on to York.

The Ace York hostel was kind of fancy-looking, which was cool. It was also kind of creepy due to a number of bizarre plaques that said stuff like "Lord Somebody and Lady Somebody Else conceived their only child, Mildred, in this room in 1XXX" and "So-and-so and other so-and-so were caught copulating in this room by their servant. Although she swore to protect their secret, her body was found in the river a month later." That really helps you get to sleep at night!

While in York, we toured York Minster. I discovered that I am a huge fan of guided tours, especially when the tour guides is English. Our lady had such cute phrases and a quirky sense of humor! The stained glass was AMAZING, and it was so interesting to hear about how the church survived centuries of challenges, from arson to the threat of bombing during the war.

We also had the opportunity to attend Evensong, which was one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard. At the Minster, you can also go to the basement and see the Roman headquarters that were in place many years before and were below ground level by the time the Minster was built. I saw a marble statue of Constantine's head down there, which was really cool in light of Misc 224:7. 

My last highlight from our time in York was just wandering along the streets. I came across a thrift store whose profits are donated to a good cause. I bought two cute scarves for two quid 20 p (two pounds and twenty pence) each, and a nice button down shirt for four quid. Not bad! My last lunch in York was a chocolate and banana crepe, a lemon muffin, a vanilla slice, and a chocolate cupcake. I had to share the cupcake with a friend because everything was so sweet. I had tried to leave room for dessert all week, but never could, so I finally decided to go all out. This was not the first time I'd had dessert as my meal, but it would be the last... at least until we got back to Oxford!