The weather was beautiful outside and leaving the navigating in the hands of myself (risky, I know.) we made our way to Spring Espresso, a little coffee shop tucked away with a few small breakfasts. We were all very disappointed to see the closed sign hanging on the door, but much to our relief, the young girl at the coffee machine had just forgotten to change it. We found a seat and ordered our coffees, croissants and muesli. Over came the coffees, and we were not disappointed! They were definately, by far, the best coffee we have had since we arrived! Marni even had a chance to get behind the coffee machine and had a go at making the patterns like the young barista had done on our coffees! We grabbed our takeaway coffees and headed.
From there we walked to the Jorvik Viking Centre, and lined up for a short 15 minutes before going in. At the Viking Centre they really try to make it feel as authentic as possible. It looked, sounded, felt and smelt like Vikings. That's right, smelt! And boy, it was putrid! Smell put aside, it was extremely informative, interesting and very cool! There were several skeletons of real Vikings found on the site of the centre, dating back hundreds and hundreds of years, each showing the injuries before throughout their life and, if any, injuries at the the time of death, some of which may have caused it! Marni particularly liked the ancient fossilised poo, dug up over twenty years ago, with no known age, giving evidence of the foods the Viking had been eating! After walking through the whole centre, we made our way out for some desperately needed fresh air!
We wandered down one of the main streets window shopping and in search of a sim for Mums phone so she can have internet connection wherever she goes. After VodaPhone did not help us at all, we found a 3 store and purchased a bargain of a deal, with 30 days of unlimited data for just £15! Mum was very pleased, and when Nathan and Marni heard about the deal they were straight in to get a sim each for themselves! We quickly stopped in T-K-Maxx before making our way back towards The York Priory, were we had seen a pub called The Red Lion the day before, and stopped for lunch.
When we got to the pub we found a table outside in the sun and ordered our food and drink in at the bar. It was here that the man sitting on one of the bar stools started talking to me about how I should never move to England. He talked, and talked and talked, before the waiter who served us before (who was great fun!) saved me, by asking if I could help him out with something at our table. I very quickly followed him out and thanked him for helping me! Only a few minutes later the same man from the bar came out and took my hand, shaking it and even kissed it (ew!). I was definately freaked out! Once he had left, and I was reassured by the waiter that he was definately gone, I very quickly pulled out the antiseptic wipes and tried to enjoy my meal, which was actually very nice! We had a quick look in the antique shop across the road from the Red Lion then walked back to the Priory.
We stopped back at the Priory for a quick toilet stop then piled into the car and drove out to Castle Howard, only 15 minutes out of town. When we arrived the four of us kids were very unsure of the size of the castle, but was soon reassured when we found out that was only the entrance and ticket sales office! We walked along the driveway down to the actual castle (which was huge!). We slowly walked through the 'house' (all of the workers call it the House), and spent an extra long time speaking to one of the guides about the large dome in the parlour. The architect of the castle was never actually an architect, instead he was involved in theatre! The dome is particularly special in the castle as it was the first ever personally owned building with a dome, inspired by St Paul's Cathedral in London.
What I found particularly interesting, and quite amusing was the statues in the House. The British never liked to buy incomplete statues, but the French and other European countries wanted to sell them. To solve the problem, the Fench found 'odd' bits of statues like arms, hands, fingers and in some cases, even whole heads! On one of the art pieces, the statue was missing its head, and not one matched the body, so they made a new one, out of a completely different stone. They polished it and shined it to make it look like it was the original. Now, after dusting and ageing the polish and shine has worn away, leaving a very odd looking head and body!
After looking through the parts of the house available and open to the public (the rest was closed to the public as it is still occupied by Mr Howard and his family), we had a look in the gift shop, which was filled with goodies, then walked through the garden to a large fountain. Then we walked along one of the several paths to a beautiful lake and playground. After a look around at the lake while Kyle played on the Playground and a quick toilet break, we caught the tractor back up to the Castle, for an ice-cream and drink! Then we all piled up into the car again and headed back to the York Priory!
From there five of us walked in the opposite direction to the town, leaving Nathan at home to sleep, for a look and drink at the Fulford Arms. After that we walked back to a pizza shop on the way to town just down the road from the Priory. We grabbed 3 pizzas to takeaway and shared them between us all. Then early to bed for all of us after a huge day of wandering through York city centre and most excitingly, Castle Howard!
Highlights:
* Spring Espresso: tasting the best coffee in Great Britian!
* The waiter at the Red Lion was a huge ACDC fan!
* Castle Howard was spectacular!!
* Maybe our long lost cousins, as Mums grandmothers maiden name is Howard!!
Love Ash
xx
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