York sightseeing

On Sunday we had decided to take it pretty easy. We knew it was going to be REALLY busy in downtown York so we planned to just poke around the city and then purchase some food to cook for ourselves for a nice Sunday dinner.

We took another way into the city and walked towards the Shambles and the old town. Since it was a Sunday the crowds seemed a lot more reserved and quiet than over the week-end. That might have been due to the fact that about seventy percent of the people on the streets had roaring hangovers.

We wandered up and down York's historical streets taking pictures and checking out all of the detail in the buildings. It's just amazing what you can find if you study the architecture in detail. 

And then we ran into a most perplexing set of iconic symbols that maybe you can help us with. They were both connected to the same building but seemed to represent completely different messages.

Which of the above symbols is the oldest? They both seem rather regal.

David studying a menu posted on a chalk board. I thought I should give a caption to this photo so people didn't think I was a just a mouthbreather. "Mouthbreather-1. literally, someone who lacks enough intelligence that they never learned breath through their nose. 2. a really dumb person."

We ducked into a cute little cafe next to the Cathedral and had a couple of really tasty cappuccino's and a wonderful breakfast of waffles and bacon. Once again we have to wax poetic about the bacon over here. It's wonderful. What we call bacon back in the states they call "Streaky Bacon", which they primarily reserve for cooking. The bacon used for breakfasts is much leaner. Kind of a cross between ham and a thinly sliced pork chop but with just the right amount of smokiness. SSOOOOO GGOOOD!!!

After a most satisfying breakfast we went back out and wandered the streets aimlessly. That's one of the nice things about exploring cities you've never been to before. Unless you happen to be looking for a some specific site, you can NEVER get lost, because you have NO IDEA where you are to begin with. It's VERY freeing. You just keep turning this way and that, taking in whatever presents itself and at some point you get tired and then you plot a course for home.

It was a much nicer day. Cold still but the sun was peeking out and it felt like spring was in the air.

We had decided on making ourselves a proper English Sunday dinner so on the way home David went into a little butcher shop (which he so likes to do) and picked out a nice small leg of lamb and we picked up some really cute baby carrots and potatoes from a grocers. With all of the makings for a wonderful dinner we headed home to the "Upside down house" to relax and prepare our Sunday feast.