Yesterday was a day of rambling around, enjoying the city on foot. The Tower gives a great view over the city, with explanatory notices as you walk around the top. In the evening we watched a Michael Portillo video about York, which gives a summary of some of the main historical events. He went into the Jorvik Museum and confirmed what we thought – that it was a sort of Disney style exhibit. We would certainly go if we had children in our party as I think it is a good way for them to catch up on history.

After the Clifton Tower Stephen and I went in search of a cooked breakfast for lunch. Some cafes have all day breakfasts, many stop at 11.00 a.m. We found somewhere immediately near the tower, but decided to walk on to see if we could find a place that was more open. After half an hour we caved and went into a cafe that offered seniors meals. But, not on weekends, unfortunately. We decided to stay as we had a table at a window in a booth, very comfortable. We ordered, and after half an hour queried the delay with the waitress. Of course, there had been a mixup with our order and it would be arriving in about 10 minutes. We made the best of it.

After that Stephen and I did our own thing for a while before meeting up with Eversley who had taken a tour. We couldn’t make up our minds whether to go to Evensong at York Minster again or not. In the end, we must have been too tired. It was very crowded today in the streets and fighting that all day had left us feeling we wanted something peaceful. We walked along the river, then diverted back to the Railway Station where our bus stop was nearby. The station has some little shops and we were able to get some fruit.

We had a scratch tea, leftover this and that, plus fruit. Then watched the video.

York has a fairly bloody history and I could say things about the tower, but not good things, so perhaps we will leave it that it was originally a wooden construction and has been used for hundred’s of years.

This sign shows a layout of the castle complex, with the tower behind.

There were steep stairs up to the entry.

This is a zoomed view towards the North Yorkshire Moors from the tower.

These photos show views of the city. As you can see, yesterday was particularly clear and sunny.

These photos of the interior show some restoration taking place. There are buildings shrouded in scaffolding all over the cities and towns we have visited. Old buildings require constant upkeep and tourist places like this must partly rely on entry fees to keep up.

There are buildings on three sides actually, showing that the same configuration of the Clifton Tower and outer buildings is still in use after all of these centuries, updated with the times.

The following photos were taken as we wandered through the streets looking for a cafe for lunch.

Stephen had a free ticket to tour the inside of the Minster. I wandered in as well and took some photos.

We had a drink at a little place on the bridge. Non-alcoholic as we didn’t like their prices and had wine back at the house for later.

This shows one view of the Victorian railway station. After walking along the river we found a path back to where we could catch our bus which took us through this part of the station.