July 2, 2007: 20:29

So when last we posted, we had finished our day in Bath. (Pardon typos as UK keyboards are different from US.) The next day we spent in London. We had big plans for that day; we were going to go to about 5 different sites. But then we decided to sleep in. It is our vacation, after all.

We went to the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. The Tower of London was very interesting; we saw the Crown Jewels, many crowns, swords, scepters, etc. Seeing what was a castle nearly 1000 years ago was humbling. There are 4-6 ravens on the tower grounds that have been there for centuries. The legend is that if the ravens ever leave, the kingdom will fall. (I'm sure, as Kristy pointed out, that they are different ravens now than hundreds of years ago.)

We then made our way to Picadilly Circus to go to the Ice Bar. When we came out of the Underground, we realized that this was the area in which the attempted car bombing had occurred, because the police had some streets cordoned of and were monitoring traffic carefully. We made our way up to the bar and received silver capes with faux fur hoods. Then into the Ice Bar we went to receive our drinks in glasses made of ice. They looked sort of like square rocks glasses. The bar, the ceiling, the walls, tables, and benches were all made of ice. I put a couple of pounds down on the table to count out change for a second drink when I realized that they were melting into the table. We had two drinks apiece and then made our way out and onto our next stop. Definitely worth the trip to Picadilly Circus.

We went to Covent Garden, a great place to go shopping. We had our first pasties there at a little bar on the second floor overlooking the street performers. While we were in the area, we saw a contortionist, a mime, a silver statue guy, flamenco dancers, and a few more things I'm forgetting. We also shopped the stalls and little stores along the market before heading home for the evening. We went that night to a pub down the road from our hotel which is named Fuller's, the same last name as Nick's. We had a pretty good dinner and then headed home for the night.

. . .

Next day, we travelled by train to York. We were going to rent a car but decided against it due to the extreme rain and flooding in the Yorkshire area, as well as the fact that the train ride took 1.5 hours less than driving would in good conditions. We left from King's Cross Station, the one that Harry Potter takes to go to Hogwart's. We saw the brick dividers in between the platforms that he runs into to get to Platform 9 3/4 (though JK Rowling apparently got King's Cross confused with a different station because it only goes up to Platform 8.

The train ride was uneventful; we slept most of the way. When we arrived, we dropped our bags at the hotel and then went out to sightsee. We went to Clifford's Tower, across from which our hotel was located. We climbed all told 107 steps there. It was worth it, though. What a view! And such history. We walked down the street aways and found a little bake shop where we had our first English High Tea. I quite enjoyed it, and Kristy just enjoyed it because of the raisins in the scones.

Then we walked up toward York Minster, a gorgeous cathedral which was built in medieval times. Prior to that, a smaller cathedral existed on the same site, predated by Roman Barracks. The site is where Constantine became emporor of Rome. (He later deemed Christianity the official religion of Rome.) We saw artifacts and architecture from all three building periods, including the crypt said to contain the remains of York's patron saint.

On the way up and back from the Minster, we walked among the Shambles, a network of tiny old streets, most not wide enough to hold any cars--barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side. There were many interesting shops and pubs. We stopped at a guest house for a late lunch, where Kristy had Yorkshire Pudding and I had something chicken. Then we made our way back to the hotel, where we slept for hours!

When we woke up it was after 8 so we figured we'd better find dinner quickly before everything closed up. We went to the Shambles again but didn't find anything. Then on our way back we saw a pub called the Golden Fleece, which was purported to be haunted by several ghosts, so we stopped there for dinner and did not see any ghosts, though Kristy swears she saw water dripping from the ceiling. I saw nothing and there was not a wet spot on the ceiling or on the floor. WooOOOooo!

Then it was back to the hotel to watch endless tv until we fell asleep.

. . .

We really just finished our second day in Scotland, about which Kristy will write. I will just say that I thought 107 steps was the most I would climb in one day on this trip. Boy, was I wrong!