With no schedule for the day we had a lazy start to the morning. we stopped on our walk into town at a bakery and had a quick bite for breakfast. I don’t know why I don’t make myself a cup of tea at home. I really enjoy it on vacations but when I am home I might do it some in the winter regardless that I have a cabinet full of teas I have brought home from trips. Maybe it is something I will pick up in my retirement.

We were headed to the Minster but couldn’t pass up an antique jewelry store on the way. This area has been making silver jewelry for hundreds of years so there were a lot of pretty things to see. Of course I didn’t just look. I had to bring a few things home. At this first stop I ended up with a silver locket bracelet and a heavy necklace made from watch chains.

It had rained while we were shopping so we thought we had gotten lucky and missed it. But sadly we didn’t make it to the church before we got a little wet. Good thing I brought that raincoat I left in the room.

The Minster is quite dramatic sitting right in the middle of town. It doesn’t have much of a square around it so it is just kind of crammed in there. I can’t decide if that detracts from its charm or puts the exclamation point on its gothic status. It does not have that airy beauty that churches like St Peter’s or the Duomo in Florence have. It is imposing and looks heavy. Of course the grey clouds also help set the mood.

Inside the church loses some of its heaviness and seems much bigger. There is some construction so the rose window is just peaking out from the scaffolding but most of the rest is open. Since my last visit in 1992 they have opened a museum in the area where they had to go in and fix the foundation. Like most everything the church was built on Roman ruins. You can see old Roman streets and pillars for various buildings that have set on this site over the years. The current structure was started in 1220 but the nave was not finished until 1472. So they were a little slow in getting this one built.

The rose window depicts the joining of the houses of York and Lancaster ending the war of the roses and dates to the 1500. However, the Five Sisters window in the north transept gets a lot of press due to both its unique style of mainly black and white glass, the glazing technique used for the painting and the fact that women raised the money to restore it after its removal in 1916 for fear of bombing during the war. Almyra Grey raised the money in honor of her sister and women who had worked on the war effort. It cost just under $4000 to restore.

The north transept is also home to the astronomical clock places in 1955 to honoring the Yorkshire airman. It is one of the few things I remembered from my 1992 visit.

We didn’t quite have the energy, stamina or the desire to climb the 272 steps up the tower. I would have liked to seen the gargoyles that were promised along the way but not bad enough to kill myself to do it.

So after a quick stop to the gift shop we headed out in the rain to see the rest of the town. And yes I did buy something in the gift shop. A cute little poppy pin. Surprisingly everyone has had cuter poppy items than the tower. The Tower is missing out on some easy money by not having cute poppy stuff. Not that they didn’t have stuff but no jewelry.

We of course shopped our way through town. I got another bracelet and yes I needed it and a great turquoise pendent to go with a turquoise dome ring I have. Val bought several things so we are doing our part to help the locals recycling effort. Everything was vintage so all good.

We went to the Merchant’s Adventurers Hall. A medieval timber roof building built in 1357. It started as a religious order but during the reformation it became more secular and emphasized the commercial and trading aspects of its members. Elizabeth I charted the company of Merchant Adventurers in 1581. A very romantic name for traders in grin and wool who probably never ventured outside of York.

The guid is still in existence and members still meet in the great hall routinely.

From there we headed out through the rain to Clifford’s Tower the only remaining part of the castle. Once we arrived we decided the steps up in the rain were more than we were up for, took a few pictures and headed back to the hotel to get ready for our evenings festivities.

All Saints church was on our way to the hotel so we popped in to see the medieval stained glass. The church was built between the 12 and 14th centuries. Most of the windows were done in 1410 except the lady’s chapel which was about a hundred years earlier in 1330. One the nine angel window depicts someone wearing glasses. They claim although rare glasses were available in 1410 but I think perhaps a future time travel went out on a merchant’s adventure.

It had been rainy windy and pretty chilly all day so we grabbed our scarfs and sweaters and headed out for dinner and our ghost tour.

Dinner was at the Olde Starre Inne one of the oldest pubs in York. I had the traditional steak and ale pie which was delicious and then shared the Eton Mess with Val.

After dinner we headed out for our ghost tour, the Deathly Dark Tour at 8. It was cold, dark and raining so the perfect atmosphere. It was one of the most fun ghost tours I have done. It was more theatrical than just telling stories. The guide was very over the top in a prissy Victorian manor. Supposedly York is the most haunted place in England but I am sure that every city says that. We sadly did not see anything supernatural but we had a good time. The tour tools us through the shambles which are quite creepy at night. I can see why they were used in the Harry Potter movies.

The tour ended at the Clifford Tower where we had ended our site swing earlier so we more how to get back to our hotel so all was good. I am glad I brought my scarf since it was a chilly night.