I.m feeling pressure here! But will carry on .... York minster fabulous. So differ from italian cathedrals ... Lots less decoration and murdered saints on the walls! Beautiful stained glass and many memorials to fallen soldiers and those who have served in the many wars. The volunteer guides are many and very chatty. They notice you have stopped a bit so alongside they come and talk about whatever space you are in, the area you just left to make sure you saw and understood all the significant views, and the place you are about to go. They are also good for restaurant picks and the location of the free loos. We had a fun visit to york castle ... first climbed the 300 steps and saw the view from the castle keep turret. not a beautiful view ... but a view to a mix of industrial architecture, churches spires scattered throughout, and medieval streets filled with so many shops. from high end to cheesy souvenirs. The castle ... What is left of it is now filled with one man.s memorabilia ... His attempt to record the history of York from day one to 1980s. Well displayed. lots of virtual guides ... I love this concept and great programming to keep the kiddies interested and more than enough to keep us three marveling. Where was all this stuff before? York pub food amazing. chilly here so plates full of meat pies and mashed outstanding. Pam is enjoying being over 18 and legal. Train today to Bristol .... first stop Birmingham. Our suitcases don.t fit in the top racks so we squeeze them onto the seats with us. Trains are packed but everyone polite and patient. Back to flat flat fields and one enormous nuclear power plant. . Eight towers! It sits amidst hayfields. Brambles and teeny tiny electrical poles break up the fields along with an occasional windmill. Finally some hills way off in the horizon. You really can see across the landscape for miles. Many far thrown farms look like the locations where the bad guy lives on all those Brit mysteries. Glimpses of winding streams ... Uh, rivers, that have crossings made of functional stone, steel, or wrought iron depending on their age, but in my eye, so beautiful in their simplicity. Row after row of attached housing line our way west every time we enter town. This is brown terra cotta and brick country with tile roofs or colored concrete. Gone are the stone and slate roofed buildings of the east coast. Birmingham is a huge city but as we travel ten minutes out, the landscape opens up again and back come the farms, small villages, and sheep, cow, and horse scapes Such great town names ... Burton on Trent, Derby (pronounced Darby), Stout , Sheffield. These towns are all about industry The mix and difference between cities and villages very distinct. medieval, victorian, industrial age, modern. You can tell the newer construction ... No decorated chimney pots or brick chimneys ... Satellite dishes! All very ordered ... Larger places are organized in rings ... City center, apartment housing and commercial district, semi and attached houses, box stores, industrial, farms. The rivers run throughout and they are also ordered ... Punters, houseboats, commercial vessels ... And I spoke too soon ... The train tracks still have the block brownstone retaining walls and bridges. And brambles so my view is erratic. Very pretty Victorian train station, turquoise domed mosques, row after row of toc housing ... each with its chimney pot and garden, (if no room for a proper backyard, there are garden plots scattered about vacant lots), stadiums, energy stations, and stone spired churches are each town.s main stay. All the public buildings and streets have gorgeous floral arrangements. I.m now seeing graffiti ... We saw a few tags in York, less in Glasgow, ... Here there is not a blank shoulder high spot on any building, wall, or bridge. And we are back to flat ... Growing some type of grain. Entering Bristol. ... Some great architecture here. We are off to waterfront and dinner.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Aug 2013 19:54:17 +0000
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